27 September, Wednesday — Talking to God

Sep 27 – Memorial for St. Vincent de Paul, Priest

St. Vincent (1581-1660) spent four years with the Franciscan friars getting an education. He was taken captive by Turkish pirates and sold into slavery, then freed when he converted one of his owners to Christianity. He started organisations to help the poor, nursed the sick, found jobs for the unemployed, etc. With Louise de Marillac, he founded the Congregation of the Daughters of Charity. He also instituted the Congregation of Priests of the Mission (Lazarists).

• Patron Saint Index

Ez 9:5-9
Lk 9:1-6

“Take nothing for the journey…”

The end of the pandemic restrictions meant the beginning of ‘revenge travel’. Many people began flying around the world to begin escaping the confines of their homes. What struck me was the number of personal belongings an individual person has as I waited at the luggage carousel. Some folks had bags after bags with them and it was clear that they were struggling with these items. Jesus reminds us that not much is needed in proclaiming the Gospel.

The message of Jesus should be written in our hearts and proclaimed through our words and deeds. One of the ways in which we can discover the depths of this message is through frequent communication with God. 

One helpful guide on the frequency of prayer could be the length of time we use to charge our mobile phones. Most people will experience some form of downtime when they charge their phones. Maybe we can take this time to pause from the struggles of our lives and recollect ourselves in God’s presence.

Prayer reveals to us the message of love which Jesus wishes for us to know. We can then ask him for the strength to courageously proclaim that message to the people around us. The sincerity of our proclamation will surpass all needs for present day communication tools.

Brothers and sisters, let us take this day to find opportunities for us to share the Good News with all the people we love.

(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Chia)

Prayer: Jesus, grant us the grace to share your Word to the people around us.

Thanksgiving: We give thanks for all the people who instruct us in the faith.