28th Sunday in Ordinary Time
Is 25:6-10
Phil 4:12-14,19-20
Mt 22:1-14
There is nothing I cannot master with the help of the One who gives me strength. All the same, it was good of you to share in my hardships. In return, my God will fulfil all your needs, in Christ Jesus, as lavishly as God only can.
I usually find Paul’s writing interesting not just because of his incredible conversion story, but also for the vigour and forcefulness of his language, which makes his words practically leap from the page. I doubt I would ever dare to declare to anyone that “My God will fully supply whatever you need!”, partly because I would not want to convey any misguided impressions or false hopes, and partly because I personally still find it hard to have complete trust in God.
Yet, Paul wrote his letter to the Philippians while he was in jail, a humbling indication of his faith and his ability to always recognise the Lord’s presence. I also know (even if I don’t always feel) that our Lord is good and loving and generous, and that we tend to take Him for granted far more than we realise, until something out of the ordinary happens. So, I thought I would share about a recent incident that occurred in relation to this blog.
In June, I had been shocked to hear from a friend that our former colleague had been diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), the crippling and ultimately fatal condition which had led to the Ice Bucket Challenge a number of years ago. I thought I should reach out to him, but didn’t know how to since it had been quite a while since we’d contacted each other. To be honest, I also felt quite fearful since I didn’t even know how to initiate the conversation.
Then a few days later, I read this Oxygen blog post and almost felt a chill as I realised its author was most probably writing about my former colleague. On an impulse, I reached out to her through our administrator, though I didn’t really have an idea what I wanted to say or do next – and less than two hours later, my former colleague himself texted me to affirm that he was indeed the person featured in the blog post, and had actually been at the author’s place when she received my message! Praise the Lord! He had been fully aware of my thoughts and anxieties all this while, and had worked everything out to help me take the next step forward. After much excited messaging, I did eventually visit my former colleague and will continue to keep him and his family in my prayers.
Admittedly, the somewhat exciting nature of our re-connection does not mitigate my former colleague’s suffering. I also do not want to read too much into the experience, since God’s ways are not our ways. But I would like to see it as a reminder of how He can reach out to us in the most unexpected and/or minute ways, as well as a reassuring confirmation that He is always aware of our needs.
Another insight I gleaned from both Paul’s passage and my own incident was the importance of community and fellowship, as shown by Paul’s words that “it was kind of you to share in my distress”. Just like the notion of trusting in God, this is a concept which I accept but find hard to embrace all the time, since the people around us can be instrumental in bringing us either closer to, or further from, God! But to quote Mother Teresa, “I do not pray for success, I ask for faithfulness.” After all, our Lord has shown us that He can make all things possible – just as He did with Paul.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Jaclyn Lam)
Prayer: Lord, strengthen our faith. Help us to trust in You and not just in our circumstances or our own efforts.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for knowing us and our needs better than we know them ourselves. Thank you for always being present for us.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment