Oct 20 – Memorial for St Paul of the Cross
St. Paul of the Cross (1694–1775) was the son of a merchant and a pious youth. After receiving a vision and while still a layman, he founded the Congregation of Discalced Clerks of the Most Holy Cross and Passion (Passionists) in 1721 to preach about Jesus Crucified. He was a preacher of such power that hardened soldiers and bandits were seen to weep.
The community lived a penitential life, in solitude and poverty, teaching people in the easiest possible way how to meditate on the Passion of Jesus. He was ordained in 1727, along with his brother John Baptist by Pope Benedict XIII. After ordination, they devoted themselves to preaching missions in parishes, particularly in remote country places where there were insufficient priests pastorally involved. Their preaching apostolate and the retreats they gave in seminaries and religious houses brought their mission to the attention of others and gradually the community began to grow.
However, the austere life of the Passionists did not encourage large numbers and at one point, all the brothers in the Order deserted him. But Paul preferred a slow, at times painful, growth to something more spectacular. In 1741, his Rule was approved by Pope Benedict XIV, and the community began to grow again.
During his lifetime, Paul of the Cross was best known as a popular preacher and a spiritual director. More than two thousand of his letters, most of them letters of spiritual direction, have been preserved. By the time of his death, the congregation had 80 fathers and brothers. He is considered among the greatest Catholic mystics of the 18th century.
- Patron Saint Index, Wikipedia
Rm 4:1-8
Lk 12:1-7
“Why, every hair on your head has been counted.”
When I read today’s readings, I instantly thought of the littlest things that God had created that are known to man, or maybe that I know. I ended up thinking of quarks, which make up atoms. Yes, they are smaller than atoms. When Jesus said that every hair on my head has been counted, I thought that God would definitely know all the atoms in my body. That is amazing viewing from a scientific perspective, and beyond that is the fact that there is so much love in each and every detail – even the tiniest detail.
Today’s readings also reminded me of one of the points to prove that God exists. That point is that there is order in things. Isn’t it amazing that the stars don’t just go raining down on earth? And that the planets keep to their orbits? Isn’t it amazing how the seasons come and go, how seeds, when planted, take root and become plants, and they bear fruit? Isn’t it amazing how all these things are happening at all, and in an orderly manner?
Science studies the order, so we can predict what happens next and be prepared. Science also enables us to prevent unfavourable things from happening, after discovering the order. Science allows us to put some things back in order – as they were designed to be. However, science is not the author of order, God is. The order was there because God created that order.
Of course, someone would say that it’s all just coincidence, which I find harder to believe. The more one studies science, the more one will be amazed with the exquisite and timely dance that all these things are going through. The universe is like a magnificent orchestra of God’s creation. As Saint Josephine Bakhita said, ‘Seeing the sun, the moon and the stars, I said to myself, ‘Who could be the Master of these beautiful things?’ I felt a great desire to see him, to know him and to pay him homage.’ This beauty is a result of order. And this order is a result of God’s thoughtful love for us – a love that knows every single detail of us, be it our hair, or the atoms that make up our body.
I sincerely pray that science brings many people to God, as it shows how much care he took when he created each and everyone of us, and how much love he put in putting order in creation.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Stephanie Villa)
Prayer: Lord, please help me see your gifts and graces in science.
Thanksgiving: Thank you, God, for ordering the universe so I can live.
OXYGEN 
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