27 Jan – Memorial for St. Angela Merici, virgin
St. Angela Merici (1474-1540) became a Franciscan tertiary at the age of 15. She received a vision telling her that she would inspire devout women in their vocation.
In Crete, during a pilgrimage to the Holy Land, she was struck blind. Her friends wanted to return home, but she insisted on going on, visiting the shrines with as much devotion and enthusiasm as if she had her sight. On the way home, while praying before a crucifix, her sight was restored at the same place where it had been lost.
In 1535, she gathered a group of girl students and began what would become the ‘Institute of St. Ursula’ (the Ursuline Sisters), founded to teach children, beginning with religion and later expanding into secular topics; her first schools were in Desenazno and Brescia.
- Patron Saint Index
2 Sam 1:1-7,10-17
Mk 4:35-41
“How is it that you have no faith?”
On 8 January this year, I celebrated my 30th wedding anniversary. Today, I celebrate my 59th birthday. Last weekend, my family organised a joint celebration. At dinner, I told my wife that the last 30 years have been great. I am happy and contented. She smiled!
Sadly, today’s first reading is not a good advertisement for proper conduct in marriage. King David lusted after Bathsheba and took her as a lover, while her husband, Uriah, was away fighting a war for him. When Bathsheba became pregnant, David arranged for Uriah to be killed in battle before marrying her. As king, he thought he could do anything. He was wrong. Prophet Nathan rebuked him, and he was subsequently punished by Yahweh.
This passage reminds me of a sad episode involving my friend and his wife. They had been married for about twenty years. One day after work, he came home to find that another man had moved into their bedroom. He was French. As the property was under the wife’s name, she just told him to leave. Despair and helplessness did not adequately describe his pain.
My friend is still single today. It has been about eight years already. He does not have any religion and I do not know whether he has really moved on or not. Maybe if he were Christian he might, in the past, find solace in today’s gospel reading. It states that Jesus and his disciples were in a boat one evening when they encountered a violent storm. He was asleep. As the waves crashed into the boat, his disciples panicked. They woke Jesus and pleaded with him to save them. Jesus quelled the violent sea and wind. Calm prevailed. He then asked, “Why are you terrified? Do you not have faith?”
This verse has been used countless times in reflections and church homilies. Its message is clear. Whenever we face storms in our life, Jesus is in the boat with us. No matter how terrified or burdened we are, Jesus will calm the storm and peace will prevail. We must have faith and trust in him.
I have used this verse to pray whenever I experienced some crisis. Sometimes, it helps to console me. Not all the time though. I know my faith is not as strong and I am really blessed not to experience anything catastrophic (like my friend’s story above). Fortunately, the one time when my faith was fervent, I was rewarded. It was not any major crisis though. I was 28 years old and wondering if I would, actually, get married. I remember staying back after mass to pray for the first time in the adoration room. It worked. The very next day, I met my future wife on the bus to work! She was also from the same church.
As I wrote in previous reflections, I told God and Mother Mary that I wanted to marry a fellow Catholic. My past non-Catholic relationships made me realise that I needed someone of the same faith to make it last a lifetime. My wife is devout in her faith. Her habit is to go to the weekday 6.30am and Sunday 7am masses. That is how I started attending 7am mass too, and also how I joined the choir. Fast forward thirty years, I am still with the 7am choir. And one day last year, one of our new members invited me to write for Oxygen… hence my contribution today.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Andrew Sia)
Prayer: Lord, help me to have fervent faith in you.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for the gift of faith and hope.
OXYGEN 
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