May 21 – Saint Christopher Magallanes and his Companions
St. Cristóbal Magallanes Jara was born in the state of Jalisco in Mexico, in 1869. He was ordained priest at the age of 30, and became parish priest of his home town of Totatiche. He took a special interest in the evangelization of the local indigenous Huichol people and founded a mission for them. When government persecution of the Catholic Church began and the seminaries were closed, he opened a small local ‘auxiliary seminary’. He wrote and preached against armed rebellion, but was falsely accused of promoting the Cristero rebellion. He was arrested on 21 May 1927, while on the way to celebrate Mass at a farm. He was executed without a trial, but not before giving his remaining possessions to his executioners and giving them absolution.
With him are celebrated 24 other Mexican martyrs of the early 20th century.
– Universalis
Jas 4:1-10
Mk 9:30-37
You ask but do not receive, because you ask wrongly…
My family has encountered several health-related problems over the past two decades. Whenever we received bad news, I would embark on (probably too detailed) prayers and consider options such as the rosary and Novena services. Sometimes, our prayers were answered the way we wanted them to, which led to relief and rejoicing. Other times they were not, and though I don’t recall going through a significant crisis of faith (because there was always something to be grateful for) I realized that, in recent years, my approach to prayer has gradually evolved.
While I originally would pray for God to “make the problem go away”, nowadays I find myself praying for the grace and fortitude to “cope with the problem”. Perhaps this change happened because I have come to the realisation that there are age-related ailments and chronic conditions which we cannot recover from. Perhaps it happened because I have learned to ask for our Lord’s help ‘correctly’ in closer conformance to His will.
But sometimes, I feel a twinge of frustration when I read Psalms which sing of deliverance, or passages such as the parable of the perseverant widow which exhorts us to “pray always without becoming weary” (Luke 18: 1-8). Maybe I am reading too much into them, but it almost feels as if they raise my hopes and give me false expectations of God’s help. After all, it doesn’t seem unloving to intercede for others and there have times when I have struggled to find meaning in the suffering we encounter. Though I have been blessed to be reassured that our Lord is completely aware of where we are and how we’re doing, once I, like a disobedient child, rebelliously wondered which option I would prefer – to think that God does not hear all our prayers, or to know that He does, but does not fulfil them the way we want Him to.
But maybe I need to reframe my approach. While thinking about what to write for today, I listened to a reflection on the Gospel passage of John 6:16-21, where John narrates, in an almost offhand manner, about how the disciples encountered a storm at sea while on their way to Capernaum and became terrified to see Jesus walking on the water towards them. The priest commented that this could indicate how storms were simply situations we would have to get through, to move from one place to another and part of our overall journeys. While this is not exactly comforting in itself, we can draw reassurance from the fact that Jesus will find us and reach out to us amidst them.
It will still be difficult to fully accept and embrace this broader perspective, especially on an emotional level. Then again, perhaps this is just what God wants to give me, as long as I keep asking Him to show me how to pray as well as the grace and faith to surrender to His will and loving plans for us.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Jaclyn Lam)
Prayer: Holy Spirit, guide us and bring us closer to our Father in our prayer.
Thanksgiving: Lord, we thank you for always hearing our prayers.
OXYGEN 
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