May 25 – Memorial for St. Bede the Venerable, Priest and Worker; Memorial for St. Gregory VII, Pope; Memorial for St. Mary Magdalene de Pazzi, Virgin
St. Bede (672-735) was born around the time England was finally, completely Christianized. He was raised from age seven in the abbey of Sts. Peter and Paul at Wearmouth-Jarrow, and lived there the rest of his life. He was a Benedictine monk, and the spiritual student of the founder, St. Benedict Biscop. He was ordained in 702 by St. John of Beverley. He was a teacher and author; he wrote about history, rhetoric, mathematics, music, astronomy, poetry, grammar, philosophy, hagiography, homiletics, and Bible commentary.
He was known as the most learned man of his day, and his writings started the idea of dating this era from the incarnation of Christ. The central theme of Bede’s Historia Ecclesiastica is of the Church using the power of its spiritual, doctrinal, and cultural unity to stamp out violence and barbarism. Our knowledge of England before the 8th century is mainly the result of Bede’s writing. He was declared a Doctor of the Church on 13 November 1899 by Pope Leo XIII.
- Patron Saint Index
St. Gregory (1020-1085) was educated in Rome, Italy. He was a Benedictine monk, and chaplain to Pope Gregory VI. He was in charge of the Patrimony of St. Peter. He was a reformer and an excellent administrator. He was chosen the 152nd pope, but he declined the crown. He was chief counsellor to Pope Victor II, Pope Stephen IX, Pope Benedict X, and Pope Nicholas II. He eventually became the 157th pope.
At the time of his ascension, simony and a corrupt clergy threatened to destroy faith in the Church. Gregory took the throne as a reformer, and Emperor Henry IV promised to support him. Gregory suspended all clerics who had purchased their position, and ordered the return of all purchased church property.
The corrupt clergy rebelled; Henry IV broke his promise, and promoted the rebels. Gregory responded by excommunicating anyone involved in lay investiture. He summoned Henry to Rome, but the emperor’s supporters drove Gregory into exile. Henry installed the anti-pope Guibert of Ravenna, who was driven from Rome by Normans who supported Gregory; the Normans were, themselves, so out of control that the people of Rome drove them out. Gregory then retreated to Salerno, Italy, where he spent the remainder of his papacy.
- Patron Saint Index
St. Catherine (1566-1607) had a religious upbringing. She was initially sent to a convent at the age of 14, but was taken back home by her family, who opposed her religious vocation and wanted her to marry well. They eventually gave in, and Catherine became a Carmelite of the Ancient Observance at 16, taking the name Sister Mary Magdalene. She as a mystic, and led a hidden life of prayer and self-denial, praying particularly for the renewal of the Church and encouraging the sisters in holiness. Her life was marked by many extraordinary graces.
- Patron Saint Index
Jas 5:13-20
Mk 10:13-16
“…for it is to such as these (little children) that the kingdom of God belongs.”
My baby niece has recently been attending Sunday Mass with me and my family. She’s been relatively quiet, and many of my church parishioners like to say ‘hi’ to her.
But from what I observe in other masses, my niece might be the exception. I have heard children who wouldn’t stop crying throughout mass. Perhaps out of hunger or boredom. As much as I may find the crying a little distracting, I tell myself to be patient, because I was once a child.
Seeing and playing with my baby niece feels like being a child all over again. “What is it like then to be child-like?” I wondered. More importantly though, am I child-like enough to enter the kingdom of God? Sometimes, I must admit that I confuse being ‘childlike’ with ‘childish’, as my confessor has pointed out to me at times while administering to me the sacrament of penance.
St Paul warned us in his letter to the Corinthians, “When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child. When I became a man, I put the ways of childhood behind me.”
St Therese of Lisieux wrote about what it means to be childlike, “it is the way of childlike self-surrender, the way of a child who sleeps, afraid of nothing, in its father’s arms.”
Likewise, being child-like means throwing ourselves into the loving arms of God’s mercy.
In the Story of a Soul, St Therese wrote, “Even though I had on my conscience all the sins that can be committed, I would go, my heart broken with sorrow, and throw myself into Jesus’ arms, for I know how much He loves the prodigal child who returns to Him. It is not because God, in His anticipating Mercy, has preserved my soul from mortal sin that I go to Him with confidence and love.”
Jesus, the Divine Mercy himself, also taught St Faustina about spiritual childhood, often appearing to her as a little child to teach her simplicity and humility. She wrote, “Once, when I saw Jesus in the form of a small child, I asked, ‘Jesus, why do you now take on the form of a child when You commune with me? In spite of this, I still see in You the infinite God, my Lord and Creator.’ Jesus replied that until I learned simplicity and humility, He would commune with me as a little child” (Diary, 335).
In today’s times of uncertainty – for instance, I’m still not fully employed, and I’m still on a job hunt – I am still learning how to trust in God and surrender myself to Him wholeheartedly. As the psalmist said, “The Lord is with me, I will not be afraid; what can anyone do to me?”
May we trust in Him and His mercy with our heart and our strength, be totally dependent on Him, and not let ourselves be shaken by the turmoil and distress in the world.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Brenda Khoo)
Prayer: Dear Lord, please help us to be more childlike, to trust in Your mercy, and to be afraid of nothing in Your arms. Amen.
Thanksgiving: Thank You Lord, for giving us Your mercy and peace in today’s chaotic world. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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