Aug 9 – Memorial for St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), martyr
After witnessing the strength of faith of Catholic friends, Teresa (1891-1942), originally a Jew, became interested in Catholicism and studied a catechism on her own, and she eventually ended up ‘reading herself into’ the Faith.
She became a Carmelite nun, teaching and lecturing at two schools. However, anti-Jewish pressure from the Nazis forced her to resign both positions. She was smuggled out of Germany and assigned to Holland. When the Nazis invaded Holland, she and her sister Rose, also a convert to Catholicism, were captured and sent to the concentration camp at Auschwitz where they died in the ovens, like so many others.
- Patron Saint Index
Nah 2:1,3,3:1-3,6-7
Mt 16:24-28
“…let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me.”
Of late, I’ve felt that I’ve become more worldly and less inclined towards God. By that, I mean that, in hindsight, I’ve been doing things to please myself rather than to please God and my fellow men. And as I write this reflection, perhaps it is God’s way of revealing how my actions (and sometimes inactions) have been harmful to the people around me.
I’ve always struggled with the sentence in today’s Gospel where Jesus said to His disciples, “If anyone wants to be a follower of mine, let him renounce himself and take up his cross and follow me”. Renounce myself and take up my cross (which itself is already unbearable) and follow Him? Life as it is, already is difficult, yet He demands that I carry up my cross and follow Him? I struggle with the mindset that I also need to take care of myself and balance that with taking care of the people around me. And sometimes, I turn a blind eye to the people around me who really need the attention and care.
But today’s readings offer a consolation to me in some way, for the Responsorial Psalm says “It is I who deal death and life; when I have struck it is I who heal”. In a sense, God is also showing me that even when I falter or stray away from Him and I find myself in a rut, He will find me and heal me. Of course, this has happened many times for me, as I believe it has for you too. God never forsakes us; He is always ready to give us a gentle tug to draw us back to Him and embrace us. All that is required of me (and you) is to have a little faith and patience, with ourselves and with God.
And while I think I still struggle with renouncing myself and taking up my cross to follow him, I believe that every day, He is challenging me and giving me the grace to take that small step to renounce myself and take up my cross — lovingly.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Lee)
Prayer: We pray for the gift to see ourselves with the eyes of God.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Jesus, for creating me and loving me as I am.
OXYGEN 
Leave a comment