Nov 15 – Memorial for St. Albert the Great, bishop, religious, doctor
St. Albertus (1206-1280) was the son of a military nobleman. A Dominican priest, he taught theology at Colgone and Paris and was the teacher of St. Thomas Aquinas. He was an influential teacher, preacher, and administrator, and became the Bishop of Regensburg. He introduced Greek and Arabic science and philosophy to medieval Europe.
He is known for his wide interest in what became later known as the natural sciences – botany, biology, etc. He wrote and illustrated guides to his observations, and was considered on par with Aristotle as an authority on these matters. He was a theological writer, and was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church.
“It is by the path of love, which is charity, that God draws near to man, and man to God. But where charity is not found, God cannot dwell. If, then, we possess charity, we possess God, for “God is Charity” (1 John 4:8)” – St. Albert the Great
2 Jn 4-9
Lk 17:26-37
“Remember Lot’s wife.”
I thought our God was unreasonably harsh with Lot’s wife, who was turned into a pillar of salt because she had looked back at Sodom and Gomorrah as they were fleeing the cities. In my mind, she had not committed any sin, so what could be wrong for her to look back?
Only, in doing so, Lot’s wife went against the instructions the two angels gave them, an overt act of disobedience.
This brings to mind a joke my friends and I often tell each other — that we should get all our sins out of the way (we’re typically talking about going off our diets, in all honesty…) before going for confession soon.
The idea of ‘sinning now and begging for forgiveness later’, while said in jest, clearly shows the danger of us taking the sacrament for granted. It’s like us saying we believe in God but choose not to get baptised till just before we die, so that we can maximise our time as sinners before finally giving it up to be a Christian; except that, this does not work. If we believe in God, we must genuinely desire to turn away from our old ways. One isn’t free to embrace the new way of life without a willingness to surrender one’s old ways.
The transformation of Lot’s wife into the pillar of salt also emphasises the importance of remembering that there are consequences for our choices for God’s judgement. Our God is infinitely merciful, but we would do well to remember that He is just.
In the First Reading, the apostle John talks about us needing to live up to the commandment to love one another. In living this commandment, we cannot fake it; it is either we do or don’t. If we pretend to love one another, isn’t this akin to what Lot’s wife did? Are we effectively ‘looking back’ at our old ways without genuine conversion?
In living our lives as Christians, let us keep our eyes on our Lord and not be fooled into thinking that we can always sin now and repent later. Such an attitude will undoubtedly hinder our journey to the eternal kingdom.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Paul Wee)
Prayer: I pray that we may keep our eyes on our Lord, and not be tempted to look back as Lot’s wife did.
Thanksgiving: Thank You for our salvation, for always guiding and being there for us.
OXYGEN 
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