Nov 22 – Memorial for St. Cecilia, virgin, martyr
St. Cecilia (d. 117) was a cultivated young patrician woman, whose ancestors loomed large in Rome’s history. She vowed her virginity to God, but her parents married her to Valerian of Trastevere. She told her new husband that she was accompanied by an angel, but in order to see it, he must be purified. He agreed to the purification and was baptized. Returning from the ceremony, he found her in prayer accompanied by a praying angel. The angel placed a crown on each of their heads, and offered Valerian a favour; the new convert asked that his brother be baptized.
The two brothers developed a ministry of giving proper burial to martyred Christians. In their turn, they were arrested and martyred for their faith. Cecilia buried them at their villa on the Appian Way, and was arrested for the action. She was ordered to sacrifice to false gods, and when she refused, she was martyred in her turn.
She was suffocated for a while and when that didn’t kill her, she was beheaded. Her grave was discovered in 817, and her body removed to the Church of St. Cecilia in Rome. The tomb was opened in 1599 and her body was found to be incorrupt.
The Acta of Cecilia includes the following: “While the profane music of her wedding was heard, Cecilia was singing in her heart a hymn of love for Jesus, her true spouse.” It was this phrase that led to her association with music, singers, musicians, etc.
- Patron Saint Index
Rev 10:8-11
Lk 19:45-48
…because the people as a whole hung on his words.
I have had many experiences where I know I heard God speak to me through other people, through words on paper, and even in my own journalling. But I have only two (so far!) experiences in my life where I heard the voice of God speak gently and directly to me. The first was about 35 years ago — I was making a great salary working for a company that wasn’t bad, but just didn’t live up to the standards that they claimed to have, and my own personal standards. I worked in the sales and marketing department, and I increasingly felt that I needed to find a new job because I consistently saw the over-promising and under-delivering to our clients. Clients that I worked to bring, cared about and then continuously saw let down. I felt like we did just enough to keep from getting sued. And that was a terrible feeling.
For several months, I felt like I had to leave and find a new job to have any peace of mind. But for a female with no college degree, I knew it would be a significant decrease in pay unless I chose to travel in a sales position (and as a newlywed wanting children, that wasn’t an option I wanted). And I really didn’t want to go through the hassle of looking for another job. I was hoping to start a family and planning to work PT at most, and I couldn’t lie to a potential employer (this was decades ago, when no question was off limits during the hiring process). Plus, it being 1989, every aspect of the interviewing process was done thru in person; job openings on the newspaper. There was no online job searching/interviewing, etc. And I was making really good money, so it made more sense to simply stay.
I remember – as if it were just last week — standing at my desk and deciding to myself before I left that early autumn day, that I would simply stay. After all, the money was good — I would simply stop working overtime and just put in an honest day’s work and collect my paycheck. Simple. I would stop being concerned about the clients; after all, I convinced myself that this is just how business works…right? I took a deep breath, and for a few seconds I felt good. I’d made the decision. Finally. The easy decision. And then, in my gut I heard, “That’s fine, just realize you’re saying that money is more important to you than your principles.” I wasn’t alarmed at the voice (neither was I scared), there was no condemnation in His voice. But soon, the realization of the truth of those words sunk in, I felt like I’d been hit by a bus. If I stayed, I was admitting to myself – and to God – that money was the deciding factor. Money above character. Money above the ‘right thing’. How could I stay? I couldn’t. So, I put in my resignation.
This wasn’t a ‘and then they all lived happily ever after’ decision, but it is a decision that has continued to guide me in more ways than one. When you hear Him, you know He still speaks, and that ‘hanging on his words’ isn’t merely a smart choice or the best we can do, but simply the best. The VERY BEST. Not always the easy path or the fun path or the simple path, or the known path, that is for certain. Look at the lives of the Saints. The path of St. Mother Teresa, of St. John Paul II, of St. Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), of St. Maximillian Kolbe, of St. Damien, of St. Peter, St. Paul, St. Stephen, St. Mary the Mother of God… the list goes on. And we only know of these fellow humans because they hung on His every word.
Jesus is still speaking – are we still hanging onto his words? It’s not always easy to HEAR his words when we are walking on the path He has for us, but it is nearly impossible when we make decision after decision to step just a bit further off the path. His words lead us back on, or further on the path He has for us as individuals. The only path worth walking. The perfect path – the path that leads us fully to Him.
And as Gerry Nah concluded with on Thursday, November 14, “After all, once you pass from this life, there is only one thing that will matter. What will Jesus say to you?”
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gina Ulicny)
Prayer: ‘Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life…’ May we be like Saint Peter, like all the Saints, and follow You.
Thanksgiving: Lord, God of all, we thank you for the words in scripture. We thank you for words from holy friends and family that encourage, challenge and guide us. And we thank You for speaking loud enough that we, too, audibly hear You.
OXYGEN 
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