30 Apr – Memorial for St. Pius V, pope
Antonio Ghislieri (1504-1572) was born to impoverished Italian nobility, the son of Paolo Ghislieri and Domenica Augeria. He worked as a shepherd as a boy, and received an excellent education in piety and holiness, including a scholastic education from a Dominican friar. He joined the Order in 1518, taking the name Michele. He studied in Bologna, Italy, and was ordained in 1528 in Genoa.
He was appointed teacher of philosophy and divinity in Genoa, and was a professor of theology in Pavia for 16 years. He was the Master of novices and prior of several Dominican houses, and he worked for stricter adherence to the Order’s rule.
He was an inquisitor in Como and Bergamo, and the commissary general of the Roman Inquisition in 1551. On Sep 4, 1556, he was ordained Bishop of Nepi and Sutri against his will. He was Inquisitor in Milan and Lombardy in the same year, and created cardinal on Mar 15 the following year, made Grand Inquisitor on Dec 14, 1558, and was part of the conclave of 1559. He was appointed Bishop of Mondovi, Italy on Mar 17, 1560. As bishop, he worked to lead his flock with words and examples, and served as a continual messenger encouraging personal piety and devotion to God.
He became the 225th pope in 1566, and immediately faced the task of enacting the reforms of the Council of Trent. New seminaries were opened, a new breviary, new missal, and new catechism were published. Foundations were established to spread the faith and preserve the doctrine of the Church. He spent much time personally working with the needy. He built hospitals and used the papal treasury to care for the poor. He faced many difficulties in the public forum, both in the implementation of the Tridentine reforms and interaction with other heads of state. He created 21 cardinals. At the time of his death, he was working on a Christian European alliance to break the power of the Islamic states.
- Patron Saint Index
Acts 5:17-26
Jn 3:16-21
“…everybody who does wrong hates the light and avoids it…”
When I was in primary school, I would occasionally hang out with the other kids from my neighbourhood. In a bid to try and fit in, we would sometimes indulge in less-than-wholesome activities.
I remember that we once climbed up a bannister into a primary school and broke into the sports equipment room. We knew we were doing something wrong, so we were furtively looking around, anxious to make a quick getaway with our loot. We did not want to get caught red-handed and were glad to have gotten away unscathed!
In today’s first reading, we hear about how the apostles were released from prison by an angel of the Lord. Unlike the younger me, the apostles did not hasten to make a retreat to avoid recapture. Instead, they headed into the Temple at dawn and began to preach.
The authorities and guards had no idea that Jesus’ apostles had already been freed, and they could have easily made their way out of danger.
I hadn’t been aware of this until I started preparing for today’s reflections. The Gospel struck me as the reason why:
“And indeed, everyone who does wrong hates the light and avoids it,
for fear his actions should be exposed;
but the man who lives by the truth comes out into the light,
so that it may be plainly seen that what he does is done in God.”
As fallen creatures, we often live our lives without considering our thoughts and actions. In the situation from my childhood, this lack of awareness can be attributed to our youthful foolishness. Yet, the reality is that we continue to do so into our adulthood.
A helpful approach for self-reflection during our daily Examen is to consider whether our actions lead us toward darkness or light. If our actions lean toward darkness, it’s likely that they are not aligned with God-like behaviour. However, if our actions can withstand scrutiny in the light, then we are on the right path.
Brothers and sisters, how simple it is to see if we’re on the right path!
(Today’s OXYGEN by Paul Wee)
Prayer: Father God, help us be sensitive to the light and to move towards it! Give us courage to own up to our wrongs and to right them, and help us to be open to Your promptings.
Thanksgiving: We are grateful for Your guidance, Lord. Thank You for reaching out to us with the simple insights we can apply to our time here on earth!
OXYGEN 
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