Jul 15 – Memorial for St. Bonaventure, bishop, religious, doctor
St. Bonaventure (1221-1274) entered the Franciscan Order when he was 22. At the age of 35 he was chosen General of his Order and restored a perfect calm where peace had been disturbed by internal dissensions. He did much for his Order and composed The Life of St. Francis. He also assisted at the translation of the relics of St. Anthony of Padua.
Exo 2:1-15
Mt 11:20-24
“…who appointed you…to be prince over us, and judge?”
As I reflected on today’s passages, it seemed to me that the theme that tied the readings together was about how pride can destroy us. Pride, unfortunately, is one of the sins that I struggle with daily. And I have been struggling with this for most of my adult life.
I believe that I am NOT better than the people that I encounter every day. How can I feel this way, when I was never the smartest person in the class? I was never the tallest, never the best looking, neither was I the most gifted athletically. It’s just that I believe that God has blessed me with some common sense, that I am able to understand things clearer and faster than most people whom I encounter daily.
This blessing can sometimes be a curse in that I get very impatient when the people around me ‘don’t get it’. And this impatience shows itself visibly in my face colour when it turns 3 shades darker than the already dark colour that I have. I pray to God every day that I can take on humility and let God use me as His instrument. Especially in my workplace, where my frustrations sometimes get the better of me. I often wonder as I am dealing with them, “Why are they not getting it? Can’t they just stop talking, just listen and just do it properly?”
In a sense, I get the feeling that some of the people that I work with often express the same sentiments as the Hebrews in the first reading. But I know that my actions or my expressions have consequences. And these consequences have a way of catching up with us. Much like Moses in the first reading, perhaps he thought that being a Prince of Egypt, he would not be found out and could escape with his crime. And the takeaway that I received from this reading is that we should never ever think that we can get away with anything.
My wife, an avid fan of Korean dramas, would sometimes tell me about a certain K-drama actor that would lose all their endorsements and future acting roles, just because someone ‘spilled some tea’ about how this actor bullied a fellow student some twenty to thirty years ago. And that his life would change forever because of this misdemeanour that happened a long time ago.
I struggle daily with my pride and my actions. I pray to Mama Mary to show me her way to humility, to accept God’s will and to let God use me as His instrument. As we celebrate the Feast of St Bonaventure today, may we also celebrate his life of humility and simplicity, even though he served as Minister General in the Franciscan Order and was even elevated to be a Cardinal in the Church.
Brothers and sisters, let us pray that we are able to live out St Bonaventure’s teaching: “The perfection of a religious man is to do common things in a perfect manner”, and that we able to emulate this in our daily life and not let pride take over our words and actions.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Calvin Wee)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, thank you for the gifts that you have bestowed upon us. These gifts that allow us to be your instruments here on Earth. Grant, O Lord, that we may make full use of these gifts to do your will and not let our pride blind us. Lord, lead us and guide us always. Amen.
Thanksgiving: God of Heaven and Earth, thank you for the lives of the saints, especially for St Bonaventure. We pray to St Bonaventure for his prayers for us, that we might follow his example and live a life of humility. For it is in giving that we receive. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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