Sep 23 – Memorial for St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio), Priest
St. Pio (1887-1968) was ordained when he was 22. He founded the House for the Relief of Suffering in 1956, a hospital that serves 60,000 a year. In the 1920s he started a series of prayer groups that continue today with over 400,000 members worldwide.
His canonisation miracle involved the cure of Matteo Pio Colella, aged 7, the son of a doctor who worked in the House for Relief of Suffering, the hospital in San Giovanni Rotondo founded by Padre Pio. On the night of 20 June 2000, Matteo was admitted to the intensive care unit of the hospital with meningitis. By morning, doctors had lost hope for him as nine of the boy´s internal organs had ceased to give signs of life.
That night, during a prayer vigil attended by Matteo’s mother and some Capuchin friars of Padre Pio’s monastery, the child’s condition improved suddenly. When he awoke from the coma, Matteo said that he had seen an elderly man with a white beard and a long, brown habit, who said to him: “Don’t worry, you will soon be cured.”
- Patron Saint Index
Ez 6:7-8,12,14-20
Lk 8:19-21
“Your mother and brothers are standing outside and want to see you.”
As I reflect on today’s Gospel, the words “want to see you” somehow jump right out at me. We are told that when the mother and brothers of Jesus came looking for Him, they could not get to Him because of the crowd, and He was told that they were standing outside and wanted to see Him.
I relate to the mother and brothers of Jesus who wanted to see Him. How often do we look for Jesus, and because of obstacles or circumstances, we somehow do not see Him when we really want to? Sometimes, I look within me and I see how far back I have slid away from God, and then I realise it’s because of what I have done, or what I have not done in my life, that has caused me to distance myself away from God. But yet deep within me, I still desire to see Him.
The gospel goes on to tell us that Jesus replied, “My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and put it into practice”.
I see this as a huge challenge to me. Because it is true that to hear the word of God and put it into practice requires a daily effort of dying to self, self-renunciation, making sacrifices, and all the other things that we might find difficult to do, but yet lead us to a purification of our hearts and minds.
Yet, whilst we purify ourselves by listening to the word of God and practicing it, Jesus our Lord calls us His mother and brothers, his next-of-kin, the persons He holds close to His heart. This to me, is a destination — a goal that I want to achieve, and I hope and pray that for you who are reading this, may this be something for you to work towards to in life.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Nicholas Lee)
Prayer: Lord, may I have the grace to truly listen to your Word and put it into practice daily, so that I can truly be your mother and your brother in life.
Thanksgiving: Thank you Lord, for the grace to be able to savour your Word, so that I may know where you are leading me.
OXYGEN 
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