May 29 — Memorial of St Paul VI, Pope
Pope Paul VI was head of the Catholic Church and sovereign of the Vatican City State from 21 June 1963 to his death in August 1978. Succeeding John XXIII, he continued the Second Vatican Council, which he closed in 1965, implementing its numerous reforms. He fostered improved ecumenical relations with Eastern Orthodox and Protestant churches, which resulted in many historic meetings and agreements. In January 1964, he flew to Jordan, the first time a reigning pontiff had left Italy in more than a century.
Paul VI spoke repeatedly to Marian conventions and Mariological meetings, visited Marian shrines and issued three Marian encyclicals. Following Ambrose of Milan, he named Mary as the Mother of the Church during the Second Vatican Council. He described himself as a humble servant of a suffering humanity and demanded significant changes from the rich in North America and Europe in favour of the poor in the Third World. His opposition to birth control in the 1968 encyclical Humanae vitae was strongly contested, especially in Western Europe and North America. The same opposition emerged in reaction to some of his political doctrines.
Pope Benedict XVI, citing his heroic virtue, proclaimed him venerable on 20 December 2012. Pope Francis beatified Paul VI on 19 October 2014, after the recognition of a miracle attributed to his intercession. His liturgical feast was celebrated on the date of his birth, 26 September, until 2019 when it was changed to the date of his priestly ordination, 29 May. Pope Francis canonised him on 14 October 2018.
- Wikipedia
1 Pet 4:7-13
Mk 11:11-26
Each one of you has received a special grace, so, like good stewards responsible for all these different graces of God, put yourselves at the service of others.
What is our special grace that God has graciously given to us to serve others? For the longest time, I struggled with this question and continue to struggle with this question.
I don’t believe that I have received some special gift that makes me different from others. Have I been given intellectual smarts, such as what God granted Solomon? Most of my grades in school were above average at best. Did God grant me the gift of being creative – i.e., the ability to paint, draw or write? Well, one of the two subjects that I failed in secondary school was Art, so I don’t think so. Did God grant me the gift of athletic prowess? Well, I can play and enjoy most sports, but I have never won medals or been a champion of a particular sport. Did God grant me the grace of being physically attractive as Eliab was when Jesse presented him to Samuel? Well, I have never been a model and my nickname in junior college was ‘Tubby’, so go figure.
For the longest time, I was struggling to figure out what my special gifts were. Especially while reflecting on readings like today’s, about how we should use the gifts to serve others. So, what are my gifts?
Other than the gift of irritating people, which my wife can totally attest to, I think God gave me an ongoing curiosity to learn new things. I have been fascinated by general knowledge from a young age and read the entire Encyclopaedia Britannica when I was in primary school. I would always try to learn more about things, being able to just listen and absorb what others talk about — from sports, to comics, to special fads, to the latest trends in music, fashion – in other words, just being a busybody. And this knowledge that I absorb allows me to speak to most people and what I know allows me to answer the more common questions. So much so, that a new nickname that I was given was ‘askcalvin.com’. That was indeed hilarious at that time, especially when some unsuspecting person actually went to askcalvin.com to look for answers.
This curiosity to learn more also expanded to our faith. I am often very surprised at how deep our faith is. The more we start to delve, the more we can learn from the Church’s teachings, what the early Church fathers taught, and why we believe what we believe. For a time, I was also eagerly devouring the podcasts from ‘Catholic Answers’, where their apologetics gave answers to some of the more commonly asked questions, for example “Why do Catholics pray to the saints?”, “Where in the bible can you find the concept of Purgatory?”, and “Do Catholics work their way to Heaven?”
The knowledge I gained from listening to these apologetics gave me the confidence to engage with certain Protestants on their misconception of Catholic beliefs; and also, I remembered having a good, in-depth discussion on our faith with a friend who was attending the Bible Studies Fellowship courses. It was a respectful discussion and we learnt much from each other.
I am currently serving as a lector in my parish and sometimes during the sharing sessions, I share what I have learnt with my fellow lectors who may have certain questions about the readings that we were to proclaim, or even just questions about the faith that they might have. I really enjoy sharing this knowledge.
Perhaps this is my gift. God has given me this special grace to absorb, to learn and the courage to share what I have learnt to others. I really do enjoy helping people, and one of my main joys is to guide the more junior members of my team, sharing my experiences with them and mentoring them to one day becoming a great manager on their own.
How can I use this grace for the service of others? I will continue to pray to let the Holy Spirit guide me and for Jesus to show me the way, as I continue in my faith journey and do as Jesus taught us that we are “to serve and not be served.”
(Today’s OXYGEN by Calvin Wee)
Prayer: Heavenly Father, I pray for the grace to always be open to your will; to always be ready to serve others with the special gifts that you have bestowed upon us. May our hearts be always ready to receive you, and may we always choose to serve you in our own special and unique ways. Amen.
Thanksgiving: Heavenly Father, I thank you for the gift of knowledge, the gift of curiosity and more importantly, the gift of our faith. We know that we are nothing without You and we thank you for the most important gift of all — the gift of Jesus, who came to serve and not to be served. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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