Sep 17 – Memorial for St. Robert Bellarmine, Bishop and Doctor
St. Robert (1542-1621) wrote the most complete work of his day to defend Catholicism against Protestant attack. He also wrote a children’s catechism and a catechism for teachers. As cardinal-priest, he gave most of his money to the poor. At one point he used the tapestries in his living quarters to clothe the poor, saying that “the walls won’t catch cold”.
He was involved in settling various disputes, including that of King James I and the Vatican in 1607 and 1609, concerning control of the Church in England, action against Galileo Galilei with whom he established a friendly correspondence, but was forced to deliver the order for the scientist to submit to the Church, and issues concerning clerical discipline and Vatican authority. He was proclaimed a Doctor of the Church on 17 September 1931.
- Patron Saint Index
1 Cor 15:1-11
Lk 7:36-50
…the gospel will save you only if you keep believing exactly what I preached to you – believing anything else will not lead to anything.
What does the Gospel teach us?
The Gospel is the Good News, and that Good News is rooted in believing in the life, death and resurrection of Jesus Christ. St Paul reminds us that it is not enough to hear the Gospel once or to believe for a season. We must continue to turn towards Jesus, trust in Him and remain faithful to Him. If we turn away from the Gospel and place our faith in something else, we risk losing sight of the very source of our hope.
Yet, remaining faithful is not always easy. The moment trials and suffering come into our lives, we can find ourselves questioning, or even blaming, God. When it feels as though He is ignoring our prayers and petitions, we begin to question His goodness. Why does He allow good people, His own children, to be hurt by others? Why does He allow innocent people to suffer?
When our prayers seem unanswered and our suffering seems to have no meaning, it becomes very easy to question our faith and lose our trust in a loving God. The ways of the Lord can be difficult for us to understand, and sometimes even harder to accept. So how do we keep believing in Jesus, especially when we cannot see, hear or feel Him? How can the poor and destitute continue to find hope? How can those who have been abused, betrayed or broken continue to believe that God is good and loving?
It takes faith. And it takes perseverance. St Paul and the apostles showed us what this looks like. So did the martyrs, the saints and countless ordinary people who continued to trust in Jesus despite tremendous suffering. Their faith did not mean that they never experienced fear, doubt or pain. Rather, they continued to cling to Christ in the midst of it all. Perhaps, that is what perseverance in faith really means — not that we never struggle, but that we continue to turn towards Jesus even when we struggle. And we do not do this by our own strength alone. We need God’s grace, but we also need to keep putting ourselves in places where that grace can work in us.
I am especially saddened when I see friends who were once so fired up after their Conversion Experience Retreat (CER), but who have since drifted away from the Church and no longer go to Mass. It makes me wonder: How do we keep believing in the Gospel after the initial fire and excitement have faded? For me, the answer goes back to a promise I made to Jesus on the last day of my CER. I wanted to stay close to Him and not lose the love I had received.
In the months and years that followed, I spent a lot of time before the Blessed Sacrament in adoration. I went for retreats, attended formation and Bible classes, joined church ministries and became part of prayer communities. I needed all these things to keep fanning the fire that had been lit within me.
I have come to realise that I cannot do this alone. Faith needs to be nurtured. Just as a fire needs fuel to keep burning, our relationship with Jesus needs time, prayer, community, scripture and formation. We need people who can walk with us, especially when our own faith becomes weak.
Every step I have taken, every choice and decision I have made to grow closer to Jesus, has helped to move my faith forward. It has not been a perfect journey. Along the way, I have faced my fair share of setbacks, disappointments and challenges. But strangely enough, these things did not push me away from Jesus. If anything, they brought me closer to Him. When I had nowhere else to turn, I clung more tightly to Him. And perhaps this is what St Paul is reminding us today. Keep believing. Keep returning to the Gospel. Keep turning towards Jesus.
Our faith is not sustained by one retreat, one powerful prayer experience or one moment when we felt close to God. Those moments are precious, but they are only the beginning. What matters is what we do afterwards.
We keep showing up. We keep praying. We keep seeking. We keep learning. We keep walking with others. And when our faith becomes weak, we ask God for the grace to hold on.
Believing in Jesus has brought so much peace and joy into my life. The more I come to know Him, the more I realise that I simply cannot imagine my life without Him anymore. The Good News is no longer just something I believe. It has become how I live.
(Today’s OXYGEN by Cynthia Chew)
Prayer: Dear Jesus, our Lord and Saviour, the Good News to all who are willing to hear. Stir our hearts so that it is filled with zest for living a life after yours. Forgive us for the times when our hearts grew cold or have hardened, for not knowing you better and for not trusting in you. Let us not rely on our own strength, but to always turn to you every day. Amen
Thanksgiving: Thank you, Jesus, for your sacrifice, pardon and love for us – even when we are not worthy. Help us to hear your good news every day. Amen.
OXYGEN 
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