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Better times to come….. Read: Matthew 8:5-11 |
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"On that day, the branch of the Lord will be luster and glory, and the fruit of the earth will be honor and splendor for the survivors of Israel." Is 4:2 I'm fairly certain these words did not inspire hope in the folks who heard Isaiah speak them. I'm pretty sure they thought Isaiah was nuts! In the midst of the devastation of war and universal corruption and immorality, they would have dismissed him as crazy. How could anyone anticipate a time of the Lord's blessing and glory, God's sovereignty and holiness, and a return to a time of flourishing? Just plain foolishness. His message is as much a challenge to us now, as it was to folks then. Universal health care? Immigration reform? Economic recovery and increased employment? No matter what your political perspective, it's hard to imagine these happening soon. Anyone that thinks it's possible is crazy. "Too much corruption and dishonesty and greed," "You don't know human nature," or "I'm a realist- it'll never happen". Our “problem” is not that we have given up on a vision for the future; our “problem” is that we have given up on God's action and presence now... in us, among us, with us. When we think of "hope", it's hard to comprehend that in any other way than looking forward to "a time when....” We see it in the desperate faces of a family praying for healing and health for a loved one, or a spouse praying for employment for her husband, or students praying for an "A" on an exam or to pass a course or to get accepted to professional school. Our hope is too small. We hope for particular outcomes for the future. Yes, it's good to pray for all these ... but can we pray also that we recognize God's laboring for us now, in the present? Can we trust there is something happening here beyond what we can see or know right now? Can we get out of the way? In Matthew's Gospel reading for today, a centurion tells Jesus that his servant is lying at home, paralyzed, suffering dreadfully. He doesn't tell Jesus what his servant needs; he simply comes to Jesus in faith and trust. Is healing what happens when we are open enough to set aside prejudices, categories, and expectations, coming simply, with trust and faith? Isaiah's words are a challenge to us, not so much because they encourage us to trust in God's action in and for the future, to hope for "better times to come"; they are a challenge because they encourage us to trust in God's actions now. Can we hope in God's action without demanding a particular outcome? Can we be vulnerable enough to let God be present, in the way God wants to show up? Can we join the Psalmist in praying: "I rejoiced because they said to me, "We will go up to the house of the Lord." and now we have set foot within your gates, O Jerusalem"? |
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Reflection: Look back at a time when you got better from a sickness. Do you believe it was God who healed you through whatever means was used?
Lord, come and make me whole with Your touch.
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Today’s Bible Reading :
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Saturninus boldly replied: "I adore one only God, and to him I am ready to offer a sacrifice of praise. Your gods are devils, and are more delighted with the sacrifice of your souls than with those of your bullocks. How can I fear them who, as you acknowledge, tremble before a Christian?" The infidels, incensed at this reply, abused the saint with all the rage that a mad zeal could inspire, and after a great variety of indignities, tied his feet to a wild bull, which was brought thither to be sacrificed. The beast being driven from the temple, ran violently down the hill, so that the martyr's scull was broken, and his brains dashed out. His happy soul was released from the body by death, and fled to the kingdom of peace and glory, and the bull continued to drag the sacred body, and the limbs and blood were scattered on every side, till, the cord breaking, what remained of the trunk was left in the plain without the gates of the city. Two devout women laid the sacred remains on a bier, and hid them in a deep ditch, to secure them from any further insult, where they lay in "wooden coffin" till the reign of Constantine the Great. Then Hilary, bishop of Toulouse, built a small chapel over this his holy predecessor's body Sylvius, bishop of that city towards the close of the fourth century, began to build a magnificent church in honor of the martyr, which was finished and consecrated by his successor Exuperius, who, with great pomp and piety, translated the venerable relics into it. This precious treasure remains there to this day with due honor. The martyrdom of this saint probably happened m the reign of Valerian, in 257.
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DAILY HIGHLIGHTS |
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“I will come and cure him. ” Matthew 8:7 |
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St. Saturninus Bishop of Toulouse and Martyr November 29 A.D. 257 St. Saturninus went from Rome by the direction of pope Fabian, about the year 245, to preach the faith in Gaul, where St. Trophimus, the first bishop of Arles, had some time before gathered a plentiful harvest. In the year 250, when Decius and Gratus were consuls, St. Saturninus fixed his episcopal see at Toulouse. Fortunatus tells us, that he converted a great number of idolaters by his preaching and miracles. This is all the account we have of him till the time of his holy martyrdom. The author of his acts, who wrote about fifty years after his death, relates, that he assembled his flock in a small church; and that the capitol, which was the chief temple in the city, lay in the way between that church and the saint's habitation. In this temple oracles were given; but the devils were struck dumb by the presence of the saint as he passed that way. The priests spied him one day going by, and seized and dragged him into the temple. declaring that he should either appease the offended deities by offering sacrifice to them, or expiate the crime with his blood. |
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TODAYS SAINT: St. Saturninus |
