FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR–1/31/10
by Msgr. Eric R. Barr, S.T.L.
READINGS: JEREMIAH 1:4-5,17-19; I CORINTHIANS 12:31-13:13; LUKE4:21-30
THE STORY OF ST. BLAISE
In the darkness of his prison, no light shone, no glimmer of day was permitted. He was denied even the chance to see himself, much less the face of any other. The cells where Christians were kept were in the lowest part of the Roman prison, damp places where rats lived and all things foul and evil dwelled in that darkness. His name was Blaise and he was bishop of the town of Sebastea in what is now modern day Turkey. And Blaise was all alone. That was a new experience for him--he was loved by his people and known for his ability to bring healing to all in need. And now all that was over--he sat in prison, in the darkness, awaiting death because he was the leader of the Christians. Months ago in a dream, the Lord told Blaise to flee to the forest because the Romans were coming to look for him. Blaise did as he was told, but even the animals of the woodlands came to hear him preach about Christ and cure their illnesses. His people soon discovered where he was and sought him for help in the midst of the wilderness. It was their need that proved his undoing. A woman came to see him--"My son, Bishop, you must help my son. Last night while he was eating, a bone caught in his throat. We could not dislodge it, and he can barely breathe. His pulse is faint, he is unconscious, my son is dying." And Blaise could not refuse. He went to the woman's house in the town. He touched the throat of her son and brought the boy back from the shadow of death.
But he was seen by the Romans, who came to his place of hiding in the woods and took him by force to prison, and cast him in this cell of darkness where he now sat forsaken. "I am all alone," said Blaise to the night that seeped into his soul. "Never!" spoke a voice through the dark, "You are never alone for I am the Light of the World!" And as soon as those words were spoken, the door of his cell opened, and down the stairs into the pit walked the woman whose son he had healed the day before. She carried candles, lit brightly which cast away the dark. "They let me in, the guards did," she said. "They say you are to die. You brought my son back from the darkness of death--at least these candles will remind you of Christ our Light, until you meet him face to face. I am sorry I cannot do more." And Blaise smiled. "Death I do not fear, milady. But the darkness was fearsome and you have given me hope. You have risked your own life to bring light into mine. Through the power of God I healed your son; by bringing these candles you have brought the light of Christ back to my heart. This I tell you--throughout the ages, you and your deed of mercy shall be remembered."
And so it happened. The next day, Blaise died a martyr for the faith of Christ, beheaded by the Roman governor. But the people who loved him remembered him and the woman who gave him hope. Each year on his feast, the throats of the people are blessed and St. Blaise is asked to pray for them to God to keep the people free from diseases of the throat and from every other evil. And the people's throats are blessed with candles to remind them that the healer of body and soul is Christ, the Light of the World, to remind them that when we burn with the light of Christ, we too bring healing to others.
I. The Power Of Christ To Bring Conflict, Truth and Healing
A. St. Blaise Day really falls next Wednesday and it would be a shame to miss out on the Blessing of Throats so we are going to do that next weekend. It’s a great Catholic practice that brings home to us the message and meaning of the readings today: Christ and his Gospel bring conflict, truth and healing. Usually I wait till the weekend of the blessing to tell this story, but it fits the readings, so I thought I’d tell the story today so you can think about it and use it all this week to reflect on the power Christ has to heal us but also challenge us to change because he is the Way, the Truth and the Life. There’s also another reason for telling this story. Lots of our brothers and sisters no longer worship with us. Many just think the Church doesn’t have anything of value to say to them. Yet if you ask them, nearly all say they need healing in their lives. How can we or they ever have forgotten that one of the great things that originally drew people to the Church was that it preserved Christ’s healing power within it through the sacraments and the prayers of its members. Maybe remembering St. Blaise and taking part in the Blessing of Throats next week might be a great reminder that the Church is not powerless in this modern era. Indeed, Christ’s healing presence is here.
B. Yet, suffering and hurt are part of life in our day and age. Face it, you cannot believe in God and God’s values without suffering for it. Doing the will of God, standing up for God’s message makes people, even members of your own faith, hate you and be angry at you. Look at Jeremiah in the First Reading--his enemies were his own people. The more he spoke as God wanted him to speak, the more trouble he got in. Look at Jesus; at first, the people love what he says, until he says some things they don’t like--then they want to kill him. But Jesus has to speak the truth--he cannot do anything less, regardless of the cost. And one of his great followers, St. Blaise, well he had to speak the Gospel too, and the Romans killed him for it. Jeremiah, Christ, and Blaise all gave their lives for what they believed. Christ and his Gospel bring conflict.
C. But Christ is also the Light of the World--he brings truth. What God said in the Old Testament through prophets like Jeremiah, what Jesus said in his teaching, what St. Blaise said in witnessing to Christ--this is the one truth. The Gospel has the answers; our faith is true. Jesus is a light shining in the darkness of uncertainty, despair, and moral relativism. The Gospel is not just opinion; Christ wasn’t just sharing his thoughts when he walked the hills of Galilee--he was speaking the truth. Let’s say it another way. When Jeremiah spoke as a prophet, he became transparent and the Holy Spirit spoke through him. Jesus is God, and when he spoke and taught the people, the people saw and heard God. When St. Blaise preached and taught and finally gave his life for the faith, people saw God speaking and working through him. When you hold on to the truth, you come close to God; when you fight it, you get distant from the Lord.
D. Finally, Christ and his Gospel bring healing. In the Old Testament, once the people finally listened to Jeremiah, the Word of God brought them healing and comfort. When people put their faith in Christ, Christ healed them of their illnesses, their sorrow, their despair. When St. Blaise allowed Christ to work through him, he was able to cure people’s ills. How? Who has comforted us most, help us heal through our hurts--isn’t it people who are truly good, truly holy, truly close to God who have helped us most? When you yourself are close to Christ, you become transparent and the presence of God shines through. Holy people can bring healing because they are better conductors of God’s grace. And for those who come in contact with them, like I said before, when you come close to the truth, you come close to God and when you are close to God, you are more likely to be healed of all that torments you, whether that be sickness, or despair, or other troubles.
II. Do We Need To Be Healed? Draw Close To The Truth, Regardless Of The Conflict It Causes
A. These are difficult times. On the news, we hear scandalous allegations. It seems that many leaders give mixed messages on morality and that shakes us; we have people questioning basic moral values. To top it off, here within our own parish, we have a lot of sickness, a lot of people are just feeling poorly. The days are dark; the winter is long. Maybe Christ and the Gospel are just what the doctor ordered.
B. Christianity, our Catholic faith, has real power in our lives and sometimes, I think we get so busy that we forget that. We are going to be doing some things in February to start to change that. This coming weekend at all the Masses, we will have the Blessing of Throats, St. Blaise’s Blessing, so that we can call to mind the healing power of Christ. We need to recover and expand these wonderful traditions of our faith so that our daily lives will be more surrounded by an awareness of the Presence of God. Next weekend, we will also start the Novena to Madonna della Strada, Our Lady of the Streets, to pray that those who may not be practicing their Catholic faith will come home to us. And of course, Ash Wednesday will be starting soon, a special one this year where we hope to welcome back many who have been gone for awhile. In this dark time, in this time of cold and endurance, our faith tells us to hold on, trust, and be peaceful. Christ the Light is here; Christ the healer is with us; Christ the Truth will bring us new life, new hope–Christ will bring the spring.
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