St. Blaise

In the fourth century, in Sabastea, Armenia (today Sivas, Turkey), a physician named Barsegh (Blaise) was chosen by acclamation to be the Bishop. Of the many people he is said to have cured, the most enduring of the stories, is that of a woman whose child had a fish bone stuck in his throat who was immediately, miraculously healed.  It was during the reign of the emperor, Valerius Licinianus Licinius that a persecution of Christians took place in the area. The Bishop was beaten with iron combs used at the time for carding wool, and then beheaded.

In eariy art he was depicted with the wool combs and it was only later, with his feast day being placed on the day after The Feast of the Presentation when we bless candles, that the iconography began to depict him with candles, and the tradition developed that on this day we would bless throats using candles, blessed the previous day and  held in the shape of a cross.  Present practice uses the words : Through the intercession of Saint Blase, bishop and martyr, may God deliver you from every disease of the throat and from every other illness: In the name of the Father, and of the Son, + and of the Holy Spirit.

Shadows and Light

Punxsutawney Phil, makes his appearance today and we wait to see. Will he see his shadow or not? Or to put the question another way, will it be shadow or light? If he sees his shadow there will be six more weeks of winter. If the light wins out, winter will soon end.

Groundhog day is another of the great "marriages" between the pagan and the Christian. Why is ground hog day February 2? Because it's the Feast of the Presentation or Candlemas Day. It is the day we celebrate announcement by Simeon that Jesus would be "a light for revelation to the Gentiles, and glory for your people Israel."  In honor of that light, it is the day we bless candles, the constant reminders in our tradition that Christ is the light that the darkness cannot overcome.

By now most of us are  tired of winter and this year seems to have been as gray as any ever have been  here in Richmond. We yearn for the sun.  As Christians, however, we know that whatever happens in PA this morning we carry the light of Christ within us. On this Candlemas day, let us be that light to all we encounter.

The voice we don't want to hear.

Today we continue to follow David as his kingdom falls apart. The people have abandoned his leadership for that of Absalom (the father of peace). David heads out toward a village that is east of Jerusalem, near that Mount of Olives.  Despite the fact that David is king and has his soldiers with Shimei dares to say out loud what David already knows, that he is a murderer.

To his credit David has the wisdom to recognize that perhaps this man is sent by God,  It would have been easy for him to simply have him killed to shut him up or dismiss him as crazy.  None of us wants to be reminded of our sin. And rarely do we want to listen to those who disagree with us. There are times in all our lives when we need a Shemei, the person who will speak the truth we don't want to hear, even if it hurts. Are we truly open to hearing the truth in whatever form it comes?

Sadly, this was only a moment of wisdom, because in the end David will order Shemei killed (1 Kings 2:8-9) for insulting him. Are there people we are angry with because they have spoken some truth?

The Impact of Fame and Authority

The first reading today shocks almost no one. We have seen so many such stories we become immune to the impact. Has the world become a worse place, no. On the contrary, if one is a student of history, one realizes immediately that the world has become a much more civilized place as the Christian faith has spread. What makes it feel worse is that sin that used to be a very private matter is now broadcast all day everywhere.
We can go back in our own nation's history at least as far as Jefferson to find adultery through a host of political figures to the most recent case of Tiger Wood. What they all have in common is that there power and fame exacerbation a tendency that can take place in any person, the tendency to explain away our sin.
While we look judgmentally on these famous people, we can forget that Lust is not the only sin that was considered dead there are six others:
Pride (judging others), Greed, Envy, Anger , Gluttony, and Sloth (Apathy)

The key for all of is that we recogize in ourselves when we begin to explain away the small sins before they grow, and the sins we explain away with "Everybody does it."

Blogging from the Capitol

Both bishops are here and children and adults from both dioceses.

Abandonment by God

but I will not withdraw my favor from him as I withdrew it from your predecessor Saul,
whom I removed from my presence.

Is is possible for a person to be abandoned by God? We can certainly feel at times abandoned by God.

This is a question that people have wrestled with since the beginning, and the earliest awareness of the presence of God. Many including our ancestors understood God in this way, as seen in this passage from today's first reading--- Another reason why we must be careful when we simply pull verses from the bible and forget that as Christians the Old Testament must be seen through the lens of the New Testament, and how the new covent not only fulfilled but expanded the old.

With the "new and everlasting covenant" in Christ, we are no longer simply "God's people" but truly become God's children. This means among other things that we cannot be abandoned by God. Even in the case of moral sin God does not "remove us from his presence." On the contrary, mortal sin, and indeed hell itself is an act of our free will. We can of our own free will separate ourself from God, but God will never separate himself from us. No more that any other child can stop being a related to their parent.

The truth was most recently underscored when the Holy Father, altered the Code of Canon striking for several canons the phrase "left the Church by a formal act." Once you are baptized, you are a child of God and a member of the Church. This cannot be undone. Even when you are forbidden to come to the table of the Lord (excommunication), you remain a member of the family.

As for hell, permenant separation from God. This too must be something that is not imposed on us by a loving God, but something we choose by a full and free act of the will. According to the Catechism of Catholic Church this permanent separation from God can only result from "a willful turning away from God (a mortal sin) is necessary, and persistence in it until the end." Until the last nanosecond of our life, God is the Father of the prodigal son waiting to embrace us and welcome us home.

Conversion of St. Paul

A figure that often gets lost is one of the figures that we should know from history, Gamaliel. There can be know doubt of how well St. Paul was formed in the law, because the first reading today tells us of how he studied at the feet of Gamaliel.

Gamaliel is considered to be one of the greatest teachers of the Jewish faith. In the Mishna he is referred to with the title Rabban, the Head of the Sanhedrin. And it is he who is credited during the fight over how to deal with the followers of Jesus with saying "if the Gospel be of men, it will come to naught, but if it be of God, you will not be able to overthrow it"

He was right. It has not been overthrown, and despite sometimes horrific errors in our past, we have brought Jewish/Christian relations to good place in our time. There is still much that we can learn from the study of our parent faith. As we celebrate St. Paul's conversion, let us also take moment today to show reverence for Gamaliel and the formation that prepared St. Paul for this moment.