From:
richarra@gmail.com
Talents Are for Others
"Jesus said: "To the person who has, it shall be given." God will
give more to those who use for others that which they have received.
He will fill up and pile to the brim what he first gave.
Our reflections will be multiplied at his prompting. Thus, in our
service of him we will suffer no shortage but will rather rejoice in a miraculous abundance of ideas."
--St. Augustine--Christian Doctrine 1, 1
Prayer: Lord, my knowledge and my ignorance lie before you. Where you
have opened to me, let me enter. Where you have closed to me, open
when I knock.
--St. Augustine--The Trinity 15, 51
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February 23rd - St Polycarp, Bishop Of Smyrna, Martyr
(69 -155 AD),
Imagine being able to sit at the feet of the apostles and hear their
stories of life with Jesus from their own lips. Imagine walking with
those who had walked with Jesus, seen him, and touched him. That was
what Polycarp was able to do as a disciple of Saint John the
Evangelist.
But being part of the 2nd generation of Church leaders had challenges
that the first generation could not teach about. What did you do when
those eyewitnesses were gone? How do you carry on the correct
teachings of Jesus? How do you answer new questions that never came up
before?
With the apostles gone, heresies sprang up pretending to be true
teaching, persecution was strong, and controversies arose over how to
celebrate liturgy that Jesus never laid down rules for. Polycarp, as a
holy man and bishop of Smyrna, found there was only one answer--to be
true to the life of Jesus and imitate that life. Saint Ignatius of
Antioch told Polycarp “your mind is grounded in God as on an immovable rock.”
When faced with heresy, he showed the “candid face” that Ignatius
admired and that imitated Jesus’ response to the Pharisees. Marcion,
the leader of the Marcionites who followed a dualistic heresy –
believing their were two gods, a wrathful god of the Hebrew Scriptures
and a loving god of the New Testament, confronted Polycarp and
demanded respect by saying, “Recognize us, Polycarp.” Polycarp
responded, “I recognize you, yes, I recognize the son of Satan.”
On the other hand when faced with Christian disagreements he was all forgiveness and respect. One of the controversies of the time came
over the celebration of Easter. The East, where Polycarp was from,
celebrated the Passover as the Passion of Christ followed by a
Eucharist on the following day. The West celebrated Easter on the
Sunday of the week following Passover. When Polycarp went to Rome to
discuss the difference with Pope Anicetus, they could not agree on
this issue. But they found no difference in their Christian beliefs.
And Anicetus asked Polycarp to celebrate the Eucharist in his own
papal chapel.
Polycarp faced persecution the way Christ did. His own church admired
him for following the “gospel model”--not chasing after martyrdom as
some did, particularly the Marcionites, but avoiding it until it was
God’s will as Jesus did. They considered it “a sign of love to desire
not to save oneself alone, but to save also all the Christian brothers
and sisters.”
One day, during a bloody martyrdom when Christians were attacked by
wild animals in the arena, the crowd became so mad that they demanded
more blood by crying, “Down with the atheists; let Polycarp be found.” (They considered Christians “atheists” because they didn’t believe in their pantheon of gods.) Since Polycarp was not only known as a leader
but as someone holy “even before his grey hair appeared”, this was a horrible demand.
Polycarp was calm but others persuaded him to leave the city and hide
at a nearby farm. He spent his time in prayer for people he knew and
for the Church. During his prayer he saw a vision of his pillow turned
to fire and announced to his friends that the dream meant he would be
burned alive.
As the search closed in, he moved to another farm, but the police
discovered he was there by torturing two boys. He had a little warning
since he was upstairs in the house but he decided to stay, saying,
“God’s will be done.”
Then he went downstairs, talked to his captors and fed them a meal.
All he asked of them was that they give him an hour to pray. He spent
two hours praying for everyone he had every known and for the Church, “remembering all who had at any time come his way--small folk and
great folk, distinguished and undistinguished, and the whole Catholic
Church throughout the world.” Many of his captors started to wonder
why they were arresting this holy, 86-year-old bishop.
But that didn’t stop them from taking him into the arena on the
Sabbath. As he entered the arena, the crowd roared like the animals
they cheered. Those around Polycarp heard a voice from heaven above
the crowd, “Be brave, Polycarp, and act like a man.”
The proconsul begged the 86-year-old bishop to give in because of his
age. “Say ‘Away with the atheists'” the proconsul urged. Polycarp
calmly turned to the face the crowd, looked straight at them, and
said, “Away with the atheists.” The proconsul continued to plead with
him. When he asked Polycarp to swear by Caesar to save himself,
Polycarp answered, “If you imagine that I will swear by Caesar, you do
not know who I am. Let me tell you plainly, I am a Christian.”
Finally, when all else failed the proconsul reminded Polycarp that he
would be thrown to the wild animals unless he changed his mind.
Polycarp answered, “Change of mind from better to worse is not a
change allowed to us.”
Because of Polycarp’s lack of fear, the proconsul told him he would be
burned alive but Polycarp knew that the fire that burned for an hour
was better than eternal fire.
When he was tied up to be burned, Polycarp prayed, “Lord God Almighty,
Father of your beloved and blessed Son Jesus Christ, through whom we
have received knowledge of You, God of angels and powers, of the whole
creation and of the whole race of the righteous who live in your
sight, I bless you, for having made me worthy of this day and hour, I
bless you, because I may have a part, along with the martyrs, in the
chalice of your Christ, to resurrection in eternal life, resurrection
both of soul and body in the incorruptibility of the Holy Spirit. May
I be received today, as a rich and acceptable sacrifice, among those
who are in Your presence, as You have prepared and foretold and
fulfilled, God Who is faithful and true. For this and for all benefits
I praise You, I bless You, I glorify You, through the eternal and
heavenly High Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son, through Whom be
to You with Him and the Holy Spirit glory, now and for all the ages to
come. Amen.”
The fire was lit as Polycarp said Amen and then the eyewitnesses who
reported said they saw a miracle. The fire burst up in an arch around
Polycarp, the flames surrounding him like sails, and instead of being
burned he seemed to glow like bread baking, or gold being melted in a
furnace. When the captors saw he wasn’t being burned, they stabbed
him. The blood that flowed put the fire out.
The proconsul wouldn’t let the Christians have the body because he was
afraid they would worship Polycarp. The witnesses reported this with
scorn for the lack of understanding of Christian faith: “They did not
know that we can never abandon the innocent Christ who suffered on
behalf of sinners for the salvation of those in this world.” After the
body was burned, they stole the bones in order to celebrate the memory
of his martyrdom and prepare others for persecution. The date was
about February 23, 155.
Saint Quote:
“Stand fast, therefore, in this conduct and follow the example of the
Lord, ‘firm and unchangeable in faith, lovers of the brotherhood,
loving each other, united in truth,’ helping each other with the
mildness of the Lord, despising no man.”
– Polycarp, Letter to the Philippians
Bible Quote
This is my commandment, that you love one another, as I have loved
you. Greater love than this no man hath, that a man lay down his life
for his friends. You are my friends, if you do the things that I
command you. (John 15:12-14)
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A Prayer For One's Family.
O Jesus, our Lord and our brother!
We recommend our family
and all that is ours to your protection;
we confide all to your love.
Fill our house with blessings,
even as you filled the holy house of Nazareth with your presence;
before all else,
keep sin far from it.
Do you alone reign by your law,
by your most holy love,
and by the exercise of every Christian virtue.
Let all of us obey you, love you,
and study how to copy in our own lives your example,
that of Mary your Mother,
and that of your blameless guardian, St, Joseph.
Keep all evils and misfortunes far from us and our house,
but grant that we may be ever in harmony
with your divine will,
even in the sorrows which you send to us.
Finally, grant us the grace to live in perfect harmony
and in the fullness of charity toward our neighbor.
Grant that every one of us may deserve by a holy life
the comfort of your holy sacraments at the hour of death.
Amen.
--- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05
* Origin: www.darkrealms.ca (1:229/2)