| I'm not a political person, and this blog is not about wordly events, so I'd feel strange partaking in the remembering of the Victims of 9/11 here. At the same time, today's two saints are martyrs of the faith, men who laid down their lives for their faith. There is no parallel between them and the victims of 9/11, but I know that both victims and martyrs are remembered and celebrated together in heaven today, and I trust that the Lord has forgiven those who committed the acts of violence that took the lives of these innocents, and that both victims and those who killed them are able to live in peace together in paradise. Let us pray that this peace they have achieved in heaven, can also be achieved for us, and by us here on earth.
St. Protus and Hyacinth
Died: 257
Traditionally thought to
be Romans, Protus and Hyacinth were brothers, who were also servants in the house of St. Philip (not the apostle!) who served as chamberlians (officer in charge of managing the household of a sovereign or other noble figure) for St Eugenia ( the daughter of Philip). They, along with St Eugenia would have beenarrested and executed for being Christians during the persecution of Emperor Valerian (257–259 AD). The main source for details on their martyrdoms, their acts, is considered very unreliable, although the relics of St. Hyacinth, known to be entirely authentic, were found in 1845 in the cemetery of St. Basilla, Rome. This cult is now confined to local calendars. The day of their annual commemoration is mentioned in the"Depositio Martyrum" on September 11, in the chronographia for the year 354. The chronographia also mentions their graves, in the Cemetery of Basilla on theVia Salaria, later the Catacomb of St. Hermes. Reflections: I don't think I've ever publicly expressedany sentiment like the one I did in my first paragraph,about victims and persecutors being together in peace inheaven. I have no reason to believe this, other than myfirm belief in a God of Mercy whose greatest desire forus is that we know the glorious works of his Kingdom( psalm 145:10 ). To me, the most glorious aspect ofthis kingdom, is God's peace. We can never truly attain it here,but we long for it so much. That's because it is a part of who we are,because in the end, Christ, the king of Peace, is a big part of who we are.
For the past 2 days through the book of Colossians, we've been reading about Paul's Christology, his amazing efforts to explore the nature of Jesus and how that nature impacts us. how this Christ who has always been and will always be is the very source of everything that is. Still, we struggle to be ' raised with Christ'. We get distracted by the din of the world and all its distractions, we easily lose our sense of the path that Christ has set out for us. Paul gives us the remedy for this in Colossians. If our minds are on Christ, on things that are above, we will 'die to ourselves' a little more, and live in Christ more fully. It's a conscious choice we can make, just like working for peace requires a lot more effort than protesting for it, or singing about it. It's a conscious effort to let peace reign in our heart and mind so that our entire disposition is one of peace, and t herefore, one united with the will of God (atheists can also be people of peace, but we're not talking about being people of peace here...we're talking about letting peace rule our entire lives, so that the divine energy runs through every part of our body!)
This won't happen overnight, but is instead the labors of a lifetime. Paul tries to give specific steps we could take to achieve this (let go of anger, wrath, malice and slander; stop fornicating, being impure or too passionate) but the real road map for any Christian to follow comes from the Beatitudes, either the Matthew 5 version of them, or the Luke 6, which we read today. For we are most united with God, when we finally understand that it's in our suffering, our poverty, our grief and our own darkness that we experience God's love for us the most. This is something the Martyrs of the faith always have before them. How could they recant their faith when they know that Christ is always within them, before and behind them.
Colossians 3: 1 - 11 | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | If then you have been raised with Christ, seek the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 2 | Set your minds on things that are above, not on things that are on earth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 3 | For you have died, and your life is hid with Christ in God. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 4 | When Christ who is our life appears, then you also will appear with him in glory. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 5 | Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: fornication, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 6 | On account of these the wrath of God is coming. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 7 | In these you once walked, when you lived in them. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 8 | But now put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and foul talk from your mouth. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 9 | Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old nature with its practices | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 10 | and have put on the new nature, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its creator. | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| 11 | Here there cannot be Greek and Jew, circumcised and uncircumcised, barbarian, Scyth'ian, slave, free man, but Christ is all, and in all.
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Wednesday 11 September 2013
Christ in everything: Readings for Wednesday September 11th
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