Saint Polycarp, Bishop & Martyr
Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna, was a disciple of
Saint John. He wrote to the Philippians, exhorting them to mutual
love and to hatred of heresy. When the apostate Marcion met Saint
Polycarp at Rome, he asked the aged Saint if he knew him. Yes, Saint
Polycarp answered, I know you for the first-born of Satan. These were
the words of a Saint, most loving and most charitable, and specially
noted for his compassion to sinners. He abhorred heresy, because he
loved God and man so well.
In 167 persecution broke out in Smyrna. When Polycarp
heard that his pursuers were at the door, he said, The Will of God be
done; and meeting them, he begged to be left alone for a little time,
which he spent in prayer for the Catholic Church throughout the
world. He was brought to Smyrna early on Holy Saturday; and as he
entered, a voice was heard from heaven, Polycarp, be strong. When the
proconsul urged him to curse Christ and go free, Polycarp answered,
Eighty-six years I have served Him, and He never did me wrong; how
can I blaspheme my King and Saviour? When he threatened him with
fire, Polycarp told him this fire of his lasted but a short time,
while the fire prepared for the wicked lasted forever.
At the stake he thanked God aloud for letting him
drink of Christ's chalice. The fire was lighted, but it did him no
harm; therefore he was stabbed to the heart, and his dead body was
burnt. Then, say the writers of his acts, we took up the bones, more
precious than the richest jewels or gold, and deposited them in a
fitting place, at which may God grant us to assemble with joy, to
celebrate the birthday of the martyr to his life in heaven!
THIRD SUNDAY AFTER EPIPHANY (anticipated)
INTROIT:
Adore
God, all ye His angels: Sion heard, and was glad; and the daughters
of Juda rejoiced. The Lord hath reigned; let the earth rejoice; let
the many islands be glad. (Ps. XCVI. 1.) Glory be to the Father, etc.
COLLECT:
Almighty everlasting God, mercifully look upon
our infirmity, and stretch forth the right hand of Thy majesty for
our protection. Through our protection. Through our etc.
EPISTLE:
(Rom. XII. 16-21.) Brethren, be not wise in your own conceits. To no
man rendering evil for evil: providing good things not only in the
sight of God, but also in the sight of all men. If it be possible, as
much as is in you, having peace with all men; not revenging
yourselves, my dearly beloved but give place unto wrath; for it is
written: Revenge is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord. But if thy
enemy be hungry, give him to eat; if he thirst, give him to drink;
for doing this, thou shaft heap coals of fire upon his head. Be not
overcome by evil, but overcome evil by good.
When
are we overcome by evil?
When
we wish to take revenge. "Revenge is no sign of courage,"
says St. Ambrose, "but rather of weakness and cowardice. As it
is the sign of a very weak stomach to be unable to digest food, so it
is the mark of a very weak mind to be unable to bear a harsh word."
"Are you impatient," says the same saint, "you are
overcome; are you patient, you have overcome."
What
should we do if our reputation is injured?
We
should leave its revenge, or its defence and protection to God, who
has retained that for Himself. "But as a good name," says
St. Francis de Sales, "is the main support of human society, and
as without it we could not be useful to that society, but even
hurtful to it on account of scandal, we should feel bound, for love
of our neighbor, to aim after a good reputation, and to preserve it."
We should not be too sensitive about this, however, for too great a
sensitiveness makes one obstinate, eccentric, and intolerable, and
only tends to excite and increase the malice of the detractors. The
silence and contempt with which we meet a slander or an injustice, is
generally a more efficacious antidote than sensitiveness, anger, or
revenge. The contempt of a slander at once disperses it, but anger
shows a weakness, and gives the accusation an appearance of
probability. If this does not suffice, and the slander continues, let
us persevere in humility' and lay our honor and our soul into the
hands of God, according to the admonitions of the Apostle.
How
do we "heap coals of fire on the head of our enemy?"
When
we return him good for evil, for seeing our well meaning towards him,
the flush of shame reddens his face for the wrongs he has done us.
St. Augustine explains these words thus: "By giving food and
drink or doing other kindnesses to your enemy, you will heap coals,
not of anger, but of love, upon his head, which will inflame him to
return love for love." Learn therefore, from the example of
Christ and His saints, not to allow yourself to be overcome by evil,
but do good to those that hate and persecute you.
ASPIRATION:
Ah, that I
might, according to the words of St. Paul, so live that I may be a
child of the Heavenly Father, who lets His sun shine on the just and
the unjust!
GOSPEL:
(Matt. VIII. 1-13.) At that time, when Jesus was
come don from the mountain, great multitudes followed him; and
behold, a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou
canst make me clean. And Jesus, stretching forth his hand,
touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his
leprosy was cleansed. And Jesus saith to him, See thou tell no man:
but go, show thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses
commanded for a testimony unto them. And when he had entered into
Capharnaum, there came to him a centurion, beseeching him, and
saying: Lord, my servant Beth at home sick of the palsy, and is
grievously tormented. And Jesus saith to him: I will come and heal
him. And the centurion making answer, said: Lord, I am not worthy
that thou shouldst enter under my roof; but only say the word, and my
servant shall be healed. For I also am a man subject to authority,
having under me soldiers; and I say to this man: Go, and he goeth;
and to another: Come, and he cometh; and to my servant: Do this, and
he doeth it. And Jesus hearing this, marvelled; and said to them that
followed him: Amen I say to you, I have not found so great faith in
Israel. And I sad to you that many shall come from the east and the
west, and shall sit down with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob in the
kingdom of heaven; but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into
the exterior darkness: there shall be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
And Jesus said to the centurion: Go, and as thou hast believed, so be
it done to thee; and the servant was healed at the same hour.
Why
did the leper say: “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean"?
He
believed Christ to be the promised Messiah, who as true God had the
power to heal him. From this we learn to have confidence in the
omnipotence of God, who is a helper in all need, (Ps. CVI. 6. 73.
19.) and to leave all to the will of God, saying: Lord, if it be
pleasing to Thee, and well for me, grant my petition.
Why
did Jesus stretch forth His hand and touch the leper?
To
show that He was not subject to the law which forbade the touching of
a leper through fear of infection, which could not affect Jesus; to
reveal the health-giving, curative power of His flesh, which
dispelled leprosy by the simple touch of His hand; to give us an
example of humility and of love for the poor sick, that we may learn
from Him to have no aversion to the infirm, but lovingly to assist
the unfortunate sick for the sake of Jesus who took upon Himself the
leprosy of our sins. The saints have faithfully imitated Him in their
tender care for those suffering from the most disgusting diseases.
Oh, how hard it will be for those to stand before the Tribunal of God
at the Last Day, who cannot even bear to look at the poor and sick!
Why
did Christ command the leper to tell no man?
To
instruct us that we should not make known our good works in order to
obtain frivolous praise, (Matt. VI 1.) which deprives us of our
heavenly reward.
Why
did Christ send the healed leper to the Priest?
That
he might observe the law which required all the healed lepers to show
themselves to the priests, to offer a sacrifice, to be examined and
pronounced clean: that the priest if he beheld the miracle of the
sudden cure of the leper, might know Him who had wrought the cure, to
be the Messiah; and finally, to teach us that we must honor the
priests because of their high position, even when they do not live in
a manner worthy of their dignity, as was the case with the Jewish
priests.
What
it taught by the centurion's solicitude for his servant?
That
masters should take care of their sick servants, see that they are
attended to in their illness, and above all that they are provided
with the Sacraments. It is unchristian, even cruel and barbarous, to
drive from the house a poor, sick servant, or to leave him lying in
his distress without assistance or care.
Why
did Christ say: I wild come and heal him?
Because
of His humility, by which He, although God and Lord of lords, did not
hesitate to visit a sick servant. Here Christ's humility puts to
shame many persons of position who think themselves too exalted to
attend the wants of a poor servant.
Why
did the centurion say: Lord, I am not worthy that Thou shouldst enter
under my roof?
Because
he recognised Christ's divinity and his own nothingness, and
therefore regarded himself as unworthy to receive Christ into his
house.
From
this we learn to humble ourselves, especially when we receive Christ
into our hearts, hence the priest in giving holy Communion uses the
centurion's words, exhorting those to humility who are about to
receive.
Why
did he add: But only say the word, and my servant shall be healed?
By
this he publicly manifested his faith in Christ's divinity and
omnipotence, because he believed that Christ, though absent, could
heal the servant by a word.
If
a Gentile centurion had such faith in Christ, and such confidence in
His power, should not we Christians be ashamed that we have so little
faith, and confidence in God?
What
is meant by: Many shall come from the east and the west, and shall
sit down with Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob in the kingdom of heaven;
but the children of the kingdom shall be cast into the exterior
darkness?
This
was said by Christ in reference to the obdurate Jews who would not
believe in Him. Many pagans who receive the gospel, and live in
accordance with it, will enjoy heavenly bliss with the patriarchs
Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who were the most faithful friends of God,
while the Jews, God's chosen people, who as such, possessed the first
claim to heaven, will, because of their unbelief and other sins, be
cast into outer darkness, that is, into the deepest abyss of hell,
where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.
Thus
it will be with those Christians who do not live in accordance with
their faith. Therefore, fear lest you, for want of cooperation with
God's grace, be eternally rejected, while others who have faithfully
corresponded to the divine inspirations will enter into your place in
the kingdom of heaven.
ASPIRATION:
O Jesus, rich in consolations! grant me
the leper's faith and confidence, that in all things I may rely upon
Thy omnipotence, and may resign myself to Thy divine will, and may
ever honor Thy priests. Grant me, also, O most humble Jesus! the
centurion's humility, that for Thy sake, I may compassionately assist
my neighbor, and by doing so render myself worthy of Thy grace and
mercy.
ON
RESIGNATION TO THE WILL OF GOD
Lord,
if thou wilt. (Matt. VIII. 2.)
Those
who in adversity as well as in prosperity, perfectly resign
themselves to the will of God, and accept whatever He sends them with
joy and thanks, possess heaven, as St. Chrysostom says, while yet
upon earth. Those who have attained this resignation, are saddened by
no adversity, because they are satisfied with all that God, their
best Father, sends them, be it honor or disgrace, wealth or poverty,
life or death. All happens as they wish, because they know no will
but God's, they desire nothing but that which He does and wills. God
does the will of them that fear Him. (Ps. CXLIV. 10.) In the lives of
the ancient Fathers we find the following: The fields and vineyards
belonging to one farmer were much more fertile and yielding than were
his neighbors'. They asked how it happened and he said: they should
not wonder at it, because he always had the weather he wished. At
this they wondered more than ever: How could that be? "I never
desire other weather," he replied, "than God wills; and
because my desires are conformable to His, He gives me the fruits I
wish." This submission to the divine will is also the cause of
that constant peace and undimmed joy of the saints of God, with which
their hearts have overflowed here below, even in the midst of the
greatest sufferings and afflictions. Who would not aspire to so happy
a state? We will attain it if we believe that nothing in this world
can happen to us except by the will and through the direction of God,
sin and guilt excepted, for God can never be the cause of them. This
the Holy Ghost inculcates by the mouth of the wise man: Good things
and evil, life and death, poverty and riches, are from God, (Eccles.
XI. 14.) that is, are permitted or sent by God; all that which comes
from God, is for the best, for God doeth all things well. (Mark VII.
37.) Whoever keeps these two truths always in mind, will certainly be
ever contented with the will of God, and always consoled; he will
taste while yet on earth the undisturbed peace of mind and foretaste
of happiness which the saints had while here, and which they now
eternally enjoy in heaven, because of the union of their will with
the divine will.
INSTRUCTION
FOR MASTERS AND SERVANTS
The
master of a house should be careful to have not only obedient,
faithful, willing, and industrious servants in his home, as had the
centurion in the gospel, but still more, pious and God-fearing ones,
for God richly blesses the master because of pious servants. Thus God
blessed Laban on account of the pious Jacob, (Gen. XXX. 30.) and the
house of Putiphar because of the just Joseph. (Gen. XXXIX. 5.) The
master should look to the morals and Christian conduct of his
servants, and not suffer irreligious subjects in his house, for he
must, after this life, give an account before the tribunal of God,
and he makes himself unworthy of the blessing of God, often liable to
the most terrible punishment by retaining such. Will not God punish
those masters and mistresses who suffer those under them to seek the
dangerous occasions of sin, keep sinful company, go about at night,
and lead scandalous lives? Will not God, one day, demand the souls of
servants from their masters? The same punishment which will befall
those who deny their faith, will rest upon careless masters and
mistresses, for St. Paul the Apostle writes: But if any man have not
care of his own, and especially of those of his house, he hath denied
the faith, and is worse than an infidel. (I. Tim. V. 8.)
Subjects
should learn from the centurion's servants who obeyed his only word,
that they also should willingly, faithfully, and quickly do every
thing ordered by their masters, unless it be something contrary to
the law of God. They should recollect that whatever they do in
obedience to their superiors, is done for God Himself. Servants, obey
in all things your masters according to the flesh, not serving to the
eye, as pleasing men, but in simplicity of heart, fearing God.
Whatsoever you do, do it from the heart as to the Lord, and not to
men: knowing that you shall receive of the Lord the reward of
inheritance. Serve ye the Lord Christ. (Col. III.22-24)
