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troybeecham · 11 months

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Today the Church remembers the 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

The 108 Blessed Polish Martyrs were Roman Catholic Christians in Poland killed during World War II by the Nazis, either in the concentration camps or by mass slaughter on the streets. The group comprises 3 bishops, 79 priests, 7 male religious, 8 female religious, and 11 lay people. There are two parishes named for the 108 Martyrs of World War II in Powiercie in Koło County, and in Malbork, Poland.

The 108 Blessed Martyrs were beatified on 13 June 1999 by Pope John Paul II in Warsaw, Poland.

List of Martyrs

Bishops

1. Antoni Julian Nowowiejski (1858–1941 KL Soldau), bishop

2. Leon Wetmański (1886–1941 KL Soldau), bishop

3. Władysław Goral (1898–1945 KL Sachsenhausen), bishop

Priests

1. Adam Bargielski, priest from Myszyniec (1903–1942 KZ Dachau)

2. Aleksy Sobaszek, priest (1895–1942 KL Dachau)

3. Alfons Maria Mazurek, Carmelite friar, prior, priest (1891–1944, shot by the Gestapo)

4. Alojzy Liguda, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1898–1942 KL Dachau)

5. Anastazy Jakub Pankiewicz, Franciscan friar, priest (1882–1942 KL Dachau)

6. Anicet Kopliński, Capuchin friar, priest in Warsaw (1875–1941)

7. Antoni Beszta-Borowski, priest, dean of Bielsk Podlaski (1880–1943, shot near Bielsk Podlaski)

8. Antoni Leszczewicz, Marian Father, priest (1890–1943, burnt to death in Rosica, Belarus)

9. Antoni Rewera, priest, dean of the Cathedral Chapter in Sandomierz (1869–1942 KL Dachau)

10. Antoni Świadek, priest from Bydgoszcz (1909–1945 KL Dachau)

11. Antoni Zawistowski, priest (1882–1942 KL Dachau)

12. Bolesław Strzelecki, priest (1896–1941 KL Auschwitz)

13. Bronisław Komorowski, priest (1889–22 March 1940 KL Stutthof)

14. Dominik Jędrzejewski, priest (1886–1942 KL Dachau)

15. Edward Detkens, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau)

16. Edward Grzymała, priest (1906–1942 KL Dachau)

17. Emil Szramek, priest (1887–1942 KL Dachau)

18. Fidelis Chojnacki, Capuchin friar, priest (1906–1942, KL Dachau)

19. Florian Stępniak, Capuchin friar, priest (1912–1942 KL Dachau)

20. Franciszek Dachtera, priest (1910–23 August 1942 KL Dachau)

21. Franciszek Drzewiecki, Orionine Father, priest (1908–1942 KL Dachau); from Zduny, he was condemned to heavy work in the plantation of Dachau. While he was bending over tilling the soil, he adored the consecrated hosts kept in a small box in front of him. While he was going to the gas chamber, he encouraged his companions, saying "We offer our life for God, for the Church and for our Country".

22. Franciszek Rogaczewski, priest from Gdańsk (1892–1940, shot in Stutthof or in Piaśnica, Pomerania)

23. Franciszek Rosłaniec, priest (1889–1942 KL Dachau)

24. Henryk Hlebowicz, priest (1904–1941, shot at Borisov in Belarus)

25. Henryk Kaczorowski, priest from Włocławek (1888–1942)

26. Henryk Krzysztofik, religious priest (1908–1942 KL Dachau)

27. Hilary Paweł Januszewski, religious priest (1907–1945 KL Dachau)

28. Jan Antonin Bajewski, Conventual Franciscan friar, priest (1915–1941 KL Auschwitz); of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God's cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz

29. Jan Franciszek Czartoryski, Dominican friar, priest (1897–1944)

30. Jan Nepomucen Chrzan, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau)

31. Jerzy Kaszyra, Marian Father, priest (1910–1943, burnt to death in Rosica, Belarus)

32. Józef Achilles Puchała, Franciscan friar, priest (1911–1943, killed near Iwieniec, Belarus)

33. Józef Cebula, Missionary Oblate, priest (23 March 1902 – 9 May 1941 KL Mauthausen)[

34. Józef Czempiel, priest (1883–1942 KL Mauthausen)

35. Józef Innocenty Guz, Franciscan friar, priest (1890–1940 KL Sachsenhausen)

36. Józef Jankowski, Pallotine, priest (1910 born in Czyczkowy near Brusy, Kashubia (died 16 October 1941 in KL Auschwitz beaten by a kapo)

37. Józef Kowalski, Salesian, priest (1911–1942) , priest beaten to death on 3 July 1942 in the KL Auschwitz concentration camp

38. Józef Kurzawa, priest (1910–1940)

39. Józef Kut, priest (1905–1942 KL Dachau)

40. Józef Pawłowski, priest (1890–9 January 1942 KL Dachau)

41. Józef Stanek, Pallottine, priest (1916–23 September 1944, murdered in Warsaw)

42. Józef Straszewski, priest (1885–1942 KL Dachau)

43. Karol Herman Stępień, Franciscan friar, priest (1910–1943, killed near Iwieniec, Belarus)

44. Kazimierz Gostyński, priest (1884–1942 KL Dachau)

45. Kazimierz Grelewski, priest (1907–1942 KL Dachau)

46. Kazimierz Sykulski, priest (1882–1942 KL Auschwitz)

47. Krystyn Gondek, Franciscan friar, priest (1909–1942 KL Dachau)

48. Leon Nowakowski, priest (1913–1939)

49. Ludwik Mzyk, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1905–1940)

50. Ludwik Pius Bartosik, Conventual Franciscan friar, priest (1909–1941 KL Auschwitz); of Niepokalanow. These were the closest collaborators of St Maximilian Kolbe in the fight for God's cause and together suffered and helped each other spiritually in their offering their lives at Auschwitz

51. Ludwik Roch Gietyngier, priest from Częstochowa (1904–1941 KL Dachau)

52. Maksymilian Binkiewicz, priest (1913–24 July 1942, beaten, died in KL Dachau)

53. Marian Gorecki, priest (1903–22 March 1940 KL Stutthof)

54. Marian Konopiński, Capuchin friar, priest (1907–1 January 1943 KL Dachau)

55. Marian Skrzypczak, priest (1909–1939 shot in Plonkowo)

56. Michał Oziębłowski, priest (1900–1942 KL Dachau)

57. Michał Piaszczyński, priest (1885–1940 KL Sachsenhausen)

58. Michał Woźniak, priest (1875–1942 KL Dachau)

59. Mieczysław Bohatkiewicz, priest (1904–4 March 1942, shot in Berezwecz)

60. Narcyz Putz, priest (1877–1942 KL Dachau)

61. Narcyz Turchan, priest (1879–1942 KL Dachau)

62. Piotr Edward Dankowski, priest (1908–3 April 1942 KL Auschwitz)

63. Roman Archutowski, priest (1882–1943 KL Majdanek)

64. Roman Sitko, priest (1880–1942 KL Auschwitz)

65. Stanisław Kubista, Society of the Divine Word, priest (1898–1940 KL Sachsenhausen)

66. Stanisław Kubski, priest (1876–1942, prisoner in KL Dachau, killed in Hartheim near Linz)

67. Stanisław Mysakowski, priest (1896–1942 KL Dachau)

68. Stanisław Pyrtek, priest (1913–4 March 1942, shot in Berezwecz)

69. Stefan Grelewski, priest (1899–1941 KL Dachau)

70. Wincenty Matuszewski, priest (1869–1940)

71. Władysław Błądziński, Michaelite, priest (1908–1944, KL Gross-Rosen)

72. Władysław Demski, priest (1884–28 May 1940, KL Sachsenhausen)

73. Władysław Maćkowiak, priest (1910–4 March 1942 shot in Berezwecz)

74. Władysław Mączkowski, priest (1911–20 August 1942 KL Dachau)

75. Władysław Miegoń, priest, commander lieutenant (1892–1942 KL Dachau)

76. Włodzimierz Laskowski, priest (1886–1940 KL Gusen)

77. Wojciech Nierychlewski, religious, priest (1903–1942, KL Auschwitz)

78. Zygmunt Pisarski, priest (1902–1943)

79. Zygmunt Sajna, priest (1897–1940, shot at Palmiry, near Warsaw)

Religious brothers

1. Brunon Zembol, friar (1905–1942 KL Dachau)

2. Grzegorz Bolesław Frąckowiak, Society of the Divine Word friar (1911–1943, guillotined in Dresden)

3. Józef Zapłata, friar (1904–1945 KL Dachau)

4. Marcin Oprządek, friar (1884–1942 KL Dachau)

5. Piotr Bonifacy Żukowski, friar (1913–1942 KL Auschwitz)

6. Stanisław Tymoteusz Trojanowski, friar (1908–1942 KL Auschwitz)

7. Symforian Ducki, friar (1888–1942 KL Auschwitz)

Nuns and religious sisters

1. Alicja Maria Jadwiga Kotowska, sister, based on eye-witness reports comforted and huddled with Jewish children before she and the children were executed (1899–1939, executed at Piaśnica, Pomerania)

2. Ewa Noiszewska, sister (1885–1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka near Slonim, Belarus)

3. Julia Rodzińska, Dominican sister (1899–20 February 1945, KL Stutthof); she died having contracted typhoid serving the Jewish women prisoners in a hut for which she had volunteered.

4. Katarzyna Celestyna Faron (1913–1944, KL Auschwitz); (1913–1944), had offered her life for the conversion of an Old Catholic bishop Władysław Faron (no relation). She was arrested by the Gestapo and condemned to Auschwitz camp. She put up heroically with all the abuses of the camp and died on Easter Sunday 1944. The bishop later returned to the Catholic Church).

5. Maria Antonina Kratochwil, SSND nun (1881–1942) died as a result of the torture she endured while imprisoned in Stanisławów.

6. Maria Klemensa Staszewska (1890–1943 KL Auschwitz)

7. Marta Wołowska (1879–1942, executed at Góra Pietrelewicka near Slonim, Belarus)

8. Mieczysława Kowalska, sister (1902–1941, Soldau concentration camp in Działdowo)

Roman Catholic laity

1. Bronisław Kostkowski, alumnus (1915–1942 KL Dachau)

2. Czesław Jóźwiak (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

3. Edward Kaźmierski (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

4. Edward Klinik (1919–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

5. Franciszek Kęsy (1920–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

6. Franciszek Stryjas (1882–31 July 1944, Kalisz prison)

7. Jarogniew Wojciechowski (1922–1942, guillotined in a prison in Dresden)

8. Marianna Biernacka (1888–13 July 1943), executed instead of her pregnant daughter-in-law Anna, offered her life for her and her unborn grandchild)

9. Natalia Tułasiewicz (1906–31 March 1945, died in KL Ravensbrück)

10. Stanisław Starowieyski (1895–1941 in KL Dachau)

11. Tadeusz Dulny, alumnus (1914–1942 KL Dachau)

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your Holy Martyrs of Poland triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

(Fr. Józef Kowalski, priest beaten to death on 3 July 1942 in the KL Auschwitz concentration camp)

(Sr. Alicja Jadwiga Kotowska, a nun killed protecting a group of Jewish children in 1939 in the mass murders in Piaśnica)

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #martyrs #faith #christian persecution

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troybeecham · 1 year

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#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #faith #early church

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troybeecham · 10 months

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Today, the Church commemorates the solemnity of SS. Peter and Paul, Apostles and Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

Both St. Peter and St. Paul have their own special feast day, so why is their a solemn commemoration for them together? The reason is that this day recalls to our minds the fact that they both were martyred (some say on the same day) in Rome during Nero’s genocidal persecution of Christians.

The significance of their martyrdom as the focus of this solemnity reveals this commemoration as one of remembering all who have been martyred for their faith in Jesus.

Christians are the single most persecuted religious people on the planet. Most people have never heard that. I’ve been trying to raise awareness of this fact as a priest for 20 years.

Open Doors, an organization that tracks persecution of Christians worldwide, provides direct support, and releases an annual report on the persecution of Christians (https://www.opendoors.org/en-US/persecution/countries/), notices an “alarming” increase in violence against Christians by Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa. In Nigeria, the number of religiously motivated killings jumped from 4,650 in 2021 to 5,014 in 2022 — making up 89% of all religiously motivated killings worldwide. The rest are by Socialist/Communist regimes. That means on average 15 Christians are martyred daily, mostly at the hands of Muslims in sub-Saharan Africa.

The global Muslim jihadist assault is destabilizing countries in West and Central Africa as well as other nations around the world. Entire countries are at risk of collapse into extremist violence. 26 countries in Sub-Saharan Africa face high levels of persecution; half of these have violence scores in the “extremely high” range.

The global Muslim jihadist movement, which seeks to expand Sharia across not just the African continent, but the whole world, has forced Christians into constant motion, from their homes to displacement camps, or to other countries. The insecurity stemming from this experience of forced displacement makes Christians even more vulnerable to further violence. Christian girls and women, in particular, are targeted for sexual assault and being sold into slavery, while men are more likely to lose their lives, and boys are either sold into slavery or forced to become Muslims and jihadists.

Today, more than 360 million Christians suffer high levels of persecution and discrimination for their faith. In Open Doors’ World Watch List top 50 alone, 312 million Christians face very high or extreme levels of persecution. Christians killed in 2023 so far have numbered 80% more than five years ago (3,066).

As we go about our days, let us bear in mind the cost of being a disciple of Jesus, that for some it is a social norm and therefore not very costly, and for others it costs everything.

May we who live in nations where being a Christian is safe never forget the deadly plight of those who live daily in the valley of the shadow of death, and let us pray for their strength to remain faithful to the one who rose victorious from the grave.

Almighty God, whose blessed apostles Peter and Paul glorified you by their martyrdom: Grant that your Church, instructed by their teaching and example, and knit together in unity by your Spirit, may ever stand firm upon the one foundation, which is Jesus Christ our Lord; who lives and reigns with you, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #martyrs #faith #early church #christian persecution

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troybeecham · 5 months

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Today the Church honors Pope St. Clement I of Rome.

Ora pro nobis.

Pope Clement I, also known as Saint Clement of Rome, is counted as one of the Apostolic Fathers of the Church, along with St. Polycarp and St. Ignatius of Antioch. Few details are known with certainty about Clement's life.

Tradition says that when he was still a young man from a wealthy family, the news of Jesus and His teaching began to reach the capital, Rome. Clement left his home and estate and went to the lands where the Apostles were preaching. At Alexandria, Clement met the holy Apostle Barnabas, listening to his words with deep attention, and perceiving the power and truth of the Word of God. Seeking deeper knowledge, he traveled then to Israel, where he met and was baptized by the holy Apostle Peter and became his zealous disciple and constant companion, sharing his toil and sufferings with him.

Shortly before his own sufferings and death, Saint Peter consecrated Saint Clement as Bishop of Rome. After the death of the Apostle Peter, Saint Linus (AD 67-79) was the next Bishop of Rome, succeeded by Saint Anacletus/Cletus (AD 79-91), and then Saint Clement (AD 88-c. 99). Early church lists place him as the second or third bishop of Rome. The Roman Catholic Church lists him as the fourth pope. In one of his works, Jerome listed Clement as "the fourth bishop of Rome after Peter, if indeed the second was Linus and the third Anacletus, although most of the Latins think that Clement was second after the apostle." Clement is put after Linus and Cletus/Anacletus in the earliest (c. AD 180) account, that of St. Irenaeus, who is followed by St. Eusebius of Caesarea.

The Liber Pontificalis presents a list that makes Linus the second in the line of bishops of Rome, with Peter as first; but at the same time it states that Peter ordained two bishops, Linus and Anacletus, for the priestly service of the community, devoting himself instead to prayer and preaching, and that it was to Clement that he entrusted the Church as a whole, appointing him as his successor. Tertullian considered Clement to be the immediate successor of Peter. St. Eusebius, in his book Church History, mentions Clement as the third bishop of Rome and the "co-laborer" of Paul.

Clement’s inclusion in these lists has been very controversial among scholars. Many scholars point out that there were priest-bishops as early as the 1st century AD, but there is no evidence for a monarchical episcopacy in Rome or anywhere else, such as we have now, at such an early date. It is, however, probable that the Church at Rome had at first two apostolic successions, one Petrine and the other Pauline, but that they speedily merged into one; and this will account for the confusion in the lists of the first bishops of Rome. This has led to speculation that, given the overlapping dates of Linus, Anacletus, and Clement, perhaps St. Peter appointed Clement as overseer (bishop) of the Jewish Christians of Rome and St. Paul appointed Linus and then Anacletus as overseer of the Gentiles Christians of Rome.

The virtuous life, charitable works and prayerful activity of Saint Clement converted many to the Faith. He once baptized 424 people on the day of Pascha (Easter). Among the baptized were people of all social classes: slaves, officials, and even members of the imperial family.

Clement's only genuine extant writing is his letter to the church at Corinth (1 Clement) in response to a dispute in which certain presbyters of the Corinthian church had been deposed. He asserted the authority of the presbyters as rulers of the church on the ground that the Apostles had appointed such. His letter, which is one of the oldest extant Christian documents outside the New Testament, was read in church, along with other epistles, some of which later became part of the Christian canon. These works were the first to affirm the apostolic authority of the clergy. A second epistle, 2 Clement, was attributed to Clement, although recent scholarship suggests it to be a homily by another author. In the legendary Clementine Literature, Clement is the intermediary through whom the apostles teach the church.

According to tradition, Clement was banished and imprisoned under the Emperor Trajan and was set to work in a stone quarry. Finding on his arrival that the prisoners were suffering from lack of water, he knelt down in prayer. Looking up, he saw a lamb on a hill, went to where the lamb had stood and struck the ground with his pickaxe, releasing a gushing stream of clear water. This miracle resulted in the conversion of large numbers of the local pagans and his fellow prisoners to Christianity. As punishment, Saint Clement was martyred by being tied to an anchor and thrown from a boat into the Black Sea.

Almighty God, you chose your servant Clement of Rome to recall the Church in Corinth to obedience and stability: Grant that your Church may be grounded and settled in your truth by the indwelling of the Holy Spirit; reveal to it what is not yet known; fill up what is lacking; confirm what has already been revealed; and keep it blameless in your service; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #god #saints #salvation #peace #faith #martyrs #early church

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troybeecham · 7 months

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Today the Church honors St. Francis of Assisi (1181-1226 AD), Deacon and Friar.

Ora pro nobis.

Saint Francis of Assisi was born Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, informally named as Francesco, meaning “little Frenchman, by his mother who was from France.. He was an Italian Catholic friar, deacon, and preacher. He founded the men's Order of Friars Minor, the women’s Order of Saint Clare, the Third Order of Saint Francis and the Custody of the Holy Land.

Pope Gregory IX canonized Francis on 16 July 1228. Along with Saint Catherine of Sienna, he was designated Patron saint of Italy.

He has become highly sentimentalized and trivialized in the 20th century, including being rebranded as the 'environmentalist saint' with patronage of animals. This should break our hearts. In his life, however, he was completely devoted to preaching the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the formation of disciples of Jesus, adoration of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and for the care of the poor, homeless, and outcast lepers. As a Roman Catholic Franciscan friar friend of mine once preached in my parish, "Don't you dare make my Francis into a birdbath or relegate him to a tiny statue in your garden! He was a radical in his love for Jesus, the poor, and for preaching the Gospel!"

Speaking of things Francis never said, there’s a beautiful prayer, often called the “Prayer of St. Francis”. It is lovely on its own merits. It was written during WWI in 1912 for a French newspaper as a plea for peace. I love this prayer, and commend it to all for use in your life of prayer, as I do the radical discipleship of blessed Francis, who gave all to Jesus in service to the poor, lepers, and the conversion of all peoples.

"An example of this [sentimentalization and] misrepresentation of Francis is the phrase, "Preach the gospel everywhere; if necessary use words," which is often ascribed to Francis. It's a popular phrase. The problem is, there is no evidence Francis said it. It’s like saying, "Feed the hungry; if necessary use food." To honor St Francis, go to your local homeless shelter and offer a foot clinic, to bathe their feet and tend to their wounds; go volunteer at your local soup kitchen, and sit down with the folks who come and listen to them.

Of course, the wisdom of these particular sayings do not depend upon their source. Many of us have been on the receiving end of words spoken in the name of the gospel by someone whose life or attitude did not "preach" the gospel. Our lives must bear witness to the good news of Jesus before our words about that good news can make any sense. Francis did encourage Christians “to shine as an example to others.” But to suggest that the gospel can be preached without using words is deceptive. We ought to be able to tell the Gospel in a manner that makes the story of our lives make sense. That requires words as well as actions. Francis did in fact write, “Being the servant of all, I am bound to serve all and to administer the balm-bearing words of my Lord.” (Letter to all the Faithful)

In 1219 AD, he went to Egypt in an attempt to convert the Sultan to put an end to the conflict of the Crusades. His attempt failed, but the Sultan was so impressed by his holiness and love that he let him go home to Italy rather than imprisoning him for ransom or executing him as an infidel.

By this point, the Franciscan Order had grown to such an extent that its primitive organizational structure was no longer sufficient. He returned to Italy to organize the Order. Once his community was authorized by the Pope, he withdrew increasingly from external affairs. In 1223, Francis arranged for the first Christmas live nativity scene. According to Christian tradition, in 1224 he received the stigmata during the apparition of Seraphic angels in a religious ecstasy, making him the first recorded person in Christian history to bear the wounds of Christ's Passion.

He died during the evening hours of 3 October 1226, while listening to a reading he had requested of Psalm 142, exhausted and physically broken by his radical devotion, at the age of 45.

Blessed Francis, you challenge me, and even frighten me because you actually actually did what Jesus said, and so render my accomodations to this world and excuses for not giving up all to follow Jesus invalid. Pray for me.

Most high, omnipotent, good Lord, grant your people grace to renounce gladly the vanities of this world; that, following the way of blessed Francis, we may for love of you delight to give ourselves wholly unto the adoration of your blessed Son, our Savior Jesus, and to the preaching of his Gospel for the salvation of the world with perfectness of joy; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #god #saints #salvation #peace #faith

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troybeecham · 5 months

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Fr. Troy Beecham

Sermon, Proper 29 A, 2023

The Last Sunday after Pentecost, often called the Feast of Christ the King

Matthew 25:31-46

“Jesus said, “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, then he will sit on the throne of his glory. All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will put the sheep at his right hand and the goats at the left. Then the king will say to those at his right hand, ‘Come, you that are blessed by my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world; for I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you gave me clothing, I was sick and you took care of me, I was in prison and you visited me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry and gave you food, or thirsty and gave you something to drink? And when was it that we saw you a stranger and welcomed you, or naked and gave you clothing? And when was it that we saw you sick or in prison and visited you?’ And the king will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did it to one of the least of these who are members of my brothers, you did it to me.’ Then he will say to those at his left hand, ‘You that are accursed, depart from me into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels; for I was hungry and you gave me no food, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, I was a stranger and you did not welcome me, naked and you did not give me clothing, sick and in prison and you did not visit me.’ Then they also will answer, ‘Lord, when was it that we saw you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or naked or sick or in prison, and did not take care of you?’ Then he will answer them, ‘Truly I tell you, just as you did not do it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did not do it to me.’ And these will go away into everlasting punishment, but the righteous into everlasting life.”

The Gospel reading for this last Sunday after Pentecost, also known as the Feast of Christ the King, is often called the ‘parable of the sheep and the goats’. But there’s a problem with calling it that because it isn’t actually a parable. Jesus always introduces His parables by saying something like ‘the kingdom of heaven is like this’, which this Gospel reading does not have. Moreover, this Gospel reading is not even primarily about the sheep and goats. It is primarily about Jesus declaring His authority as the Judge of all peoples at the end of the ages. I have heard sermon after sermon focusing on the sheep and goats, which almost always end up saying that salvation, being a sheep, is to be had by being occasionally nice to strangers. Put another way, how can we feel good about ourselves by doing sporadic good works. In do so, what we are really doing is trying to figure out how to get away from the wonderful, yet awful, majesty of the One who will be our Judge because we feel unclear whether or not we are a sheep or a goat. By focusing on the sheep and goats, on ourselves, we are entirely missing the point of what Jesus is saying. So, if it is not any of these things, what is Jesus saying to us in this narrative?

To begin with, we must look at the larger context of the readings from the Gospel according to St. Matthew that we have been reading for the last several weeks. Beginning in chapter 24, we find Jesus and his disciples at the Temple in Jerusalem, just days from His arrest, trial, crucifixion, and resurrection. Jesus tells his disciples to look at the splendor of the Temple, and it was splendorous…one of the ancient 7 wonders of the world. He shocks them when He tells them that the Temple will soon be destroyed (which it was, in AD 70, when the Roman empire destroyed Jerusalem, killing an estimated one million Jews, and sold many tens of thousands into slavery, and renaming the region Syria Palaestina to try and erase Israel and the Jews from history, something we are still dealing with today), and after that, at a time that only the Father knows, the end of time and the dawning of the Kingdom of God will come. The disciples are astonished, dumbfounded, and ask Jesus what will the coming of the Kingdom of God look like, and what will be the signs of it nearing. As you will recall, for the last several weeks Jesus has been teaching us that very thing. He has told us that the coming of that great day will be sudden and unexpected, and so we must remain vigilant and faithful. He has given us the parables about the faithful and wicked servants, the wise and foolish virgins, and the bags of gold to illustrate the urgency of remaining awake and vigilant. And it is urgent because there will be a Day of Judgment, and all the peoples of the earth will be judged. In the face of the coming of that day, how will He judge the world?

Here we see Jesus as King, judging the peoples of the world. We read of sheep and goats, people being divided to the left and right, some going to everlasting life and others to everlasting punishment. We are unused to such stark words from Jesus, at least in the last century or so here in the West. Earlier generations were habituated to the concept of judgment, reward, and damnation, but we have largely moved away from such ideas in Western religious culture. Over the last few decades, we have become more habituated to the gentle shepherd Jesus, buddy Jesus, anti-capitalist Jesus, socialist Jesus…all kinds of new ways of thinking about Jesus, all of them very human, and none of them recognizing him as the incarnate Son of God to whom the Father has given all authority and judgment, and who will one day judge all the peoples of the world. This Sunday is a sobering reminder that Jesus is the Son of God, the King of kings and the Lord of lords, and He will Judge of all humankind, some going to everlasting life and others to everlasting punishment.

So, we have to look at this narrative with fresh eyes. We have become used to hearing the focus being on the sheep and the goats, on us, and how our behavior determines which of the two we will be when we stand before the Lord, hearing sermons say something like this: the ‘least of these’ are the poor, the rejected, the persecuted, in sick, and the prisoners of the world, and the sheep are those who care for the them. Salvation is understood in this way as being someone who does a bit of good works for the suffering people of the world. There is no need here of being baptized, of partaking of His Body and Blood, of obeying the commands of Jesus, of loving each other as He loves us, of taking up our cross to follow Him, of worshipping God with all that we are, and of living under the righteous rule of our king, Jesus. The goats, then, are those who neglect caring for the suffering people of the world, rather than those who reject the call of Jesus to become His disciples, forsaking all, taking up their cross and following him. Do not misunderstand me; caring for the suffering people of the world is theologically important and entirely commendable, but this Gospel narrative is not about that. There is an important phrase that often gets either left out or is misunderstood in this reading that is central to understanding what Jesus us saying, and that phrase is “the least of these my brothers”.

Jesus will one day invite those on his right to ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world…’. This judgment will come as a complete surprise to those standing before Him, and He has to explain that ‘Whenever you did this for the least of my brothers…you did it for me’. In the same way, those on his left are also surprised that they have encountered the Jesus in His moment of need and are horrified at being judged to suffer everlasting punishment. If this narrative was Jesus’ way of teaching us about helping the suffering people of the world as the way to gain a favorable judgment, then those who helped or failed to help the suffering, especially we who have been doing it for two millennia, would hardly be surprised to find that they had been doing as the king asked.

But there is nothing in the narrative itself that speaks about entrance into the kingdom of God as a reward based on a life of good works. This is difficult for us to hear. Western Christianity has largely wandered back to the ancient error of thinking that salvation can be earned by anything that we can do or that we fail to do. Salvation is the free gift of God, something that God gives to his children. Rather than proposing a system by which we can merit eternal paradise and escape eternal punishment, this narrative uses the language of family, of inheritance. Language about inheritance echoes God’s promise to the Jewish, to whom God has given the land of Israel as an ‘inheritance’, but not because of they were particularly good or faithful; quite the contrary. They were made inheritors of the promise because God chose them as His people, and they inherit as a son inherits from a father in the ancient world. You don’t need to be ‘good’, you need to be a child of God, chosen by God and adopted by God. The New Testament is replete with this language of adoption by God, and of receiving the inheritance because of God’s gracious generosity now made possible to all peoples through his Son, Jesus, the Son of Man, the Resurrected Savior.

How, then, may we be adopted, how do we become children of God in Jesus? We have culturally fallen prey to the common misunderstanding that we are all brothers and sisters. In His Great Commission to His disciples, Jesus said that all must be baptized to become His disciples. He also said that any who be His disciples must partake of his Body and Blood. Here we find His two Sacraments by which we become one with Him. Many found this teaching too difficult to accept and departed from Him. In the Gospel according to St. Matthew, Jesus also only ever refers to his brothers or sisters as those who do the will of God by becoming his followers, those who will take up the cross and follow him. This is particularly clear in Matthew 12:49, when Jesus astonishes everyone by saying that His family are those disciples who obey his commands and who take up their cross and follow Him, and not simply those related by blood or human community, or even call Him “Lord”. Many had trouble with this and left Jesus, because Jesus is clear that to follow him often means to be rejected by family and society, to become homeless, to experience persecution, and even death. We in the West have come far from having to experience these things as disciples of Jesus, but our Christian sisters and brothers around the world face this on a daily basis. Christians are the single most persecuted religious group in the world. In the last decade Christianity has nearly been eradicated in the lands of its birth in the Middle East and North Africa by Muslim violence. On average so far this year, 15 Christians are martyred for the Faith every day according to credible estimates by international observers.

In very real terms for many, to follow Jesus means they will be like Him, becoming a refugee, expelled from family, jailed, reliant on the charity and provision of others, and face death. With this in mind, the narrative then identifies the ‘least of these’ as not being the poor of the world in general, but is rather a direct reference to being a disciple of Jesus and the consequences of that choice in a world hostile to His Gospel. When read like this, those on the king’s right are people who have aided His persecuted disciples, and in doing so have welcomed Jesus Himself because His disciples have become one body with Him through Holy Baptism, in partaking in His body and blood in the Holy Eucharist, and through faithfulness to His commands. This echoes what St. Paul comes to understand when he hears Jesus say to him as he is on his way to persecute the disciples of Jesus in Damascus: ‘Why do you persecute me?’ To persecute the disciples of Jesus because they are his disciples is to persecute him, and to persecute him is to persecute the one who will sit on the Throne of Judgment at the last day.

The division of the people of the world, then, is not between those who do or do not care for the suffering of the world, but between those who care for the suffering followers of Jesus or don’t, and in so doing show their attitude to the king himself. There is no doubt that this reading of this narrative is challenging, but it does have the virtue of being faithful to the words of Jesus. It may seem odd that those who are already part of His body are not part of this judgment, but this is because their judgment has already been given by their participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus through their Holy Baptism, in partaking of His most Holy Body and Blood in the Holy Eucharist, and their faithful submission to Jesus as their King, obeying His commands.

In the end, this narrative is entirely about Jesus, who He is and who He will be: He is the exalted Son of Man, who brings the needs of people of God into the presence of the Father; He is the exalted king who even now sits on the right hand of the throne of God as rightful king; and He is the true Shepherd, through whom the Father exercises His reign and his entrusts His final, just judgement. It is also about who He is in his disciples.

For many of us, to be united with Jesus in the Sacraments and through faithfulness to his commands carries little risk; but for many hundreds of millions of his disciples around the world it entails truly risking being hungry, thirsty, naked, a stranger, sick, in prison, or murdered. This has been true for Christians in many parts of the world in many ears in history. It is perhaps only we who have been free from persecution who have drifted away from understanding Jesus’ intent in this narrative.

We must be careful here to not make the misguided step of setting up our own seats of judgment about who we think will be rewarded or punished. We are not judges! We cannot possibly know who will be judged as blessed or as condemned. We do not know the secrets of people’s hearts, nor do we know all the deeds of a person, and so we judge no one, not even ourselves. Instead, we trust in Jesus, the Son of God who took on our humanity, who suffered at our hands, accepted being an outcast, and was cruelly murdered by us, the very ones He came to save. We trust in Jesus, who destroyed death by accepting his own death, and rose triumphant from the grave. We trust in Jesus because He will judge us all in love. We trust Him because His own prayer is that all people may become one in Him, and therefore become one with the Father just as He and the Father are one. And in that trust, sisters and brothers, we who are His body through Holy Baptism and in partaking in His most holy Body and Blood, His Church, must faithfully engage the world as His disciples, proclaiming the good news of salvation both with the testimony of our lives and with the words of our mouths, making disciples of all peoples, baptizing them in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to be faithful to all of His commandments. We must accept the risk, taking up the cross and following Him. We must not fail to offer the good news of His salvation to any person. And He will be with us, through persecution, suffering, and all manner of things, unto the end of the ages.

Almighty and everlasting God, whose will it is to restore all things in your well-beloved Son, the King of kings and Lord of lords: Mercifully grant that the peoples of the earth, divided and enslaved by sin, may be freed and brought together under His most gracious rule; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #god #saints #salvation #peace #faith #the judgement day

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troybeecham · 5 months

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Today the Church honors St. Dasius of Durostorum, Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

Dasius is a Christian martyr of the early 4th century AD. He was a Roman soldier of Legio XI Claudiana at Durostorum on the Danube River (modern Silistra), Moesia Inferior. Dasius was the first of twelve martyrs executed at Durostorum during the fourth Diocletian edict of persecution of Christians in AD 304.

The inhabitants of Durostrum were preparing for the annual Saturnalia festival. In Roman mythology, Saturn was an agricultural deity who was said to have reigned over the world in a Golden Age, when humans enjoyed the spontaneous bounty of the earth without labour in a state of innocence. The revelries of Saturnalia were supposed to reflect the conditions of the lost mythical age.

The holiday was celebrated with a sacrifice at the Temple of Saturn and a public banquet, followed by private gift-giving, continual partying, and a carnival atmosphere that overturned Roman social norms: gambling was permitted, and masters provided table service for their slaves as it was seen as a time of liberty for both slaves and freedmen alike. To conclude the festival, sources of the third century AD and later, Saturn is recorded as receiving dead gladiators as offerings (munera) during or near the Saturnalia. These gladiatorial events, ten days in all throughout December, were presented mainly by the quaestors and sponsored with funds from the treasury of Saturn. The practice of gladiator munera was criticized by Christian apologists as a form of human sacrifice.

In this context, we have the story of Dasius. The choice of his compatriots fell upon Saint Dasius, since in the city there was not a more handsome youth. Learning of this, the saint said, "If I am fated to die, then it’s better to die for Christ as a Christian." He openly confessed his faith in Christ before his fellow citizens and refused to take part in the shameful ritual. He denounced the impiety and error of the idolaters, and in so doing converted many of them to Christ. Therefore, on the orders of the emperors Diocletian (AD 284-305) and Maximian (AD 305-311), he was beheaded after cruel tortures.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Dasius boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #god #saints #salvation #peace #faith #martyrs #early church

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troybeecham · 5 months

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Today the Church honors St. Hypatius, Bishop and martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

We do not much information about his early life. We do know that he was bishop of the city of Gangra in Paphlagonia (Asia Minor). In the year AD 325, he participated in the First Ecumenical Council at Nicea, at which the heresy of Arius (the teaching that Jesus was a created being, not an eternal like the Father, and was therefore of similar being, “homoi”-similar, and “ousia”-being, rather than of the same being, “homo”-same, “ousia”- being) was anathematized. Nicene Orthodoxy chose the teaching of St. Athanasius that Jesus was “homoousia” with the Father and the Holy Spirit, which remains the Nicene orthodox teaching of the Church.

When Saint Hypatius was returning in AD 326 from Constantinople to Gangra, followers of the schismatics Novatus and Felicissimus, ardent supporters of Arius, fell upon him in a desolate place. The heretics ran him through with swords and spears, and threw him into a swamp. Like the Protomartyr Stephen, Saint Hypatius prayed for his murderers.

One of them, a woman, struck the saint on the head with a stone, killing him. The murderers hid his body in a cave, where a Christian who kept straw there found his body. Recognizing the bishop’s body, he hastened to the city to report this, and the inhabitants of Gangra piously buried their beloved archpastor.

After his death, the relics of Saint Hypatius were famous for numerous miracles, particularly for casting out demons and for healing the sick.

Almighty God, you gave to your servant Hypatius special gifts of grace to be a faithful bishop who holds to the unchanging True Faith, to understand and teach the truth as it is in Christ Jesus: Grant that by this teaching we may know you, the one true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #god #saints #salvation #jesus #peace #faith #martyrs #early church

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troybeecham · 6 months

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Today the church honors Sts. Gurias, Samonas, and Habibus, Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

Gurias and Samonas suffered during the persecution against Christians under the emperors Diocletian (AD 284-305) and Maximian (AD 305-311). The two friends Gurias and Samonas, preachers of the Word of God, were arrested in the city of Edessa.

The saints refused to offer sacrifice to the gods, and boldly confessed their faith in Christ. For this they were subjected to cruel tortures: they were beaten, hung up by their hands, heavy weights were tied to their feet, and they were cast into a stifling prison.

The martyrs endured everything with firmness and Samonas uttered a prayer to the Lord, which one of the witnesses to their death wrote down: “O Lord my God, against Whose will not a single sparrow falls into the snare. It was You Who made room for David in his sorrow (Ps. 4:1), Who proved the Prophet Daniel stronger than lions (Dan. 6:16-24), and granted a child of Abraham to be victor over torture and flames (Dan. ch. 3, ch. 14). You know also, Lord, the infirmity of our nature, You see the struggle set before us. Our foe strives to snatch us, the work of Your right hand, away from You and to deprive us of the glory which is in You. With Your compassionate eye watching over us, preserve in us the inextinguishable light of Your Commandments. Guide our steps by Your light, and make us worthy of Your Kingdom, for You are blessed unto ages of ages.” By night, they took the martyrs out beyond the city and beheaded them on this day c. AD 306. Christians secretly buried their holy bodies with reverence.

After some years, the last pagan emperor, Licinius (AD 311-324), began a persecution against Christians. Habibus, a deacon of the Church of Edessa whom the emperor ordered to be arrested for his zealous spreading of the true Faith, presented himself before the executioners when he learned they were searching for him. The saint confessed his faith in Christ. During his multiple days of torture, Abibus was subjected to the scourging and having his body raked with iron rakes by five men. When threatened with more gruesome torture by the governor, the saint is quoted as saying: "As a tree that is watered bears fruit, so is my spirit strengthened by torment", frustrated by his powerless efforts, the Governor replied: "Does your faith teach you to hate your own body?", to which Abibus replied: "We do not hate this material body, but we rejoice in the spiritual reality; the suffering of this present time is not worth comparing with the glory that awaits those who embrace Christ." The governor mockingly replied: "Is this suffering you endure glorious?" Abibus responded: "It is not for you to ask questions, for your unbelief is not worthy to hear the answers to them, as the Scripture teaches us: do not cast that which is holy to dogs, nor pearls before swine."

Abibus was sentenced to be burned at the stake. When walking up to the stake, his mother was forced to walk beside him, dressed in all-white as if going to a feast day. He blessed the crowd before him, to which the crowd responded: "Pray for us in the presence of the Lord!" After this exchange, the martyr entered the fire on his own accords. When the fire went out, his mother and relatives found his body unharmed. They buried the martyr next to Saints Gurias and Samonas because they were martyred on the same day though several years apart, and they are commemorated together.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Gurias, Samonas, and Habibus boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #god #saints #jesus #salvation #peace #faith #martyrs #early church

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troybeecham · 6 months

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Today the Church honors Sts. Antoninus, Nicephorus, Germanus, and Manetha, Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

Here is an account of their martyrdom written by St. Eusebius, Bishop of Caesarea.

In the Sixth Year of the Persecution in our Days in Caesarea (308 A.D.)

And when some time had elapsed after these things which I have related, another company of God's martyrs, amounting in number to one hundred and thirty, was sent from the land of Egypt into our country. And all of these had also undergone the same tortures in their eyes and legs as the former martyrs; and some of them were sent to the mines of Israel, and some of them were delivered over to the judges in Cilicia to be chastised with injurious and insulting tortures. But from us the flame of the persecution ceased a little, the sword having been satiated with the blood of the holy martyrs; and a little rest and cessation threw some check upon the persecution which took place in our days. And continuously the scourge of God was sent upon Maximinus, the wicked tyrant, of all these evils, of which the governors of the countries were the instructors and cunning ministers, and that duke who was the general of the army of the Romans. And because of those things which took place, they urged the Logistae of the cities, and the military commander, and the Tabularii to rebuild with diligence what was fallen of the temples of idols, and to compel all the men, together with their wives and children and slaves, and even the infants at the breast, to sacrifice and offer libations to devils, and also to force them to eat of the sacrifices. And a command was given that every thing that was sold in the market should be polluted with the libations and the sprinkling of the blood of the sacrifices. When these things, therefore, were done in this manner, these actions which were performed were abominated, even by the heathen who were without faith.

Great tumult, therefore, and consternation, such as there had never been the like before, overwhelmed all those who belonged to us in every place; and the souls of every one were set in affliction and trouble. But the Divine Power, on account of those things which had taken place, gave encouragement to such as belonged to Him, so that they were able to tread under foot the threats of the judges, and to despise their tortures.

But some servants of Christ's people, who in the stature of their bodies were only youths, but their soul was armed with the worship of God, both came of themselves, and when the governor was offering libations to idols in the midst of the city, suddenly rushed upon him, and called upon him to abandon his error, "For there is no other God but one, the Maker and Creator of all things;" and when they were asked [by Governor Firmillian] who they were, they confessed they were Christians. No sooner, then, were these words uttered than they received sentence of death, and so passed on easily and without delay to Him in whom they made their confession. The name of the first of them was Antoninus, and the second was called Zebinas, and the third's name was Germanus; and these things were done on the thirteenth of Teshri [November] the latter.

And they had at the same time a companion, a sister, one of the Lord's virgins, a chaste and courageous maiden, who came from the city of Baishan. She, however, had not acted in the same manner as those had done with whom she became confessor; for she had been brought by force from Baishan, and suffered insults and cruel tortures from the judge before she was condemned. But one of those who was set over the streets of the city was the originator of these evils. His name was Maxys, and he proved to all men that he was worse even than his name. This same blessed woman he stripped naked, and she was only left covered from the groin downwards, in order that he might indulge his lustful eyes in looking at the rest of her limbs; and he carried her about through the whole city, being tortured with straps; and afterwards took her before the tribunal of the governor, where with great boldness of speech she made the confession of her faith that she was a Christian; and there also displayed her courage and patience under every kind of torture; and was afterwards delivered over by the governor to be burnt with fire.

Almighty God, who gave to your servants Antoninus, Nicephorus, Germanus, and Manetha boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #god #saints #salvation #peace #faith #martyrs #early church

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troybeecham · 8 months

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Today the church commemorates the beheading of John the Forerunner, Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

St. John (Yochanan - “YHWH is gracious”) was born roughly six months before his cousin Jesus (Yeshua - “YHWH saves”). The exact year of their births is complicated by several factors: there were multiple calendar systems of that era, uncertainty as to the date of death of Herod the Great (4-1 BC), and placing the dates of the census mentioned in the infancy narratives of Jesus. Today, scholars have a range of 6-1 BC. Most scholars place the year of their birth between 6-4 BC, accepting the date of Herod the Great’s death in 4 BC. Given that Herod ordered the death of all male children in Bethlehem ages two and under suggests that John and Jesus were possibly as old as two years, making the date of their birth closer to 6 BC. We will only know for sure when the Lord returns.

The Beheading of the Prophet, Forerunner of the Lord Jesus his cousin, John the Baptiser, is recounted by the Evangelists Matthew (Mt.14:1-12) and Mark (Mark 6:14-29), who provide accounts about the martyrdom of John the Baptist in the year 31/32 after the Birth of Christ (accepting that Jesus was crucified 32/33 AD).

Following the Baptism of the Lord, Saint John the Baptiser was locked up in prison by Herod Antipas, the son of Herod the Great, the Tetrarch (ruler of one fourth of the Holy Land) and governor of Galilee. (After the death of king Herod the Great, the Romans divided the territory of Israel into four parts, and put a governor in charge of each part. Herod Antipas received Galilee from the emperor Augustus).

The prophet of God John openly denounced Herod Antipas for having left his lawful wife Phasaelis of Nabatea, the daughter of Aretas IV Philopatris, king of the Nabateans, and then cohabiting with Herodias, his full sister and the wife of and full sister of his brother Herod Philip (Luke 3:19-20). On his birthday, Herod Antipas made a feast for dignitaries, the elders, and a thousand chief citizens. Salome, his neice, the daughter of Herod Philip and Herodias, danced before the guests, and Herod Antipas, so filled with lust for her, he swore to give her whatever she would ask, up to half his kingdom.

The vile girl on the advice of her wicked mother Herodias asked that she be given the head of John the Baptiser on a platter. Herod became apprehensive, for he feared the wrath of God for the murder of a prophet, whom earlier he had heeded. He also feared the people, who loved the holy Forerunner. But because of the guests and his careless oath, he gave orders to cut off the head of Saint John and to give it to her.

Salome took the platter with the head of Saint John and gave it to her mother. The frenzied Herodias repeatedly stabbed the tongue of the prophet with a needle and buried his holy head in a unclean place. But the pious Joanna, wife of Herod’s steward Chuza, buried the head of John the Baptiser in an earthen vessel on the Mount of Olives, where Herod had a parcel of land. The holy body of John the Baptist was taken that night by his disciples and buried at Sebastia.

After the murder of Saint John the Baptist (31/31 AD), Herod Antipas continued to govern for a certain time. Pontius Pilate, governor of Judea, later sent Jesus Christ to him, Whom he mocked (Luke 23:7-12).

Phasaelis fled to her father when she discovered her husband intended to divorce her in order to take a new wife, Herodias, mother of Salome. Aretas, enraged at the treatment of his daughter, invaded Herod Antipas' domain and defeated his army, partly because soldiers from the region of Herod Philip the Tetrarch (a third brother) gave assistance to King Aretas. Josephus does not identify these auxiliary troops (he calls them 'fugitives'), but Moses of Chorene identifies them as being the army of King Abgarus of Edessa. Antipas was able to escape only with the help of Roman forces.

Herod Antipas then appealed to Emperor Tiberius, who dispatched the governor of Syria, Lucius Vitellius the Elder, to attack Aretas. Vitellius gathered his legions and moved southward, stopping in Jerusalem for the passover of AD 37, when news of the emperor's death arrived. The invasion of Nabataea was never completed.

Ultimately, the judgment of God came upon Herod, Herodias, and Salome, even during their earthly life. Salome, crossing the River Sikoris in winter, fell through the ice. The ice gave way in such a way that her body was in the water, but her head was trapped above the ice. It was similar to how she once had danced with her feet upon the ground, but now she flailed helplessly in the icy water. Thus she was trapped until that time when the sharp ice cut through her neck. Her corpse was not found, but they brought the head to Herod and Herodias, as once they had brought them the head of Saint John the Baptiser.

After his defeat by Aretas, in 39 AD Herod Antipas was accused by his nephew Agrippa I of conspiracy against the Roman emperor Caligula (37-41 AD), who sent him into exile with Herodias in Gaul, and the to Spain, where, according to Josephus, he died at an unknown date.

In the martyrologies of almost all Churches, only Jesus Christ, Mary, and John have commemorations for both their birth and death.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant John boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #martyrs #faith #new testament #prophet #second temple judaism #early church #christianity

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troybeecham · 6 months

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Today the Church honors Sts. Castorius, Claudius, Nicostratus, and Symphorian, Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

Castorius, Claudius, Nicostratus, and Symphorian are often called "the four crowned martyrs" who were tortured and executed in Pannonia, Hungary during the reign of Diocletian (AD 284-305). According to legend, they were employed as carvers at Sirmium (Mitrovica, Yugoslavia) and impressed Diocletian with their art, as did another carver, Simplicius. Diocletian commissioned them to do several carvings, which they did to his satisfaction, but they then refused to carve a statue of Aesculapius to be used in a temple dedicated to him, as they were Christians. The emperor accepted their beliefs, but when they refused to sacrifice to the gods, they were imprisoned.

When Diocletian's officer Lampadius, who was trying to convince them to sacrifice to the gods, suddenly died, his relatives accused the five of his death. To placate the relatives, the emperor had them beaten and then executed. They were put into leaden caskets alive and drowned in the River Sava. This happened towards the end of AD 305.

Almighty God, who gave to your servants Castorius, Claudius, Nicostratus, and Symphorian boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #god #saints #salvation #peace #faith #martyrs #early church #christian persecution

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troybeecham · 9 months

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Today the Church honors St. Diomedes the Physician, Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

Diomedes was born in Cilician Tarsus some time in the mid-3rd c. AD in Asia Minor. He was trained as a physician. Diomedes seems to have been born into a Christian family. He was well known as a physician as well as being a tireless evangelist, treating not only ills of the body, but also of the soul. He enlightened many pagans with belief in Christ, and baptized them.

Saint Diomedes traveled much both as a noted physician but also from his desire to spread the Gospel of Jesus. His ministry led to the conversion of many people to the true Faith. On one such journey, when he arrived in the city of Nicea, the emperor Diocletian (284-305 AD) heard of the arrival of this famous man and sent soldiers to arrest him. Having already left Nicea, the emperor’s soldiers pursued him. Along the way from Nicea to Nicomedia, Diomedes got down from the cart so as to pray, and he died.

As proof of carrying out their orders, the soldiers cut off his head, but then themselves became blinded. Upon seeing what had happened to his soldiers, Diocletian gave orders to take the head back to the body. When the soldiers fulfilled the order, their sight was restored and they believed in Christ.

The Orthodox Church venerates him as a healer and mentions him during the Mystery of Holy Unction.

Almighty and everlasting God, who kindled the flame of your love in the heart of your holy martyr Diomedes: Grant to us, your humble servants, a like faith and power of love, that we who rejoice in her triumph may profit by her example; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #martyrs #faith #early church

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troybeecham · 9 months

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Today, the Church remembers Saint Clare of Assisi, Monastic.

Ora pro nobis.

St. Clare (Chiara in Italian) was one of the first followers of Saint Francis of Assisi. She founded the Order of Poor Ladies, a monastic religious order for women in the Franciscan tradition, and wrote their Rule of Life, the first set of monastic guidelines known to have been written by a woman. Following her death, the order she founded was renamed in her honor as the Order of Saint Clare, commonly referred to today as the Poor Clares.

She was born in Assisi (July 16, 1194 – August 11, 1253 AD), and was the eldest daughter of Favorino Sciffi, Count of Sasso-Rosso, and his wife Ortolana. Traditional accounts say that Clare's father was a wealthy representative of an ancient Roman family, who owned a large palace in Assisi and a castle on the slope of Mount Subasio. Ortolana belonged to the noble family of Fiumi, and was a very devout woman who had undertaken pilgrimages to Rome, Santiago de Compostela and the Holy Land. Later in life, Ortolana entered Clare's monastery, as did Clare's sisters, Beatrix and Catarina.

As a child, Clare was devoted to prayer. Although there is no mention of this in any historical record, it is assumed that Clare was to be married in line with the family tradition. However, at the age of 18 she heard Francis preach during a Lenten service in the church of San Giorgio at Assisi and asked him to help her to live after the manner of the Gospel. On the evening of Palm Sunday, March 20, 1212, she left her father's house and accompanied by her aunt Bianca and another companion proceeded to the chapel of the Porziuncula to meet Francis. There, her hair was cut, and she exchanged her rich gown for a plain robe and veil.

Francis placed Clare in the convent of the Benedictine nuns of San Paulo, near Bastia. Her father attempted to force her to return home. She clung to the altar of the church and threw aside her veil to show her cropped hair. She resisted any attempt, professing that she would have no other husband but Jesus Christ. In order to provide the greater solitude Clare desired, a few days later Francis sent her to Sant' Angelo in Panzo, another monastery of the Benedictine nuns on one of the flanks of Subasio. Clare was soon joined by her sister Catarina, who took the name Agnes. They remained with the Benedictines until a small dwelling was built for them next to the church of San Damiano, which Francis had repaired some years earlier.

Other women joined them, and they were known as the "Poor Ladies of San Damiano". They lived a simple life of poverty, austerity and seclusion from the world, according to a Rule which Francis gave them as a Second Order.

San Damiano became the center of Clare's new religious order, which was known in her lifetime as the "Order of Poor Ladies of San Damiano". San Damiano was long thought to be the first house of this order, however, recent scholarship strongly suggests that San Damiano actually joined an existing network of women's religious houses organized by Hugolino (who later became Pope Gregory IX). Hugolino wanted San Damiano as part of the order he founded because of the prestige of Clare's monastery. San Damiano emerged as the most important house in the order, and Clare became its undisputed leader. By 1263, just ten years after Clare's death, the order had become known as the Order of Saint Clare.

In 1228, when Gregory IX offered Clare a dispensation from the vow of strict poverty, she replied: "I need to be absolved from my sins, but not from the obligation of following Christ." Accordingly, the Pope granted them the Privilegium Pauperitatis — that nobody could oblige them to accept any possession.

Unlike the Franciscan friars, whose members moved around the country to preach, Saint Clare's sisters lived in enclosure, since an itinerant life was hardly conceivable at the time for women. Their life consisted of manual labor and prayer. The nuns went barefoot, slept on the ground, ate no meat and observed almost complete silence.

For a short period, the order was directed by Francis himself. Then in 1216, Clare accepted the role of abbess of San Damiano. As abbess, Clare had more authority to lead the order than when she was the prioress and required to follow the orders of a priest heading the community. Clare defended her order from the attempts of prelates to impose a rule on them that more closely resembled the Rule of Saint Benedict than Francis' stricter vows. Clare sought to imitate Francis' virtues and way of life so much so that she was sometimes titled ‘alter Franciscus’, another Francis. She also played a significant role in encouraging and aiding Francis, whom she saw as a spiritual father figure, and she took care of him during his final illness.

After Francis' death, Clare continued to promote the growth of her order, writing letters to abbesses in other parts of Europe and thwarting every attempt by each successive pope to impose a rule on her order which weakened the radical commitment to corporate poverty she had originally embraced. Clare's Franciscan theology of joyous poverty in imitation of Christ is evident in the rule she wrote for her community and in her four letters to Agnes of Prague.

In 1224, the army of Frederick II came to plunder Assisi. Clare went out to meet them with the Blessed Sacrament in her hands. Suddenly a mysterious terror seized the enemies, who fled without harming anybody in the city.

In her later years, Clare endured a long period of poor health. She died on 11 August 1253 at the age of 59. Her last words as reported to have been, "Blessed be You, O God, for having created me."

O God, whose blessed Son became poor that we through his poverty might be rich: Deliver us from an inordinate love of this world, that we, inspired by the devotion of your servant Clare, may serve you with singleness of heart, and attain to the riches of the age to come; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #faith

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Today the Church remembers St. Pontius of Rome, Martyr.

Ora pro nobis.

St. Pontius lived during the third century AD, the son of the pagan Roman senator Marcus and his wife Julia. While with child, Julia had gone with her husband to the temple of Jupiter. Upon seeing the pregnant Julia, the pagan priest suddenly shouted out that the boy in Julia’s womb would destroy Jupiter and his pagan temple. When the boy was born, his mother wanted to kill him out of fear of the prediction, but his father opposed this and the child was left to live. He was named Pontius, and he grew up sharp of mind and eager for study.

On his way to the pagan school, Pontius happened to go past a house, where Christians were attending the morning services. Hearing the words of the Psalm which the Christians were singing: “the idols of the heathen are silver and gold, the works of men’s hands” (Ps. 114/115: 4 and Ps. 134 /135: 15 ). Pontius became very interested in this verse and he paused at the gate.

Saint Pontian, who was celebrating the service, invited Pontius and his companion Valerian to come in. After the service, the bishop talked for a long while with the youths, revealing to them the Gospel teachings, and after a certain while he baptized them. Saint Pontius, in turn, converted his father to Christ, whom Saint Pontian also baptized, together with his whole household.

After the death of his father, Saint Pontius, then 20 years old, was appointed by the emperor Severus Alexander (222-235 AD) as a senator, to take the place of his deceased father. In the Senate and the surroundings of the emperor, Saint Pontius enjoyed universal esteem for his good nature, sound sense, and fairness. When emperor Severus died, a period of profound instability wracked the Roman empire, known as the Crisis of the Third Century, which included nearly fifty years of civil war, foreign invasion, and the collapse of the monetary economy.

Under the successor to the emperor Alexander Severus, Maximinus’ brief rule (235-238 AD) was marked by chaos. In 238 AD (which came to be known as the Year of the Six Emperors), a senatorial revolt broke out, leading to the successive proclamation of Gordian I, Gordian II, Pupienus, Balbinus, and Gordian III as emperors in opposition to Maximinus. Maximinus advanced on Rome to put down the revolt, but was halted at Aquileia, where he was assassinated by disaffected elements of the Legio II Parthica. It was in this period of chaos that any who were deemed disloyal to the emperor or to the stability of Roman life were singled out. Christians, in particular, we’re accused of being disloyal for abandoning the ancient traditions of Rome. St. Pontian was accused of being a Christian, and therefore an enemy of the state. When put on trial, he was offered the opportunity to recant his Christian Faith and to te-embrace the gods of Rome. He steadfastly refused to renounce Jesus. Saint Pontian finished his life as a martyr, being condemned to death by beheading c. 237 AD.

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Pontius boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

#father troy beecham #christianity #jesus #saints #god #salvation #peace #martyrs #faith #early church

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