25th Week, Friday, Sept 26; Sts Cosmas and Damian
Haggai 1:15 - 2:9 / Luke 9:18-22
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In difficult situations, how often do we recall that God is indeed with us? "A branch cannot bear fruit on its own unless it remains on the vine, so ... without Me, you can do nothing." John 15:4-5
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The prophet Haggai exhorts the Jews after their return from the exile to give everything, even their silver and gold, for the reconstruction of the Temple. Then the living God will be present among them and he will give them peace.
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There is this rather serious question, but the answer is rather funny. The question is: How to avoid getting stressed at work? The answer: Don't go to work. Whether we find that funny or not, work is serious business. That's where we get our livelihood, that's where we do something meaningful, that's where we keep ourselves busy and occupied and find fulfilment. So, whether work is stressful or not, it depends on how we take it. But one thing for sure is that work is hard. There is something about work in the 1st reading and it is given as a short and sharp command: To work!
Through the prophet Haggai, God is telling His people to get down to work. What work? It was the work of rebuilding the Temple. And it was going to be really hard work to rebuild the Temple that was going to be more glorious than the former Temple.
And God wanted the Temple to be rebuilt, and He was going to supply the people all the gold and silver and whatever was necessary. So why the urgency then? The Lord of hosts speaks: The new glory of this Temple is going to surpass the old, and in this place, I will give peace.
So the Temple was going to be a symbol and a channel of peace for the people. But they must work for it. So too, whatever our work is, whatever we are working for, wherever we are working, let us also work hard for peace. To work for peace is the meaning and fulfilment of our lives. And the Lord will give us whatever we need to achieve that. So let us get down to it and work hard for peace.
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The whole of Luke so far, chapters 3-9, prepared these two questions. Who do the people say that I am? and: Who do you say? Peter alone answers: You are the Christ of God. This was an important point reached. Now revelation goes one step further. The people's idea was wrong, the apostles at least insufficient. The Messiah is the suffering servant of God, as foretold by Isaiah. He is the man of sorrow, the lamb led to the slaughter, who suffers for the sins of all. Jesus now astonishes with the first announcement of the passion. The son of man must suffer grievously. He will not be the glorious messiah of national greatness and welfare. He will be rejected by the elders, the legislative, the high priests, the religious executive and the intelligentsia, interpreters of the word of God. These will put him to death. He will die as the sacrifice for the life of the world. If this was not already too difficult to understand, he adds the incomprehensible: "and be raised on the third day".
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Jesus asks of each of us today not what others say about him but who he is for us and what he means to us. The answer he is waiting for has not to consist in long declarations but the living response of our lives.
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Opening Prayer
God our Father, your Son Jesus asks of us today: “Who am I for you?” Forgive us our stammering words, but this we can say with grateful love: We thank you that you have shown us in him how good you are and how much you love us. We thank you that he appeared in all the frailty of our own humanity and that by his death and resurrection you have brought us forgiveness and life. Let him be the meaning of our lives, for he is Jesus our Saviour and our Lord forever. Amen
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Saints Cosmas and Damian
Feast day September 26
There are some saints of whom we know very little. People from all over the world may honour them. Shrines and churches may be built in their names. But the facts and details of their lives have faded from our memories or their stories may never have been recorded.
Cosmas and Damian are saints like these. Little is known about them except that they suffered martyrdom for their faith in Syria sometime during the persecutions of Diocletian (around 303). We may never know exactly what happened, but we do know that their witness to the faith was so strong that people turned to them for prayerful help and passed their story on to others.
Legends about these two saints abound. According to these stories, Cosmas and Damian were twin brothers, born in Arabia, who went to Syria to study and practice medicine. But they were concerned about more than healing bodies. They brought their belief in Christ to those to whom they ministered. Not only that, but they also served people without charging any fees. Lysias, the governor of Celicia, heard about these two brothers and he summoned them before him. When Cosmas and Damian proclaimed they were Christians, Lysias had them tortured and finally beheaded. Devotion to these two brothers grew, and many cures were said to have been worked through their intercessions. Later a church in their honour was constructed over the site of their burial. When the Emperor Justinian was sick, he prayed to Saints Cosmas and Damian for a cure. Out of gratitude for receiving this favour, he enlarged the city of Cyr and its church. Numerous other churches were erected for them at Constantinople and Rome. Their names are also included in the First Eucharistic Prayer.
If so little about these saints is actually known, why do we honour them? Part of the answer can be found in tradition. When so many believers continue to honour the memory of martyrs, year after year and all over the world, there is good reason to believe that their lives were true witnesses to the Gospel. People who live and die according to their convictions and faith give hope to the world long after their deaths. Their lives can inspire us and encourage us to be faithful during our little trials and sorrows.
