32nd Week, Tuesday, Nov 11; Saint Martin of Tours
Wisdom 2:23 - 3:9 / Luke 17:7-10
God formed us in his image; God purifies us like gold in a fire.
During his four-day visit to Peru in 1985, Pope John Paul II made a special effort to visit the economically and socially deprived. During one visit he was moved deeply by a spokesperson for the poor who told him: "We are hungry, we live in misery, we are sick and out of work. Our women give birth in tuberculosis, our infants die, our children grow weak and without a future. But despite this we believe in the God of life.... We have walked with the Church and in the Church, and it has helped us ... to live in dignity as sons of God and brothers of Christ."
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To what extent do we see sorrow, sickness, and deprivation as things God can use to perfect us, much as gold is purified by fire? "Those who trust in [God] shall understand truth, and the faithful shall abide with him in love." Wisdom 3:9
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When he sees life cut short by the will of people, the author of the book of Wisdom understands that the reward for fidelity does not always come during life. But human persons are imperishable. God will reward them after death. Death is already overcome by the way the faithful face it and so by their free act of accepting death, the just express their trust in God. They are in the hands of God.
The words of Jesus in the Gospel of today seem to be directed more to the Pharisees and scribes, who claimed to be servants of God, than to the apostles. They were self-assured servants; they computed their merits for what they had done for God and asserted their right to his rewards. Perhaps, the apostles too, were not always too modest in their claims as companions of Jesus. All should put their trust in God and leave everything to him. Not what we have done for God counts, but what he does for us in his mercy. We are in his hands.
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Our beliefs and our destiny have a connection. Our beliefs shape our destiny, not just in this life but also in the next life. Because out of our beliefs flows our actions, and our actions slowly form our habits. Our habits shape our character and by our character we build our destiny. The 1st reading tells us that God made us imperishable; He made us in the image of His own nature.
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Opening Prayer
God merciful Father, you know what is in our hearts. Whether our intentions are good or selfish, we leave everything to your compassionate judgment. But this we ask of you: Confirm us in the will to serve you and our people in loyalty and love and for the rest, we are in your hands, for you are our God and Father through Jesus Christ, our Lord. Amen
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Saint Martin of Tours
Feast Day November 11
One wintry day, young Martin, soldier and catechumen, met a shivering beggar in the street. He cut his cape in two, giving half to the man. That night in a dream St. Martin saw Jesus wearing it and heard him say, “Martin is still only a catechumen, but has covered me with this garment.” Stunned, soon afterward Martin presented himself for baptism.
Martin’s father, a Roman tribune, had arranged for his son’s conscription into the army at age 15. So Martin performed military service until he decided that it contradicted his Christian commitment. Sulpicius Severus, the saint’s first biographer, described the day that Martin became the first Christian conscientious objector:
. . . The barbarians were invading the Gallic provinces. Assembling an army at the city of the Vangiones, Emperor Julian prepared to distribute a bonus to his troops. The men were called up in the customary manner, one by one, until Martin’s turn came. He recognized that moment as a suitable time to ask for his discharge, and he did not think it would be honest for him to accept the bonus when he did not intend to fight. “I have fought for you up to this point,” he said to Caesar. “Now let me fight for God. As for your bonus, let someone who is going to join the battle receive it. I am a soldier of Christ: combat is not permitted me.”
Julian exploded with rage and threatened Martin, calling him a coward.
“If my act is set down to cowardice rather than to faith,” he said, “I shall stand unarmed tomorrow before our lines. In the name of the Lord Jesus and protected only by the sign of the cross, without shield or helmet, I shall penetrate the enemy’s ranks and not be afraid.”
The next day, the enemy sent an embassy to sue for peace, handing over themselves and all that was theirs. From this can anyone doubt that the victory was due to the blessed man—a grace granted to prevent his being sent unarmed into combat?
As there was now no war to fight, Martin got his discharge.
Martin was renowned as a miracle worker, performing many cures and even raising a dead man. Once, for example, he healed St. Paulinus of Nola’s diseased eye by touching it lightly with a fine paintbrush. Martin died on November 11, 397. Because of his reputation, he became one of the most admired saints of the Middle Ages.
