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We don’t usually think of Old Testament prophets as saints, but they are! They proclaimed the Word of God. Zechariah is the eleventh of the twelve minor prophets. Minor does not mean lesser; their writings are shorter than the four major prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and Daniel. Zechariah lived and prophesied at the time of the return to Israel after the Babylonian Captivity in the late 6th century BC: “Say to them: Thus says the LORD of hosts, Return to me—oracle of the LORD* of hosts—and I will return to you, says the LORD of hosts” (Zec.1:3). He was concerned with the rebuilding of the Second Temple in Jerusalem: “Therefore, thus says the LORD: I return to Jerusalem in mercy; my house will be rebuilt there—oracle of the LORD of hosts—and a measuring line will be stretched over Jerusalem” (Zec. 1:16). He relates a series of visions, in much the same way as the Book of Daniel. In Chapter 14 he also prophesies about the “Day of the Lord,” which “focuses on the restoration of Jerusalem and the return of the people of Zion so that the rest of the world will acknowledge God’s sovereignty.” We don’t know a lot about Zechariah’s life except his parentage and time of prophecy. The name Zechariah means “God remembers.”
Each of us are commissioned as priests, prophets, and servant-kings at our baptism. To be a priest means to be one in worship of God; a servant-king serves the people he rules; and a prophet is a person who evangelizes–bringing the Good News of God’s Kingdom to the world. Zechariah was a prophet and we also share in that great ministry when we evangelize about the love of God in the Paschal Mystery of Jesus Christ. St. Zechariah, pray for us.
The Catholic Church recognizes patron saints from Academics–St. Thomas Aquinas and St. Albert the Great to Zoology–St. Albert the Great again! Today’s saint is the patron saint of Gardeners. St. Fiacre was born in Ireland about A.D. 600 and died in A.D. 670 in France. He grew up in a monastery, was ordained a priest, and eventually became an abbot. As people came to him because of his reputation for holiness and healing he went to France to become a hermit. He built a hermitage for himself and a hospice for travelers about 50 miles northeast of Paris. There he planted a vegetable and herb garden and an oratory in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary. He lived a life of self-denial, prayer, fasting, vigils and healing by laying on of hands. Veneration towards him seems to be based on his healing abilities as well as his holiness. His patronage of gardeners is based on his gardening abilities.
Every good act we do can be an act of love for God and others. Gardening may bring joy through the beauty of flowers and health through the nourishment of fruits, and vegetables. Tilling the soil may allow us to focus our minds and hearts on prayer to God in praise and on behalf of others. Tending the yard may bring peace. Scripture envisioned earthly paradise as a garden: “The LORD God then took the man and settled him in the garden of Eden, to cultivate and care for it” (Gn. 2:15). Furthermore: “You make the grass grow for the cattle and plants for people’s work to bring forth food from the earth, wine to gladden their hearts, oil to make their faces shine, and bread to sustain the human heart” (Ps. 104:14-15). St. Fiacre, pray for us.
“Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God” (Mt. 19:24). The U.S. has the world’s largest economy by measurement of the nominal GDP. What does that say to us? Well, let’s see what possession of wealth said to today’s saint!
St. Jeanne Delanoue, aka St. Joan of the Cross, was born in France in 1666 (died 1736) as the youngest of twelve to parents who owned a business. After her parents died she took over the business and became successful, due in part to her shrewdness, but also due in part to greed, to the point of keeping the store open on Sundays, which was against the traditions of the time. However, a poor widowed pilgrim “converted” her during the days of Pentecost. In his canonization homily, St. John Paul II stated: “Known as a prudent and self-interested merchant, she suddenly became ‘very generous in charity,’ when the Holy Spirit, extinguishing ‘the fire of her avarice,’ made her understand that her ardent faith also required ‘the fire of charity,’ showing her the extent of poverty.” And so she changed her ways, founded a religious order, and started to serve “all those who on the Day of Judgment might say to her: I was hungry, thirsty, naked, sick, homeless.”
So what does her life say to us? Again St. John Paul II guides us: “Her example will certainly challenge our modern world.” Too true! We need to root out and address the causes of poverty. “But attention to the poor, and immediate and effective aid, remain essential to remedying the harshness of our world.” We can be benefactors! St. Joan of the Cross, pray for us.
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