July 8--Sts. Priscilla and Aquila, Holy Married Couple

Sts. Aquila and Priscilla

Pope Benedict XVI gave a General Audience on Saints Priscilla and Aquila, spouses, in February of 2007:

“Based on the information in our possession, this married couple played a very active role in the post-Paschal origins of the Church.

“When Paul wrote the First Letter to the Corinthians from Ephesus, together with his own greeting he explicitly sent those of ‘Aquila and Prisca, together with the church in their house’ (16: 19).

“Hence, we come to know the most important role that this couple played in the environment of the primitive Church: that of welcoming in their own house the group of local Christians when they gathered to listen to the Word of God and to celebrate the Eucharist.

“In the house of Aquila and Priscilla, therefore, the Church gathered, the convocation of Christ, which celebrates here the Sacred Mysteries.

“This couple in particular demonstrates how important the action of Christian spouses is. When they are supported by the faith and by a strong spirituality, their courageous commitment for the Church and in the Church becomes natural. The daily sharing of their life prolongs and in some way is sublimated in the assuming of a common responsibility in favour of the Mystical Body of Christ, even if just a little part of it. Thus it was in the first generation and thus it will often be.

“A further lesson we cannot neglect to draw from their example: every home can transform itself into a little church. Not only in the sense that in them must reign the typical Christian love made of altruism and of reciprocal care, but still more in the sense that the whole of family life, based on faith, is called to revolve around the singular lordship of Jesus Christ.”

Sts. Priscilla and Aquila, pray for us!

August 3--St. Lydia of Thyatira, Holy Woman

Dr. med. Detlef Bihn, CC BY-SA 4.0,via Wikimedia Commons

“We set sail from Troas, … and from there to Philippi.  On the sabbath we went outside the city gate along the river where we thought there would be a place of prayer.  We sat and spoke with the women who had gathered there.  One of them, a woman named Lydia, a dealer in purple cloth, from the city of Thyatira, a worshiper of God, listened, and the Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what Paul was saying.  After she and her household had been baptized, she offered us an invitation, ‘If you consider me a believer in the Lord, come and stay at my home,’ and she prevailed on us” (Acts 16:11a, 12a, 13-15).

This reading is from the Easter season, telling the story of the first convert of Europe–St. Lydia. This passage shows how Paul, like Jesus, received support from women. Lydia was a dealer in purple cloth, which meant that she was involved in an industry that involved great wealth. Only the rich or the royal could afford purple cloth. She was wealthy. Furthermore, she is the head of the household–her household is baptized. She offers the invitation. All these indicate that Lydia was a strong, independent, wealthy, businesswoman! Paul accepted her invitation and her house became a house church.

St. Lydia played a pivotal role in the evangelization of Europe. Women play pivotal roles in the evangelization of others: their families, their friends, their colleagues, their community. St. John Paul II wrote in his Letter to Women in 1995: “Thank you, every woman, for the simple fact of being a woman! Through the insight which is so much a part of your womanhood you enrich the world's understanding and help to make human relations more honest and authentic.” St. Lydia, pray for us!

July 5—St. Anthony Zaccaria, Priest

In an age and society where an unborn child is accepted if it is a choice and not a gift, where gender is considered an autonomous decision rather than an accepted fact, and marriage is considered a lifestyle choice no matter who it may be with, the Catholic Church is opposed for loving and teaching according to Jesus and human nature. But today’s saint considered the opposition of others as a badge to be worn proudly, much as his favorite saint, St. Paul, did.

St. Anthony Zaccaria lived in the 16th century, during the Protestant Reformation. He studied medicine and became a doctor, but he wanted to serve the spiritual needs of others and so, became a priest. He started a religious order called the Clerks Regular of St. Paul, also called the Barnabites, a community of priests who took vows and lived by a rule, but lived and served in the world. St. Anthony trained his priests to follow the spirit of St. Paul:

“We should love and feel compassion for those who oppose us, rather than abhor and despise them, since they harm themselves and do us good, and adorn us with crowns of everlasting glory while they incite God’s anger against themselves. And even more than this, we should pray for them and not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil by goodness. We should heap good works like hot coals of burning love upon their heads, as our Apostle urges us to do (See Rom. 12:20). So that, when they become aware of our tolerance and gentleness they may undergo a change of heart and be prompted to turn in love to God….

When you are opposed for the truths of the faith, offer it up for the salvation of the other, much as St. Anthony did.

June 11--St. Barnabas, Apostle

He was known as the "son of encouragement", the generous benefactor of the Jerusalem community, the man who pulled St. Paul from obscurity in Tarsus, a representative of the Antioch community, a member of the Council of Jerusalem, a missionary, and even Zeusl! He may be the most obscure saint in the New Testament, but he was the saint who got things done.

St. Barnabas sold some of his property and gave the proceeds to the Jerusalem community. He introduced Paul to the apostles, vouching for Paul's change from persecutor to proponent of Christianity. When Paul escaped from Damascus back to his hometown of Tarsus, it was Barnabas who brought him to the Christian community of Antioch. Barnabas and Paul were also chosen to go forth and spread the Good News to the Jewish communities in Asia Minor. When the Jews did not believe, the Gentiles did. Some even called Barnabas the god Zeus and Paul the god Hermes. They were chosen to represent Antioch at the Council of Jerusalem in order to explain their success in converting Gentiles to Christianity. However, Barnabas and Paul had a falling out over whether or not to take Barnabas's cousin John Mark on a second missionary trip. They did eventually reconcile.

So, have you ever felt like the person who got things done, but didn’t necessarily get the recognition? Are you the behind-the-scenes person who does the planning, the organizing, the phone-calling, the recruiting, the writing, the cleaning, the donating? Have you had difficulties because your vision didn’t match your colleagues? Have you still worked cooperatively, because the goal was more important than you? You are valuable! You are a modern St. Barnabas!

April 25--St. Mark, Evangelist

Even though Mark's Gospel is second in Scripture, it was actually the first one written.  It is also the shortest Gospel and the one that is jam-packed with excitement and miracles.  Mark wrote for the Christians in Rome who were being persecuted about the time of Peter and Paul's martyrdom, so the emphasis in Mark's Gospel is one of Jesus suffering.

What we know about Mark comes to us mainly from Scripture.  He went on the first missionary journey with Paul and Barnabas, but had a falling out with Paul because Paul did not accept him on the second journey.  However, they did reconcile.  We also know that Mark's family was important in the early Church.  When Peter miraculously escaped from prison he went to the home of Mark's mother.  Some speculate that he was the young boy who escaped when Jesus was arrested.  According to legend he became the companion of Peter, from whom he received the Gospel.  He also became the bishop of Alexandria.  His relics were eventually taken to Venice and interred within the Basilica of St. Mark.

St. Mark shares with us the message of Jesus:  “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel" (Mk. 1:15).  We are called to constant repentance, to turn our lives over every day to God and believe in the message of God's love for us.  Every day is a new opportunity to bring about the kingdom of God by being a true disciple of Jesus:  We hear the Word of God; we accept the Word of God; we spread the Word of God.  Go forth and share God's love with all you meet.  Mark did through his Gospel.

January 26--Sts. Timothy and Titus, Bishops

         

We know of Sts. Timothy and Titus from Paul's letters of the same name.  We know that they were companions of Paul on his missionary journeys.  We call them bishops because Paul appointed them to be in charge of communities of believers in Ephesus and Crete respectively as overseers, to maintain and teach the faith, to worship and celebrate the sacraments, and to guide the people in the right way of living.  Because Paul appointed them, they were able to continue to spread the faith.  As bishops they were successors to the first apostles.

One reason we believe what we believe is because of apostolic succession, bishops succeeding each other all the way back to the first twelve apostles.  Our bishops maintain the same role in the Church as did those first twelve.  They are called to witness to the truth of the love of Jesus for us, to spread the Good News of salvation to all the world, to serve the people under their care.

Paul writes in his second letter to Timothy:  "I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have...."  In his letter to Titus, Paul writes:  "I left you in Crete so that you might set right what remains to be done ...."  Timothy and Titus had the privilege of knowing Paul, who knew Jesus.  Our bishops knew the bishops who ordained them and so on.  We have the surety, through the apostolic succession, that our bishops are guiding us to God.

January 25—The Conversion of St. Paul

 

One month ago we celebrated the birth of Jesus Christ. Today we celebrate the conversion of one of the most famous of Jesus’ followers, St. Paul.  And yet, he started out as a persecutor of the Christian religion:  “Now Saul, still breathing murderous threats against the disciples of the Lord, went to the high priest and asked him for letters to the synagogues in Damascus, that, if he should find any men or women who belonged to the Way, he might bring them back to Jerusalem in chains” (Acts 9:1-2).
 

And yet, Jesus chose him to spread the Good News when he called to him:  “Saul, Saul, why are you persecuting me?” (Acts 9:4).  Saul (Paul was his Roman name) then responded:  “Who are you, sir?” (Acts 9:5).  Jesus then revealed himself:  “I am Jesus, whom you are persecuting” (Acts 9:5).  Paul went into Damascus and was baptized.  Baptized!  The man who had just come to arrest Christians became a Christian!  Paul would undergo many trials and suffer greatly for his change, including death as a martyr.  He founded numerous Christian communities and wrote most of the New Testament through his letters.

But Paul never forgot his past or his role as a persecutor of Christ.  He acknowledged his own salvation was due to the grace of God acting in his life.  He offered the same message of the free gift of God’s grace through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Who do we know that may be attacking the Church?  Who do we know that may be challenging us and our faith?  It may be that God has a great purpose in mind for that person.  Our prayers can be offered to bring about conversion of sinners so that they too may offer glory to God as Paul did.

June 29--Sts. Peter and Paul, Apostles

It is rare when a saint gets more than one day in the liturgical calendar.  The Blessed Virgin Mary has numerous feast days throughout the year.  St. John the Baptist has two days and St. Joseph has two days, but Sts. Peter and Paul have three each, including one day for the both of them.  Their importance in the early Church forever links them together.  They both died in Rome during the persecution of the emperor, Nero.  Before that, they both worked together to bring Christianity to the Gentiles as shown in the Acts of the Apostles at the Council of Jerusalem.  Both wrote epistles, Peter had two, Paul had 13.  They were both apostles, Peter as one of the original twelve and Paul as one specially chosen by Jesus when he was on the road to Damascus.  They are the main protagonists in the Acts of the Apostles, Peter in the first part and Paul in the second.

Both Peter and Paul shared in the ministry of spreading the Good News of Jesus Christ.  Peter was the leader of the entire Church community, the shepherd appointed by Jesus to watch over his flock.  Paul was the founder of numerous communities in Asia Minor and Greece, including most of the places to whom he wrote epistles.

When portrayed in art, Peter is often shown as holding keys, recalling the passage from Mt. 16:19—“I will give you the keys to the kingdom of heaven.”  This symbolized the role of Peter as pope, the one who is the visible sign of the unity of the Church.  Paul is often portrayed in art with a sword, which is how he was martyred, or a book, symbolizing his letters in the New Testament.

Both Peter and Paul are essential for us today.  Peter’s role as shepherd-pope reminds us of the importance of the Magisterium and the need to follow its teaching.  Paul’s role as missionary-letter writer reminds us of the importance of Scripture and Tradition in following Jesus.  Both remind us of the importance of witnessing to the faith in Jesus.  Since both were martyred in Rome, Peter, according to tradition on an upside-down cross, and Paul by beheading, this shows the primacy of Rome and her bishop, the pope, in leading the Church throughout the world.