Feb 21 - St. Peter Damian

+ St Peter Damian was a stern figure, like St John the Baptist, who seems to be specifically raised up to call lax men and women to repentance and the narrow path of virtue. He was raised by his brother who was archpriest of Ravenna, who saw to it that Peter was well educated. The youth was more interested though in a life of penance and helping the poor. He soon found himself living a hermit’s life and being taken under the wing of a couple of saintly Benedictine monks.

Peter lived a Benedictine hermit’s life then, but was soon called upon to take the role of Abbot among the hermits when the present abbot died. As abbot he founded five other houses of hermits. His chief care was to foster in his disciples the spirit of solitude, charity and humility. Many of them became great lights of the Church.

Peter also was called upon by the holy see to help in many matters which troubled the pope. His writings appear to be strict and vehement but this because he was trying to enforce the observance of morality and discipline, especially among the clergy and monks. He severely rebuked the Bishop of Florence for playing a game of chess.

He fought simony and upheld clerical celibacy, he encouraged a common life for the secular clergy. During his last trip as papal envoy in 1072, Peter caught a fever and lay dying. While monks gathered around him singing the Divine Office he died. His preaching was most eloquent, his writings voluminous, he was declared doctor of the Church in 1828.

The true teachings of the Lord could flow into and out of St Peter Damian because he acquired the discipline of cooperation to grace – to remain attached to the “vine which is Christ.” Apparently, he did so with great vigor because some very strong and useful preaching and teaching came forth from him – at a time in history when it was precisely needed. In this day and age – great channels of courage and moral fortitude are needed as well. May we cooperate with grace today, as Peter Damian did, so that God can use us as he wills.

Remain in my love, says the Lord; whoever remains in me and I in him will bear much fruit.

Feb 19 - 6th Week in OT - Wednesday

+ The gospel passage today indicates an interesting two-pronged process that we must undergo if we are to comprehend anything. It is “becoming aware” of something, but then asking for and applying the gift of “a fulness of understanding” about that “awareness.” These of course take for granted that one is “awake and alert” in the first place – and not just sleeping our way through the day – with “unenlightened” robotic gestures and interactions.

Perhaps this was why Jesus healed the blind man in the passage in two stages: the first, where the man saw people walking and looking like “trees”, and the second part is when “understanding and comprehension” kicked in – this of course could happen at all because the man was “awake and alert” to the whole process. It was his desire to see!

As we live our day today, let us do so “awake and alert”, being as actively aware as we can – MOMENT BY MOMENT – as to what is actually occurring both in us and around us – and then asking the Spirit’s grace of understanding and a desire to put helping actions and gestures into play – in a non-robotic – truly and genuinely interested way!

The first reading from the letter of James ties in indirectly – being a hearer only of right and true words – that come from God each day in a variety of ways – and NOT acting on them is senseless and pointless – we may even save the energy of hearing in the first place. James encourages us then to “wake up to the words of God” as they come to us, “be aware of what we are perceiving,” and then “understanding” that they were given for the benefit of others, and ourselves – to make the society in which we live – a truly loving, caring, and compassionate one.

And so, may the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ enlighten the eyes of our hearts that we may know what is the hope that belongs to his call [to us – for service, for life!]

Feb 10 - St. Scholastica

+ St. Scholastica (b. 480), is the twin sister of St. Benedict of Nursia – founder of the Benedictine Order. Their mother died in childbirth and so these two found their consolation from “Mother Church” and the “motherly advice” that she had to offer. Benedict was the first to found a group of monks who agreed to live under his comprehensive Rule; Scholastica soon founded an order of nuns to live also by his Rule. The chief characteristic of the Rule is to find out what is God’s will and to do it with all your heart! This plays out in an enclosed life of prayer, study and work (service).

Benedict and his sister Scholastica used to meet annually in an abandoned farmhouse, to discuss holy things (her convent was only four miles from his at Monte Cassino). During one visit it seemed that Benedict wanted to end the meeting and go home; but Scholastica asked him to stay longer! He refused, so she said a quiet (but obviously powerful prayer to God) and suddenly a violent thunderstorm emerged from nowhere and kept Benedict in place for the rest of the night. Scholastica then quipped: “I asked a favor of you and you refused it. I asked it of God, and he has granted it.” Three days later, Scholastica died, and Benedict, in his cell, is said to have seen her soul rising to heaven in the form of a dove. She was buried in the tomb that Benedict had prepared for himself, and to which he later joined her (in 543).

While Mary and Martha of the gospel passage seemed to be on different pages; Benedict and Scholastica were exactly on the same page, book and chapter – the Holy Scriptures of God. May we today delve into the mysteries of love – love that our first reading tells us is ever strong, ever powerful, ever safe – as we pray, study the Scriptures and then put this love into action to see if it is what it purports itself to be! I doubt we will be disappointed in its effectiveness – for it can bring thunderstorms where there is fair weather and can warm the coldest heart!

Young men and women praise the name of the Lord.