English wool combers rejoice! 🐑 Today's saint is for you!
Dear John, At the start of the year, I often find myself thinking about transition and change. Cold and gray days offer a sense of stillness and contemplation. Who am I to become? How can I partner with God to become who I already am in God’s eyes? What cries out within me to be made new? Featured in the newsletter this week is our conversation with Daniel Horan, PhD, on our Off the Page podcast. Having just navigated a major transition in his own life, we discussed how to listen to God during times of change. We also explored what it looks like to awaken to what Thomas Merton called the True Self, using transition as a catalyst for spiritual transformation. This week, might we allow God to do something new in us? If you enjoy this newsletter, would you help us customize our resources to suit your needs better by donating to Rebuilding God's Church? We are humbled and honored to create media that hopefully accompanies you on your spiritual journey. Peace and all good! Stephen Copeland Book Editor |
Saint of the Day for February 3:
Blaise ??? AD Listen to Saint Blaise’s Story Here We know more about the devotion to Saint Blaise by Christians around the world than we know about the saint himself. His feast is observed as a holy day in some Eastern Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labor in England on Blaise’s feast day. The Germans and Slavs hold him in special honor, and for decades many United States Catholics have sought the annual Saint Blaise blessing for their throats. We know that Bishop Blaise was martyred in his episcopal city of Sebastea, Armenia, in 316. The legendary Acts of St. Blaise were written 400 years later. According to them Blaise was a good bishop, working hard to encourage the spiritual and physical health of his people. Although the Edict of Toleration (311), granting freedom of worship in the Roman Empire, was already five years old, persecution still raged in Armenia. Blaise was apparently forced to flee to the back country. There he lived as a hermit in solitude and prayer, but he made friends with the wild animals. One day a group of hunters seeking wild animals for the amphitheater stumbled upon Blaise’s cave. They were first surprised and then frightened. The bishop was kneeling in prayer surrounded by patiently waiting wolves, lions and bears. The legend has it that as the hunters hauled Blaise off to prison, a mother came with her young son who had a fish bone lodged in his throat. At Blaise’s command the child was able to cough up the bone. Agricolaus, governor of Cappadocia, tried to persuade Blaise to sacrifice to pagan idols. The first time Blaise refused, he was beaten. The next time he was suspended from a tree and his flesh torn with iron combs or rakes. Finally, he was beheaded. Reflection Four centuries give ample opportunity for fiction to creep in with fact. Who can be sure how accurate Blaise’s biographer was? But biographical details are not essential. Blaise is seen as one more example of the power those have who give themselves entirely to Jesus. As Jesus told his apostles at the Last Supper, “If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask for whatever you want and it will be done for you” (John 15:7). With faith we can follow the lead of the Church in asking for Blaise’s protection. Saint Blaise is the Patron Saint of: Relief from Throat Ailments
English Wool Combers
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God Provides By releasing our anxieties about whether we will have enough for tomorrow and believing that God will provide just what we need when we need it, we may find through living simply that we no longer need as much. Living in precarity with faith in God’s providence may lead to this startling conclusion: I am rich because my needs are few. Enough will be enough. May we heed God’s instructions for gathering manna, as they apply to us, and have the faith that God will provide the bread that we need today—and tomorrow. —from St. Anthony Messenger’s “How Much Is Enough?“
by Denise Clare, OFS |
Discover what it means to follow Jesus in the 21st century. God Is Not Fair and Other Reasons for Gratitude |
Walking with Jesus Reflect When we think of the apostles and other followers of Jesus, our minds might take us to a faraway land 2,000 years ago. And yet we are called to be disciples of Jesus here today. May we offer this prayer of petition to become better followers of our Lord. Pray Jesus,
I want to walk
in your footsteps,
to be a witness to your call
to love God
and one another.
So often, I stumble along the way
to answering your call.
Help me steady myself
so that I may proclaim
with a glad heart
the good news this and every day.
Amen. Act Discipleship is as much about leading as it is about following. Find one way to lead by example today that spreads the gospel. Today's Pause+Pray was written by Daniel Imwalle. Learn more here! |
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