Monday, April 13, 2009

From Saint and Thought For Every Day, 

by Blessed James Alberione

St. Martin I

Pope and Martyr

     Pope St. Martin I suffered greatly at the hands of a powerful group who propagated the heresy that Christ had no human will.  Frustrated in their plans to murder the Holy Father, they had him dragged to prison and then exiled, where he died in the year 656.  Because of the tremendous sufferings he bore for the love of Christ, Pope St. Martin is considered a martyr.

     Let us ask ourselves:  how do I react when the inevitable sufferings of everyday living come my way?

From A Year With Blessed James Alberione,

Compiled by J. Maurus

Jesus Christ desired to redeem everything in His person

     Jesus Christ desired to redeem everything, including the body, in and through His person.

     So he assumed a body and a soul.  He took the physical body of a baby, a child, a man, and of a victim.

     He was like us in everything save sin.  Like us he had his senses, the natural needs, blood, heart, and the emotions.

     Contemplate Him as a baby in the crib, a worker at Nazareth, worn out in the apostolate, pierced by crowning with thorns, fallen under the cross, on His way to Calvary, given gall and vinegar to drink, nailed to the cross and hanging there for three hours, breathing with bowed head, His side pierced by a lance, His body prepared with anointing for burial and resting three days in the tomb.

     "For you know what was paid to set you free from the worthless manner of life handed down by your ancestors.  It was not something that can be destroyed, such as silver or gold.  It was a costly sacrifice of Christ, who was like a lamb without defect or flaw" (1 Peter 1:18-19).

What Strikes Me Most Today

I am very impressed by the second to last sentence above, starting with, "Contemplate Him...". where Blessed Alberione summarizes the entire Gospel in one sentence --- impressive!  I also found it interesting that the second writing is about how Christ was like us in all things but sin, which would include having a human will.  The heresy that God did not have a human will was the main reason Pope St. Martin I suffered and died (in defense of Christ, who is Way, Truth, and Life).  I did a little homework and that particular heresy is called  Monothelism.   Pope St. Martin I died feeling deserted and alone, and his cause of death was starvation.  He is also listed as the last martyred Pope.  

     So in response to the first readings question, "How do I react when the inevitable sufferings of everyday living come my way," the next time I feel sorry for myself for missing lunch because of a busy day at work, I'll think of Pope St. Martin I dying alone from starvation to stand up for the truth of a Catholic doctrine, and the Church's right and responsibility to proclaim these Christian doctrines.

What strikes you most today?  

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