3 Feb – Memorial for St. Blaise, bishop and martyr; Memorial for St. Ansgar, bishop
St. Blaise (d. 316) was a physician and Bishop of Sebaste, Armenia. He lived in a cave on Mount Argeus. He was a healer of men and animals. According to legend, sick animals would come to him on their own for help, but would never disturb him in prayer.
Agricola, governor of Cappadocia, came to Sebaste to persecute Christians. His huntsmen went into the forests of Argeus to find wild animals for the arena games, and found many waiting outside Blaise’s cave. Discovered in prayer, Blaise was arrested, and Agricola tried to get him to recant his faith. While in prison, Blaise ministered to and healed his fellow prisoners, including saving a child who was choking on a fish bone; this led to the blessing of throats on Blaise’s feast day.
Thrown into a lake to drown, Blaise stood on the surface and invited his persecutors to walk out and prove the power of their gods; they drowned. When he returned to land, he was martyred by being beaten, his flesh torn out with wool combs (which led to his association with, and patronage of those involved in the wool trade), and then beheaded.
Blaise has been extremely popular for centuries in both the Eastern and Western Churches. In 1222, the Council of Oxford prohibited servile labour in England on his feast. He is one of the Fourteen Holy Helpers.
St. Ansgar (801-865) was born to the French nobility. He was a Benedictine monk at Old Corbie Abbey in Picardy, and New Corbie in Westphalia. He studied under St. Adelard and St. Paschasius Radbert. He accompanied the converted King Harold to Denmark when the exiled king returned home.
He was a missionary to Denmark and Sweden. He founded the first Christian church in Sweden in c.832. He was abbot of New Corbie in c.834. He was ordained Archbishop of Hamburg by Pope Gregory IV. He was a papal legate to the Scandanavian countries. He established the first Christian school in Denmark, but was run out by pagans, and the school was burned to the ground. He campaigned against slavery.
He was Archbishop of Bremen. He converted Erik, King of Jutland. He was a great preacher, a miracle worker, and greatly devoted to the poor and sick. Sadly, after his death most of his gains for the Church were lost to resurgent paganism.
- Patron Saint Index
Heb 11:32-40
Mk 5:1-20
Then they began to implore Jesus to leave the neighbourhood.
I remember studying this passage as I prepared for my Bible Knowledge exam during my O-level examinations. We labeled this the ‘Story of the Gerasene Demoniac’. It seemed a fairly straightforward passage: Jesus sees demoniac – pities him – exorcises the demons from the man to the pigs – pigs rush down the cliff and kill themselves – healed man is grateful; until we get to the point when the people of the town begged Jesus to leave.
I kept asking myself this question, “Why do you think they begged Jesus to leave?” Of course, the text doesn’t tell us. But we can infer that it was related to economics. Perhaps another question will help — “When Jesus offers us freedom from our bondage, forgiveness from our sins, and a future of eternal hope – why would we turn him down?”
For me, the answer is simple. Jesus is going to disrupt and disorder my life (which is really already chaotic). He is going to change me. He may change my direction. He will change my heart. And for some, the pain of life change and the humility necessary to let someone else be Lord of your life is scarier than the pain of bondage and the pride of staying in control. So, rather than celebrate what Jesus did and ask Him to do more, they beg Him to leave.
My daughter, M is 4 and a half years old. She attends the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd programme on Saturday mornings, and our hope is that she will be able to understand and appreciate the Holy Eucharist. For the most part of her earlier years, she would be fairly well-behaved at mass. It was my son, L, whom I struggled with trying to make him sit in the pew during mass. However, of late, M has been acting up and really misbehaving. We try and reason with her and even warn her that certain privileges will get withheld if she misbehaves, while affirming her good behaviour. But of late, there has been more of the former than the latter.
We recently attended weekday mass with my parents. We decided it would be a nice tradition to attend mass and have a family dinner to celebrate a birthday in the family. M was in her ‘element’ that evening. Running across the pew, talking loudly, trying to climb across to the pew behind…this is just a sample of how she behaved. That evening, my dear spouse and I were both exhausted from a long week. I was sleep deprived and she was battling an extended battle with the flu. So, while reminding M, we did not really proactively correct her or take her out of the church.
When M passed my dad, he looked at her firmly and asked her to stop misbehaving. When she mocked him, he gave her a firm tap on her wrist. M’s face changed and I tapped my dad on his thigh and shook my head, motioning that maybe he should not have done that. Later at dinner, my dad apologised that he really did not want to ‘hit’ her. My response to that was, “Dad, please don’t do it again”, without reflecting on why he did what he did.
Of course, dad was upset. He was upset with my response more than M’s misbehaviour. He reached out to talk to me, but I was only focused on the fact that my spouse and I do not hit our children. I was not reflecting on why he did what he did, and the fact that my failure to correct M and take her out of the church, had caused the others to be distracted during mass. I was only focused on reinforcing the fact that we do not hit our children.
As the discussion with my dad progressed on this topic and me ending every exchange with, “but yes, we still do not hit our children’, there was a growing impasse between my dad and myself. He was hurt that I would think he would ever think of hurting his grandchildren, whom he and my mum love very much. There were furious WhatsApp exchanges over a couple of days, and my dad was getting more and more hurt.
Now when I reflect, it was my pride and stubbornness. I refused to look beyond ‘we do not hit our children’ and refused to accept that a simple tap on the wrist was acceptable. I was willing to allow my pride and stubbornness to hurt my relationship with my dad.
A few days later while at work, I was in a meeting with a fellow colleague who was struggling with an internal issue in the bank. To resolve the situation, it meant giving in to a decision made by someone in senior management. He made one observation, as he explained his decision to concede – ‘Humility before Honour.’ That hit me like a ton of bricks. Yes, where was my humility? Where was my humility in my own impasse with my dad?
My parents adore my children and spoil them in any possible way. Their entire living room has been transformed into a playground with a trampoline, a see-saw and even a slide! All furniture has been set aside for their grandchildren to play and have fun indoors, accounting for any adverse weather conditions. Special meals are planned when they visit weekly, and no effort is spared to have the children leave at night, happy and contented.
The people of Gerasene were probably only considering the economic loss of the pigs, over the miracle and healing that Jesus had performed on one of their own. Just like I was obsessed with my pride and my perceived ‘stand’ with my dad.
Upon reflection, I realise that Our Heavenly Father was speaking to me through my dad, and again through that colleague. But if I extrapolate this, I realise this also needs to be applied in other aspects of my life. I should not be so myopic in how I manage my family, my work and all my affairs.
The fact is, for every one of us who would receive a blessing from Christ, there are countless others who would beg Jesus to ‘leave town’ for doing so. Perhaps we too, would beg Jesus to leave if He truly impacted our lives, or the life of someone close to us; the true implications of a life renewed in Christ are staggering. The power of Christ is world-changing and, if enough of us were truly committed to His majesty and message, a seemingly endless number of people would beg Him to leave our hearts, their livelihoods ruined like the pigs drowned in the sea.
Which is it for you? Would you rather deal with the pain of your bondage? Or would you rather deal with the implications of a new life under the control of a Sovereign Lord? Either way, there will be change and suffering. But with one way, there is true freedom, real forgiveness, and eternal hope. I know which one I have chosen. How about you?
(Today’s OXYGEN by Gerard Francis)
Prayer: We pray for those who are blinded by pride and their personal desires. May Our Father touch them and heal their hard-heartedness.
Thanksgiving: We give thanks for the gift of the messages Our Father delivers to us via others around us.
OXYGEN 
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