Mk. 6,7-13 and Saint Blaise

Thursday of the Fourth week in Ordinary Time : Mk. 6,7-13

and Saint Blaise

----- Forwarded Message ----
From: Nivard - - -
Sent: Wed, 2 February, 2011 20:17:04
Subject: St. Blaise

   Today is an optional memorial of St Blaise. I don't know much about him except that he is the special saint for healing throat diseases, sore throats and colds etc.. But we can also pray to him for better speech, as well as for a sweet singing voice to sing the praises of the Lord. 

                 Sending of the disciples (Mk 6:6)   

   Jesus sent the disciples, two by two, to preach the Gospel with no money in their belts. He tells us to watch and be on our guard against all malice and greed. We must guard ourselves against the worries of this world and the cares of this life. We must follow him in our daily monastic round with a free mind.  

   We recall that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living and all-powerful God... was a poor man and a man of the road and lived on alms, he and the Blessed Virgin, and His disciples. Daily, we need to strip ourselves of all attachment to this world’s goods. We need to set our spirits free. Only then may we dance and sing for joy in the love of the Lord and of one another.

  

Commentary of the day
Saint Francis of Assisi (1182-1226), Founder of the Friars Minor
Earlier Rule, §8-9 (©Classics of Western Spirituality)

"No money in their belts"

The Lord commands us in the Gospel: «Watch, be on your guard against all malice and greed» (cf. Lk 12:15). «Guard yourselves against the preoccupations of this world and the cares of this life» (cf. Mt 6,25; Lk 21:34). Therefore, none of the brothers, wherever he may be or wherever he goes, should in any way carry, receive, or have received either money or coins, whether for clothing or books or payment for any work-indeed, for no reason-unless it is for the evident need of the sick brothers; for we must not suppose that money or coins have any greater value than stones. And the devil would like to blind those who desire it or consider it better than stones. Therefore, let us who have left all things behind take care that we do not lose the kingdom of heaven for so little (cf. Mt 19:27; Mk 10,24.28). And if we were to find coins in any place, let us give them no more thought than the dust which we crush with our feet; for all this is «vanity of vanities, and all is vanity» (Eccl 1:2).

All the brothers should strive to follow the humility and the poverty of our Lord Jesus Christ... And they must rejoice when they live among people who are considered to be of little worth and who are looked down upon, among the poor and the powerless, the sick and the lepers, and the beggars by the wayside. And when it may be necessary, let them go for alms. And they should not be ashamed, but rather recall that our Lord Jesus Christ, the Son of the living and all-powerful God... was a poor man and a transient and lived on alms, he and the Blessed Virgin, and His disciples. Daily, we need to strip ourselves of all attachment to this world’s goods. We need to set our spirits free. Only then may we dance and sing for joy in the Lord and in one another.