3 Feb 2017
Memorial of St. Blaise
Jesus isn’t the only who proclaimed the Good News of God’s
Kingdom. A lot of others did that,
too. And some of them even died for
their unwavering belief in Jesus Christ.
They’re part of this huge family of believers we know as the
Church. And today we remember one of our
brothers in the faith; we remember Saint Blaise.
He was born around the year 280A.D. and is believed to have
been something like a doctor; he apparently had a knack for treating people
with throat problems. And then, at some
point, he had an encounter with God and he changed his life into a life of
prayer; he became a “doctor of the soul,” and many people went looking for him
to be healed of their illnesses. He
eventually became a bishop.
But then, in the year 316, Christians began to be persecuted
in the area where he was (in what is today eastern Turkey). And so, he was arrested. Then, one story has it, that as he was being
taken to prison, he came across a woman whose little son was choking on a fish
bone. Blaise was able to cure the boy
just by touching him. And the people
who’d arrested Blaise were amazed, but they still demanded that he renounce his
faith. He wouldn’t, and so they beat and
tortured him, and then beheaded him.
St. Blaise proclaimed the Good News of God’s Kingdom, and he
never denied his belief that Jesus is the Son of God. He was a powerful person back in the 4th
Century, and he’s still a powerful person today. He’s part of that big family of believers we
call the Church. And even after 1600
years, we still ask our brother, St. Blaise, to help us.
That’s why we have the Blessing of Throats today. On this day when we celebrate St. Blaise’s
martyrdom, we ask him to pray a powerful prayer to God for all those who need
healing in their throats, and who need healing in general. Through the intercession of St. Blaise,
bishop and martyr, may God heal us of whatever ails us; may the Kingdom of God
come to us. St. Blaise, our brother,
pray for us.
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