November 11 - St Martin of Tours
As Jesus continued his journey to Jerusalem, he traveled through Samaria and Galilee.
As he was entering a village, ten lepers met him. They stood at a distance from him and raised their voice, saying, ìJesus, Master! Have pity on us!î
And when he saw them, he said, ìGo show yourselves to the priests.î
As they were going they were cleansed. And one of them, realizing he had been healed, returned, glorifying God in a loud voice; and he fell at the feet of Jesus and thanked him. He was a Samaritan.
Jesus said in reply, ìTen were cleansed, were they not? Where are the other nine? Has none but this foreigner returned to give thanks to God?î Then he said to him, ìStand up and go; your faith has saved you.î
Lk 17:11-19
We remember today's saint, Saint Martin of Tours, for his charity, his personal holiness and his living and governance of the monastic life centuries before St. Benedict. He is rather like St Francis of Assisi;
he transcends all sorts of boundaries.
Everybody likes him, and he was always and is beloved of the French and the Germans. In this he is an exemplar of the power of true holiness which is transparent and allows Gods goodness to shine through unclouded.
In the iconic story of his encounter with the beggar as a very young soldier, Martin gives him half his cloak, just about half of all he had. The soldiers cloak was his, tent, his blanket, his overcoat.
We know from hindsight that the beggar was Jesus. When he sliced his cloak in half, Martin did not know that.
He only knew that a fellow human being was in need and he met that need. His response was as whole and natural as was Jesusí response to those who came to Him for healing.
As a soldier St Martin quit the Roman army because a soldier for Christ could not kill. As a saint he was patronized by the French army during the Franco Prussian war. Apparently he knew better than to take up his sword again.
We are all here because we aspire to the holiness of Jesus and Saint Martin. May our personal responses
to the needs of our neighbors, our brothers and sisters, to the requirements of discipleship, be as wholehearted and natural, so that we may gather with the sheep, not just in sheepís clothing, but in spirit and truth.
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