One Minute Reflection – 11 November – St Martin of Tours (c 316-397) “Martin the Merciful,” Bishop, Confessor, Miracle-Worker. – Sirach 44:16-27; 45:3-20, Luke 11:33-36 – Scripture search here: https://www.drbo.org/
“At that time, Jesus said to His disciples: No man lights a candle and puts it in a hidden place, nor under a bushel but upon a candlestick, that they who come in, may see the light.” – Luke 11:33
REFLECTION – “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do men light a lamp only to put it under a bushel basket; they put it on a stand where it gives light to all in the house. The Lord called His disciples, the salt of the earth because they seasoned ,with heavenly wisdom, the hearts of men, rendered insipid by the devil. Now he calls them, the light of the world as well because they have been enlightened by Him, the True and Everlasting Light and have themselves become a light in the darkness.
Since He is the Sun of Justice, he fittingly calls His disciples, the light of the world. The reason for this, is that through them, as through shining rays, He has poured out the light of the knowledge of Himself, upon the entire world. For by manifesting the Light of Truth, they have dispelled the darkness of error from the hearts of men.
Moreover, we too have been enlightened by them. We have been made light out of darkness, as the Apostle says: For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord; walk as children of light. He says another time: For you are not sons of the night and of darkness but you are all sons of light and of the day.
Saint John also rightly asserts, in his letter: God is Light and whoever abides in God, is in the Light, just as God Himself is in the Light. Therefore, because we rejoice in having been freed from the darkness of error, we should always walk in the Light as children of Light. This is why the Apostle says: Among them you shine as lights in the world, holding fast to the Word of Life.
If we fail to live in the Light, we shall, to our condemnation and that of others, be veiling over and obscuring, by our infidelity, the Light men so desperately need. As we know from Scripture, the man who received the talent should have made it produce a heavenly profit but instead, he preferred to hide it away rather than put it to work and was punished as he deserved.
Consequently, that brilliant Lamp which was lit for the sake of our salvation should always shine in us. For we have the lamp of the heavenly commandments and spiritual grace, to which David referred: Your law is a lamp to my feet and a light to my path. Solomon also says this about it: For the command of the law is a lamp.
Therefore, we must not hide this Lamp of law and faith. Rather, we must set it up in the Church, as on a lampstand, for the salvation of many, so that we may enjoy the Light of Truth itself and all believers, may be enlightened.” – St Chromatius of Aquileia (Died c 407) Bishop of Aquileia, Theologian, Exegete, Writer and friend of Saints Ambrose and Jerome, Father of the Church (Excerpt from A treatise on the Gospel of Saint Matthew).
PRAYER – O God, Who sees that we cannot survive by any power of our own, mercifully grant that, by the intercession of blessed Martin, Thy Confessor and Bishop, we may be made safe from all harm. Through Jesus Christ, Thy Son our Lord, Who lives and reigns with Thee, in the unity of the Holy Ghost, God, world without end. Amen (Collect).
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