Catholic Caucus; Daily Mass Readings, 06-28-13, M, St. Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr

St. Irenaeus

Feast Day: June 28
Born: (around) 130 :: Died: 202

Irenaeus was a Greek who was born in Asia Minor. He was blessed to be taught by St. Polycarp of Smyrna, who had been a disciple of St. John the Apostle. Irenaeus once told a friend: "I listened to St. Polycarp's instructions very carefully. I wrote down his actions and his words, not on paper, but on my heart."

After he became a priest, Irenaeus was sent to the French city of Lyons. Irenaeus was asked to go on a mission by his brother priests to take an important message from them to the pope in Rome. In that letter they spoke of Irenaeus as a man full of zeal for the faith.

While Irenaeus was away, the harassment of Christians began in the city of Lyons. The bishop, St. Pothinius, was killed along with a great many other saints who died as martyrs for their faith in Jesus.

When Irenaeus returned the persecution was over and he was made bishop of Lyons. But now there was another danger: false teachings about the Catholic faith called Gnosticism. This false religion attracted some people by its promise to teach them secret mysteries.

Irenaeus studied all its teachings and then wrote five books showing how wrong they were. He wrote with politeness, because he wanted to win people to Jesus. However, sometimes his words were strong, like: "As soon as a man has been won over to the Gnostics, he becomes puffed up with conceit and self-importance. He has the majestic air of a rooster who goes strutting about."

St. Irenaeus' books were read by many people and soon people began to ignore the Gnostics teachings. St. Irenaeus was killed around the year 202 dying a martyr for Jesus.

Reflection: "It is better and more profitable to be simple and less well educated but close to God through charity than to appear wise and gifted but to blaspheme the Master." - St. Irenaeus

St. Irenaeus!

Catholic Almanac:

Friday, June 28

Liturgical Color: Red

Today is the Memorial of St. Irenaeus,
bishop and martyr.
St. Irenaeus was one of the first
great Catholic theologians,
writing defenses against
Gnosticism. He showed that
Tradition was important along
with Scripture in Catholic
teaching.

Matthew
	English: Douay-Rheims	Latin: Vulgata Clementina	Greek NT: Byzantine/Majority Text (2000)
	Matthew 8
1.	AND when he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him:	Cum autem descendisset de monte, secutæ sunt eum turbæ multæ :	καταβαντι δε αυτω απο του ορους ηκολουθησαν αυτω οχλοι πολλοι
2.	And behold a leper came and adored him, saying: Lord, if thou wilt, thou canst make me clean.	et ecce leprosus veniens, adorabat eum, dicens : Domine, si vis, potes me mundare.	και ιδου λεπρος ελθων προσεκυνει αυτω λεγων κυριε εαν θελης δυνασαι με καθαρισαι
3.	And Jesus stretching forth his hand, touched him, saying: I will, be thou made clean. And forthwith his leprosy was cleansed.	Et extendens Jesus manum, tetigit eum, dicens : Volo. Mundare. Et confestim mundata est lepra ejus.	και εκτεινας την χειρα ηψατο αυτου ο ιησους λεγων θελω καθαρισθητι και ευθεως εκαθαρισθη αυτου η λεπρα
4.	And Jesus saith to him: See thou tell no man: but go, shew thyself to the priest, and offer the gift which Moses commanded for a testimony unto them.	Et ait illi Jesus : Vide, nemini dixeris : sed vade, ostende te sacerdoti, et offer munus, quod præcepit Moyses, in testimonium illis.	και λεγει αυτω ο ιησους ορα μηδενι ειπης αλλα υπαγε σεαυτον δειξον τω ιερει και προσενεγκε το δωρον ο προσεταξεν μωσης εις μαρτυριον αυτοις

1. When he was come down from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.
2. And, behold, there came a leper and worshipped him, saying, Lord, if you will, you can make me clean.
3. And Jesus put forth his hand, and touched him, saying, I will; be you clean. And immediately his leprosy was cleansed.
4. And Jesus said to him, see you tell no man; but go your way, show yourself to the Priest, and offer the gift that Moses commanded, for a testimony to them.

JEROME; After the preaching and teaching, is offered an occasion of working miracles, that by mighty works following, the preceding doctrine might be confirmed.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Because He taught them as one having authority, that He might not thence be supposed to use this method of teaching from ostentation, He does the same in works, as one having power to cure; and therefore, When Jesus descended from the mountain, great multitudes followed him.

PSEUDO-ORIGEN; While the Lord taught on the mount, the disciples were with Him, for to them it was given to know the secret things of the heavenly doctrine; but now as He came down from the mount the crowds followed Him, who had been altogether unable to ascend into the mount. They that are bowed by the burden of sin cannot climb to the sublime mysteries. But when the Lord came down from the mount, that is, stooped to the infirmity, and helplessness of the rest, in pity to their imperfections, great multitudes followed Him , some for renown, most for His doctrine, some for cures, or having their wants administered to.

HAYMO; Otherwise; By the mount on which the Lord sate is figured the Heaven, as it is written, Heaven is my throne. But when the Lord sits on the mount, only the disciples come to Him; because before He took on Him the frailty of our human nature, God was known only in Judea; but when He came down from the height of his Divinity, and took upon Him the frailty of our human nature, a great multitude of the nations followed Him. Herein it is shown to them that teach that their speech should be so regulated, that as they see each man is able to receive, they should so speak the word of God. For the doctors ascend the mountain, when they show the more excellent precepts to the perfect; they come down from the mount, in showing the lesser precepts to the weak.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Among others who were not able to ascend into the mount was the leper, as hearing the burden of sin; for the sin of our souls is a leprosy. And the Lord came down from the height of heaven, as from a mountain, that He might purge the leprousness of our sin; and so the leper as already prepared meets Him as He came down.

PSEUDO-ORIGEN; He works the cures below, and does none in the mount; for there is a time for all things under heaven, a time for teaching, and a time for healing. On the mount He taught, He cured souls, He healed hearts; which being finished, as He came down from the heavenly heights to heal bodies, there came to Him a leper and made adoration to Him; before he made his suit, he began to adore, showing his great reverence.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. He did not ask it of Him as of a human physician, but adored Him as God. For faith and confession make a perfect prayer; so that the leprous man in adoring fulfilled the work of faith, and the work of confession in words, he made adoration to him, saying;

PSEUDO-ORIGEN; Lord, by You all things were made, You therefore, if you will, can make me clean. Your will is the work, and all works are subject to Your will. You of old cleansed Naaman the Syrian of his leprosy by the hand of Elisha; and now, if you will, you can make me clean.

CHRYS. He said not, if you will ask of God, or, If you will make adoration to God; but, If you will. Nor did he say, Lord, cleanse me; but left all to Him, thereby making Him Lord, and attributing to Him the power over all.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. And thus he awarded a spiritual Physician with a spiritual reward; for as physicians are gained by money, so He with prayer. We offer to God nothing more worthy than faithful prayer. in that he says, If you will, there is no doubt that Christ's will is ready to every good work; but only doubt whether that cure would be expedient for him, because soundness of body is not good for all. If you will, then is as much as to say, I believe that you wills whatever is good, but I know not if this that I desire for myself is good.

CHRYS. He was able to cleanse by a word, or even by mere will, but He put out His hand, He stretched forth his hand and touched him, to show that He was not subject to the Law, and that to the pure nothing is impure. Elisha truly kept the Law in all strictness, and did not go out and touch Naaman, but sends him to wash in Jordan. But the Lord shows that He does not heal as a servant, but as Lord heals and touches; His hand was not made unclean by the leprosy, but the leprous body was made pure by the holy hand. For He came not only to heal bodies, but to lead the soul to the true wisdom. As then He did not forbid to eat with unwashed hands, so here He teaches us that it is the leprosy of the soul we ought only to dread, which is sin, but that the leprosy of the body is no impediment virtue.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. But though He transgressed the letter of the Law, He did not transgress its meaning. For the Law forbade to touch leprosy, because it could not hinder that the touch should not defile; therefore it meant not that lepers should not be healed, but that they that touched should not be polluted. So He was not polluted by touching the leprosy, but purified the leprosy by touching it.

DAMASCENUS; For He was not only God, but man also, whence He wrought Divine wonders by touch and word; for as by an instrument so by His body the all; Divine acts were done.

CHRYS. But for touching the leprous man there is none that accuses Him, because His ,hearers were not yet seized with envy against Him.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Had He healed him without speaking, who would know by whose power he had been healed? So the will to heal was for the sake of the leprous man; the word was for the sake of them that beheld, therefore He said, I will, be you clean.

JEROME; it is not to be read, as most of the Latins think, 'I will to cleanse you;' but separately, He first answers, I will, and then follows the command, be you clean. The leper has said, If you will; the Lord answers, I will; he first said, You can make me clean; the Lord spoke, be you clean.

CHRYS. Nowhere else do we see Him using this word though He be working ever so signal a miracle; but He here adds, I will, to confirm the opinion of the people and the leprous man concerning His power. Nature obeyed the word of the Purifier with proper speed, whence it follows, and straightway his leprosy was cleansed. But even this word straightway is too slow to express the speed with which the deed was done.

PSEUDO-ORIGEN. Because he was not slow to believe, his cure is not delayed; he did not linger in his confession, Christ did not linger in His cure.

AUG. Luke has mentioned the cleansing of this leper, though not in the same order of events, but as his manner is to recollect things omitted, and to put first things that were done later, as they were divinely suggested; so that what they had known before, they afterwards set down in writing when they were recalled to their minds.

CHRYS. Jesus when healing his body bids him tell no man; Jesus said to him, See you tell no man. Some say that He gave this command that they might not through malice distrust his cure. But this is said foolishly, for He did not so cure him as that his purity should be called in question; but He bids him tell no man, to teach that He does not hove ostentation and glory. How is it then that to another to whom He had healed He gives command to go and tell it? What He taught in that was only that we should have a thankful heart; for He does not command that it should be published abroad, but that glory should be given to God. He teaches us then through this leper not to be desirous of empty honor; by the other, not to be ungrateful, but to refer all things to the praise of God.

JEROME; And in truth what need was there that He should proclaim with His mouth what was evidently showed in his body?

HILARY; Or that this healing might be sought rather than offered, therefore silence is enjoined.

JEROME; He sends him to the Priests, just, because of His humility; that He may seem to defer to the priests; secondly, that when they saw the leper cleansed they might be saved, if they would believe on the Savior, or if not that they might be without excuse; and, lastly, that He might not seem, as He was often charged, to be infringing the Law.

CHRYS. He neither everywhere broke, nor everywhere observed, the Law, but sometimes the one, sometimes the other. The one was preparing the way for the wisdom that was to come, the other was silencing the irreverent tongue of the Jews, and condescending to their weakness. Whence the Apostles also are seen sometimes observing, sometimes neglecting, the Law.

PSEUDO-ORIGEN; Or, he sends him to the Priests that they might know that he was not cleansed according to the manner of the Law, but by the operation of grace.

JEROME; It was ordained in the Law, that those that had been cleansed of a leprosy would offer gifts to the Priests; as it follows, And offer your gift as Moses commanded for a testimony to them.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Which is not to be understood, Moses commanded it for a testimony to them but, Go and offer for a testimony.

CHRYS. For Christ, knowing beforehand that they would not profit by this, said not, 'for their amendment,' but, for a testimony to them; that is, for an accusation of them, and in attestation that all things that should have been done by Me, have been done. But though He thus knew that they would not profit by it, yet He did not omit any thing that is was necessary to be done; but they remained in their former ill-will. Also He said not, 'The gift that I command,' but, that Moses commanded, that in the meantime He might hand them over to the Law, and close the mouths of the unjust. That they might not say that He usurped the honor of the Priests, He fulfilled the work of the Law, and made a trial of them.

PSEUDO-ORIGEN; Or; offer your gift, that all who see may believe the miracle.

PSEUDO-CHRYS. Or; He commands the oblation, that should they afterwards seek to put him out, he might be able to say, You have received gifts on my cleansing, how do you now cast me out as a leper?

HILARY; Or we may read, Which Moses commanded for a testimony; in as much as what Moses commanded in the law is a testimony, not an effect.

BEDE; Should any be perplexed how, when the Lord seems here to approve Moses' offering, the Church does not receive it, let him remember, that Christ had not yet offered His body for a holocaust. And it was necessary that the typical sacrifices should not be taken away, before that which they typified was established by the testimony of the Apostles' preaching, and by the faith of the people believing. By this man was figured the whole human race, for he was not only leprous, but, according to the Gospel of Luke, is described as full of leprosy. For all have Sinned, and need glory of God; to wit, that glory, that the hand of the Savior being stretched out, (that is, the Word being made flesh,) and touching human nature, they might be cleansed from the vanity of their former ways; and that they that had been long abominable, and east out from the camp of God's people, might be restored to the temple and the priest, and be able to offer their bodies a living sacrifice to Him to whom it is said, You are a Priest forever.

REMIG. Morally; by the leper is signified the sinner; for sin makes an unclean and impure soul; he falls down before Christ when he is confounded concerning his former sins; yet he ought to confess, and to seek the remedy of penitence; So the leper shows his disease, and asks a cure. The Lord stretches out His hand when He affords the aid of Divine mercy; whereupon follows immediately remission of sin; nor ought the Church to be reconciled to the same, but on the sentence of the Priest.

Catena Aurea Matthew 8

Byzantine School - Jesus healing a leper

The Word Among Us

Meditation: Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22

Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr

As for Ishmael, I am heeding you. (Genesis 17:20)

Imagine a military general designing a new offensive strategy for his troops. But before he goes public, he briefs one of his enlisted soldiers on the details. What if the soldier had the moxie to propose a change in his plans—and the general followed his advice? That might seem exceptionally democratic, wouldn’t it? Now imagine a similar thing happening between God and one of us. It would seem almost absurd!

But this is the scenario that plays out in today’s first reading. God had promised to bless Sarah’s offspring, but Abraham just couldn’t see how it was going to happen. For years they tried to conceive a child, but to no avail. So he made a counterproposal: Bless Ishmael instead. Now here’s where it gets interesting. Instead of vetoing Abraham’s proposal, God actually considers it and alters his plan. He sticks to his original promise, but he also honors Abraham’s request and promises blessings on Ishmael.

This story shows us something surprising about prayer. When we pray, our will meets God’s will, and a mysterious exchange occurs. In this exchange, his thoughts can become ours—and our thoughts can actually become his. So prayer can be a time when we discuss with God his own plan for our lives. Because he wants a partnership and not a dictatorship, our prayerful ideas and requests have a real effect. It’s fascinating, isn’t it? God is not only willing to cooperate with you in prayer, he actually enjoys the process!

God knows that as our partnership with him deepens, our plans will agree more with his, because our hearts will agree. So don’t be afraid to be bold when you pray. Perhaps there’s something you’re struggling to understand, and you want to ask for clarity. Or maybe you want to make a special request of the Lord. As long as you remain humble, as Abraham was, he will hear you. He may not answer you in the way that you want—at least not right away. But he will help mold your heart more so that you can think as he does. Either way, don’t worry. Your Father has great things in store for you—even if you feel as old as Abraham!

“Lord, I am in awe that you have chosen me as your partner in building your kingdom.”

Psalm 128:1-5; Matthew 8:1-4

Daily Readings for: June 28, 2013
(Readings on USCCB website)

Collect: O God, who called the Bishop Saint Irenaeus to confirm true doctrine and the peace of the Church, grant, we pray, through his intercession, that, being renewed in faith and charity, we may always be intent on fostering unity and concord. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

RECIPES

o Savory Fish and Vegetable Pie

ACTIVITIES

o Triptych

PRAYERS

o Table Blessing for St. Irenaeus

o Prayer for Various Types of Christians

LIBRARY

o Against Heresies Book I | St. St. Irenaeus of Lyons

o Against Heresies Book II | St. St. Irenaeus of Lyons

o Saint Irenaeus of Lyons | Pope Benedict XVI

Ordinary Time: June 28th

Memorial of St. Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

Old Calendar: St. Irenaeus; Vigil of Saints Peter and Paul

St. Irenaeus was born in Asia Minor around the year 140. It is not known when he came to Gaul. He was a priest of the Church of Lyons during the persecution of 177 when St. Pothinus, first bishop of the city and the first martyr of Lyons, was put to death. Irenaeus succeeded him as bishop and twenty-five years later was martyred in his turn during a fresh persecution. At a time when Gnostic sects threatened to undermine Christianity by a perversion of Christian thought, St. Irenaeus vigorously denounced all heresies and safeguarded unity of belief by laying down the principles of the doctrinal tradition of the Church.

According to the 1962 Missal of Bl. John XXIII the Extraordinary Form of the Roman Rite, the Vigil of Sts. Peter and Paul is observed with a special vigil Mass. Tomorrow is a solemnity, and so observance of Saints Peter and Paul begins with Evening Prayer I in the Liturgy of the Hours this evening. The liturgical day is from midnight to midnight in the Church's observance, except for Sunday and solemnities which begin with the evening of the preceding day. St. Irenaeus feast is celebrated on July 3 in this form of the Roman Rite.

St. Irenaeus
Saint Irenaeus was born in the year 120; he was of the Greek tongue, and probably a native of Asia Minor. His parents, who were Christians, placed him while still young under the care of the great Saint Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna. It was in this holy school that he learned the sacred science which later made him a great ornament of the Church and the terror of her enemies. Saint Polycarp cultivated his rising genius and formed his mind to piety by his precepts and example, and the zealous young scholar was careful to reap all advantages offered him by the solicitude of such a master. Such was his veneration for his tutor’s sanctity that he observed all the acts and virtues he saw in that holy man, the better to copy his example and learn his spirit. He listened to his instructions with an insatiable ardor, and so deeply did he engrave them in his heart that the impressions remained vivid even in his old age. In order to confound the heresies of his age, this Doctor of the Church acquainted himself with the conceits of the pagan philosophers, and thereby became qualified to trace every error to its sources and set it in its full light. By his writings he was already known to Tertullian, Theodoret and Saint Epiphanus, who speak of him as a luminous torch of truth in the darkness of those times.

After Irenaeus had spent a number of years in combat against the eastern gnostics and philosophers of error, Saint Polycarp determined to send him to Gaul, where many of the heretics of Asia Minor had already migrated to pursue the Catholic religion, which was beginning to find roots there. With a company of about forty Christians, the valiant soldier of Christ ascended the Rhone to Lyons to rejoin and aid Saint Pothinus, its bishop. Saint Pothinus was already advanced in age, and his church’s neophytes could not always distinguish truth from the gnostic aberrations. Saint Pothinus received the apostles with joy and soon ordained Saint Irenaeus.

A hundred times he exposed himself to martyrdom by his zeal, acting as the right arm of the aging bishop, but God was reserving that crown for him twenty-five years later. When Saint Pothinus had glorified God by his splendid martyr’s death in the year 177, Ireneus was chosen to be the second bishop of Lyons. The persecutors imagined that Christianity had been stifled in Lyons, and they ceased their pursuits for a time.

This great Doctor of the Church wrote many important works, of which the most famous is his Adversus Haereses, Against the Heresies, in explanation of the Faith. By his preaching, Saint Irenaeus in a short time converted almost the whole country to the Faith; the Christians of Lyons became models by their candor, their estrangement from all ambition, their poverty, chastity and temperance, and in this way confounded many adversaries of their religion. Saint Irenaeus continued to imitate what he had seen done by his beloved master, Saint Polycarp, himself the disciple and imitator of Saint John the Apostle. One can readily imagine the excellence of the administration and the breadth of charity reigning in the Church of Lyons.

Finally he suffered martyrdom there, with many others, in the year 202, under the Emperor Septimus Severus, after eighty years spent in the service of the Lord. The imperial decrees renewing the persecutions arrived at Lyons at the time of the celebration of Severus’ tenth year of reign; the pagans found amid the celebrations an opportunity to take vengeance on the Christians, who refused to participate in the debaucheries which accompanied these feastings. Assassins armed with daggers, stones and knives filled the city with blood, and thousands of Christians won, with their bishop, the crown they had always admired as the greatest glory God could grant His servants.

Excerpted from Little Pictorial Lives of the Saints, a compilation based on Butler’s Lives of the Saints, and other sources by John Gilmary Shea (Benziger Brothers: New York, 1894); Les Petits Bollandistes: Vies des Saints, by Msgr. Paul Guérin (Bloud et Barral: Paris, 1882), Vol. 7.

Patron: Archdiocese of Mobile, Alabama.

Symbols: Lighted torch; book.

Things to Do:

St. Irenaeus of Lyons wrote extensively. You can read some of his writings, his most famous writing being Against the Heresies.
St. Irenaeus was a great defender of the Faith. Spend some time today learning more about the teachings of the Church. Dave Armstrong is an excellent apologist and you could start with his Church Fathers page.

Marriage = One Man and One Woman

Til' Death Do Us Part

Daily Marriage Tip for June 28, 2013:

Climate change can be a boon to your marriage. If you feel frustrated with each other, try changing the environment you have control over. Cool off if it’s too hot out. Warm up if you’re freezing. Light some candles if you’re depressed. Put on some rose-colored glasses for fun.

Regnum Christi

The Healing Power of Confession

| SPIRITUAL LIFE | SPIRITUALITY

Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, bishop and martyr

Father Shawn Aaron, LC

Matthew 8:1-4

When Jesus came down from the mountain, great crowds followed him. And then a leper approached, did him homage, and said, "Lord, if you wish, you can make me clean." He stretched out his hand, touched him, and said, "I will do it. Be made clean." His leprosy was cleansed immediately. Then Jesus said to him, "See that you tell no one, but go show yourself to the priest, and offer the gift that Moses prescribed; that will be proof for them."

Introductory Prayer: Lord, I believe in you and in your love. I trust in you as the way for me to live. I hope in the power of your cross to free me from all that is not you. I love you and want my love to be more real so that I may imitate your pure and total love.

Petition: Lord, help me to turn from my sins.

1. Lord, If You Wish, You Can Make Me Clean: Whenever we come to the sacrament of confession, we want the words of this humble leper to be on our lips: “Jesus, you can heal me from that which ails me, from my sin.” This leper’s act of faith is comparable to the Good Thief’s faith. While nailed to the cross next to Our Lord he said, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your kingdom.” In each case they see with eyes of faith beyond what the eyes of their body tell them. When we come to confess our sins with eyes of faith, we want to look beyond the priest to Jesus, the one who not only forgives our sins but heals our souls.

2. He Stretched Out His Hand, and Touched Him: The Pharisees once asked the disciples, “Why does your teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” (Matthew 9:11). Jesus is not afraid of my leprosy; he is not afraid of my sin. His love is simply more powerful than any person’s sin, no matter how grave. He is not afraid to be associated with sinners or to touch lepers. It was this same love that moved the Word to become “flesh and dwell among us” (John 1:14). By taking our human nature to himself he “stretched out his hand and touched us.” When we give Jesus our sins he nails them to the cross -- and it is precisely at the cross that we discover two things: the true nature of our sin and the infinite love the prompts Jesus to touch us.

3. I Do Will It. Be Made Clean: Jesus wants the leper to be healed; he likewise wants you and me to be healed, clean, whole. Through the hands of the priest, Jesus stretches out his own hand and bids us to be clean so that we may not remain in our sins. Sin knocks at the door of our lives, but thanks to Jesus we do not have to continue in it. When Jesus heals us, he also gives us the strength (grace) to stay healthy. He heals us so that we may freely walk with him and imitate him in our lives. But do I want to leave aside all my sin? What former leper would ever wish to return to his leprosy? Ultimately it is the heart that must be made clean by way of constant prayer, the sacraments and a genuine effort to do what we know is pleasing to God.

Conversation with Christ: Jesus, you know when I sit and when I stand. Before a word is on my lips you know the whole of it; with all my ways you are familiar (cf. Psalm 139). Help me to live in the light, correspond to your grace, and experience the healing joy that comes from friendship with you.

Resolution: This week I will go to confession, taking time to prepare myself well.

One Bread, One Body

<< Friday, June 28, 2013 >>

St. Irenaeus

Genesis 17:1, 9-10, 15-22
View Readings

Psalm 128:1-5

Matthew 8:1-4
Similar Reflections

SHOW ME THE FRUIT

"That should be the proof they need." —Matthew 8:4

St. Paul was once a "leper" to Christians, a vicious persecutor of those who followed Jesus. He was converted but the community didn't believe it, and wouldn't allow Paul into the circle of Christians. St. Barnabas was convinced of Paul's genuine, authentic conversion and persuaded the community. The best way Paul could give evidence of his healing from "leprosy" was to produce good fruit and so glorify God (see Jn 15:8).

St. Mark was a "leper" in that he deserted the first Christian missionary journey (see Acts 13:13; 15:38). Barnabas gave Mark another chance. While Paul refused to believe that Mark was genuinely healed and ready to evangelize again, Barnabas believed in Mark. The best way Mark could give evidence of his healing was to produce good fruit and so glorify God (see Jn 15:8).

Healed and converted "lepers" are accountable to God, not man. They need not prove themselves before men. However, some people need evidence of full conversion and healing (see Mt 3:8), and the best evidence is fruit (Mt 7:20), that is, undeniable holiness and good works for His kingdom.

All disciples of Jesus are preoccupied with bearing fruit for Him. If we just concentrate on bearing fruit for Jesus, God will take care of everything else we need. "Go forth and bear fruit" (Jn 15:16).

Prayer: Jesus, with my past sins I have been a leper. May I find my identity in You alone and spend the rest my life serving You fruitfully with love.

Promise: Jesus "said: 'I do will it. Be cured.' " —Mt 8:3

Praise: "Irenaeus" is the Greek word for "peace." "Blessed are the peacemakers" (see Mt 5:9). St. Irenaeus, pray for us.

Both men and women regret abortions.

But the babies are with God.