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St. Martin de Porres, OP – November 3rd
Reading: Isa 58:6-11; Mt 11:25-30.
1/ Reading I: RSV Isaiah 58:6 “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?
7 Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?
8 Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
9 Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, here I am. “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
10 if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday.
11 And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.
2/ Gospel: RSV Matthew 11:25 At that time Jesus declared, “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes.
26 yes, Father, for such was thy gracious will.
27 All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.
28 Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.
29 Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls.
30 For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Written by: Fr. Anthony Tien M. Dinh, O.P.
I. THEME: Who do you say that I am?
There is a song which I learned from a leader of the Eucharistic Organization when I grew up, which has these words: “The black ant lies on a black stone, though it is nighttime the Lord still sees him.” I did not understand its meaning at that time. Later, someone applied these words to the life of St. Martin de Porres, I must agree it is perfect.
– Martin’s life can be liken to the black ant: He is black, was born by a mixed parent: his father is a white Spaniard, and his mother is a black Panamanian. His future is uncertain and dark as the night before the New Year, because his father decided to leave his mother and the two children to go back to Spain. Living in such gloomy situation, what is hopeful for a black orphan as Martin. Though Martin’s life is hopeless, the Lord still recognized him, and He has a wonderful plan for His black servant.
– Martin had a good mother, Anna, who revered God. Even she lived as a widow and raised two fatherless children, she never complained God or blamed her husband. Instead, she worked hard to raise her children and taught them to revere God. Moreover, she also taught them to share what they had with the poor even though her family also financially suffered. According to one story, one time she became angry and slapped Martin twice in the face because she thought Martin had taken off some money for food to spend for himself. Later, she regretted when she had found out Martin used money for the poor.
– When Martin came to a mature age, he joined the Dominican Order as a co-op brother. His humility and charity became good examples for people to imitate and to talk about. One time Martin asked his superior for permission to bring a miserable patient to his room to care for him. He let him to lie on his bed while he slept on the floor. When the convent ran out of money for living, Martin begged his superior to sell him as a slave to have money for the brethren to live. His superior was so touched that he embraced Martin and wept; but he could not sell the person who had that much love for the brethren.
– Martin’s love was not limited to human beings but also extended to animals. One story told he could speak to dogs, cats, and even mice. Since Martin fed mice so they multiplied through all areas of the convent and started to chew the brethren’s habits and clothes. The brethren complained and the superior demanded Martin must kill them either by traps or poison. After praying, Martin organized a meeting for all mice. He gave them a condition, if they want to be continually fed by him, they must promise that they would not chew the brethren’s habits; if not, death will be upon them. From that time on, there were no complain from the brethren.
Today readings provide us more materials to meditate about St. Martin’s life, and at the same time, to draw out some practical decisions for our life. In the first reading, the prophet Isaiah emphasized on the manner of fasting, it is not only to fast, but also to share what one has to the poor and to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke. In the Gospel, Jesus praised his Father because He let him to reveal God’s wisdom to the simple ones.
II. ANALYSIS:
1/ Reading I: This is the fast that I choose: to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house.
1.1/ The fast that God likes: There are many things that we can do for people. The Church classifies them into two main categories: spiritual and corporal works of mercy. Each category has seven works.
(1) Seven spiritual works of mercy: The prophet Isaiah declared the fast which God likes: “Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the thongs of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke?” The Church added more and made them easy to remember, they are:
- Instruct the uninformed.
- Counsel the doubtful.
- Admonish sinners.
- Bear wrongs patiently.
- Forgive offenses willingly.
- Comfort the afflicted.
- Pray for the living, the sick and the dead.
These seven-spiritual works of mercy are hard to recognize and to do. All Christians have a duty to do them; but the priests, the religious brothers and sisters are those who specialized in these areas. When the faithful make a contribution to vocational funds, they are participating in the seven-spiritual works of mercy, because Jesus has declared: “He who receives a prophet because he is a prophet shall receive a prophet’s reward, and he who receives a righteous man because he is a righteous man shall receive a righteous man’s reward” (Mt 10:41). Many parents didn’t have time, knowledge, and ability to educate their children; but if they invest in the vocational funds, they are helping their children so that they will have good spiritual leaders to educate them in the future.
Hungry for food is easy to recognize, but hungry for knowledge, virtues and love are not easy to identify. The results of spiritual hungry are more damaged to people than the results of corporal hungry, because they cause people not to know how to live their life on earth, and to loose track of their future destination. Jesus warned those who paid too much attention to their material things: “For what does it profit a man, to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?”
(2) Seven corporal works of mercy: Isaiah declared the fast which God likes: “Is it not to share your bread with the hungry, and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh?” The Church also added more as following:
- To feed the hungry.
- To give drink to the thirsty.
- To shelter the homeless.
- To clothe the naked.
- To visit and ransom the captive, (prisoners).
- To visit the sick.
- To bury the dead.
The life of St. Martin de Porres is the perfect examples of these seven-corporal works of mercy: He gave food and drink to the poor; clothed the naked; cared for the sick; received the stranger into his room; volunteered to be sold as a slave to find money for his brethren; and buried the dead.
1.2/ The rewards for those who have mercy: According to Isaiah, those who helped the one in need will be protected, blessed, and enjoyed God’s glory; when they prayed, they will be heard by God: “Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you, the glory of the LORD shall be your rear guard.
Then you shall call, and the LORD will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, here I am. “If you take away from the midst of you the yoke, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness,
if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the LORD will guide you continually, and satisfy your desire with good things, and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters fail not.”
Martin helped many people when he lived; but when he passed away, he even offered more helps for people, especially for the Vietnamese. Many times, I pondered why a saint who lived in South America, became so closed and love our people in Vietnam. I think the correct answer might be because he had a special love for the poor and the oppressed as someone said: “If you have a sore eye, you will have compassion for the blind.” Because he had endured so many sufferings on his life, he had compassion with sufferings and pains of the Vietnamese. So many boat people had come to his shrines at the Dominican convents in Ho Nai and Saigon to ask for his protection before they escaped from the country in small boats. I myself also put his images before the cashier in our family stores and asked him to protect my brothers, sisters, nephews and nieces from bodily harms. I also told them to be charitable for those who are in needs.
2/ Gospel: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”
2.1/ God’s wisdom is revealed to the simple: There is a huge difference between God’s wisdom and human wisdom.
(1) Human wisdom is only for those who study much, are smart, and have opportunities to go to school.
(2) God’s wisdom is only for the simple, the ones who completely rely on God; and hidden from the wise, as Jesus said to his Father: “I thank thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, that thou hast hidden these things from the wise and understanding and revealed them to babes. Yes, Father, for such was thy gracious will.”
2.2/ Jesus is the one who revealed God’s wisdom: When Jesus incarnated, his first duty is to reveal God’s mysteries, especially the mystery of the Incarnation. If Jesus had not revealed, no one could know these mysteries. He said: “All things have been delivered to me by my Father; and no one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and any one to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.” Indeed, he revealed to all people, but not all could understand them. To understand these mysteries, people need to have faith and the humble hearts.
2.3/ The poor and the suffer are those who understand God’s wisdom: Jesus invited: “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me; for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”
Therefore, it is no surprise that a gentle and humble man like St. Martin early recognized God’s wisdom. Martin had a special love for Jesus’ Cross. He was willing to suffer in order to share in Christ’s Passion and death. Martin felt God’s love for him through the Cross, and saw God in those who suffered; therefore, he was ready to sacrifice all to help them.
III. APPLICATIONS IN LIFE:
– If life gives us a lemon, we can make a glass of lemonade. We should practice to always have a positive attitude in dealing with people.
– We should not complain because were born under a bad star. There is no bad star. If we put completely our trust in God and let him to guide our life, we could also be a saint like St. Martin de Porres.
– St. Martin was bestowed God’s wisdom to recognize the most important thing in life is the charity. We should love all people as God has loved us.