SAINT BONIFACE
1
Chronicles, Chapter 21,
Verse 29-30
29 The tabernacle of the LORD, which
Moses had made in the wilderness, and the altar for burnt offerings were at
that time on the high place at Gibeon. 30 But David could not go into his
presence to inquire of God, for he was fearful
of the sword of the angel of the LORD.
The sword of the Angel is another way of saying the
divine justice. When we sin we all fear the sword of the Angel, for all have
sinned; yet when we sin we fear the thing that can save us-trusting that God is bigger than our sin. We like David are fearful
of punishment for our sins and that we will get exactly what we did not count
on. Yet, know; Gods mercy is greater that His justice. Trust is central to
salvation.
King David had ordered a census to be taken. David’s
general Joab strongly cautioned the King against such a measure, but David
insisted on it anyway. Upon completion of the census the Prophet Gad informed
David of God’s anger and intention to punish David and all Israel for this sin.
What’s
wrong with a Census?
–In effect
David’s lack of trust. For God had called David to trust in God, not in man,
not in numbers. We have a tendency to rely too much on numbers. We tend to
think that something is good, or right or successful, based on how many people
attended, or how many support a cause or view. Of this tendency we must be very careful.
Is our power or
rightness rooted in numbers, in popularity, in profit, or in God? David in counting his people is,
it would seem, seeking confidence in his numbers, rather than God, and this is
a sin. For, David could well have considered with pride the fact that he had
amassed a large number of people in reuniting the Israel and Judah, in
conquering the Philistines and the Hittites et al. Thus, taking a census was a way of flattering himself,
and making a name for himself. The numbers ARE quite impressive. So impressive,
in fact that we moderns doubt them: 800,000 men fit for military service in
Israel, and 500,000 men in Judah. This number of over 1 million men does not
include women, children or the elderly. Hence the full census number may have
closer to 5 million. This seems an unlikely number, and opens up the great debate
among biblical scholars about biblical numeration but for here, let it be
said, David was enthroned over a numerous nation and his census is a likely
indication that he was quite proud of his accomplishment, and wanted that
accomplishment recorded for history and/or his contemporaries: “David: King of
multitudes!” These are not David’s people to number; they are God’s people.
Since counting hints at accomplishment and control, David sins in trying to
know a number that is none of his business, a number that is for God alone to
know. God numbers the people and calls them by name (cf Gen 15:15). Note that
David is delivered a number of men “fit for military service.” Hence in the
ancient world, a census was often a tool of military draft. It was also a tool
used to exact taxes, and for Kings to measure power, and manipulate and coerce
based on that power. Even in our own time the taking of the Census every ten
years is often steeped in power struggles, political gerrymandering, tax
policy, spending priorities, the number of seats in the legislature, and the
pitting of certain ethnic and racial groups against each other. A lot of
mischief and political power struggles are tied back to the census, because
numbers are powerful things. Those that have “the numbers on their side” get
seats at the table. Those who do not can wait outside. Thus, David, in amassing
numbers, amasses power and the capacity to manipulate his people in sinful or
unjust ways.
A Benedictine monk was chosen by divine Providence to become Germany's great apostle and patron. In 724 he turned his attention to the Hessian people. near the village of Geismar on the Eder, he felled a giant oak that the people honored as the national sanctuary of the god Thor. Boniface used the wood to build a chapel in honor of St. Peter. This courageous act assured the eventual triumph of the Gospel in Germany. Conversions were amazingly numerous. In 732 Boniface devoted his time and talent to the organization of the Church in Germany. He installed bishops, set diocesan boundaries, promoted the spiritual life of the clergy and laity, held national synods (between 742 and 747), and in 744 founded the monastery of Fulda, which became a center of religious life in central Germany. The final years of his busy life were spent, as were his earlier ones, in missionary activity. Word came to him in 754 that a part of Frisia had lapsed from the faith. He took leave of his priests and, sensing the approach of death, carried along a shroud. He was 74 years of age when with youthful enthusiasm he began the work of restoration, a mission he was not to complete. A band of semi-barbarous pagans overpowered and put him to death when he was about to administer confirmation to a group of neophytes at Dockum. Patron: Brewers; Tailors; Germany; Prussia.
Things to
Do
·
One
tradition about Saint Boniface says that he used the customs of the locals to
help convert them. There was a game in which they threw sticks called kegels at
smaller sticks called heides. Boniface bought religion to the game, having the
heides represent demons, and knocking them down showing purity of spirit. You
might use your ingenuity to imitate this game for your children and tell them
the story of St. Boniface. Sounds like
bowling maybe go bowling in honor of St. Boniface.
·
St.
Boniface, although an Englishman, planted the seeds of the Catholic Faith in
Germany (at that time "Germany" included the domains of the Frankish
monarchs, present-day Belgium and the Netherlands), and now Germany calls St.
Boniface her patron. Bake some special
German cookies or treat and learn some of the religious customs that come from
this country.
If
Thou take Thy grace away, nothing pure in man will stay, All his good is turn'd
to ill.
Understanding, as a gift of the Holy Spirit, helps us to grasp the meaning of the truths of our holy religion “by” faith we know them, but by “Understanding” we learn to appreciate and relish them. It enables us to penetrate the inner meaning of revealed truths and through them to be quickened to newness of life. Our faith ceases to be sterile and inactive, but inspires a mode of life that bears eloquent testimony to the faith that is in us; we begin to "walk worthy of God in all things pleasing, and increasing in the knowledge of God."
Prayer
Our
Father and Hail Mary ONCE.
Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.
Act of Consecration, Prayer for the Seven Gifts
Glory be to the Father SEVEN TIMES.
Act of Consecration, Prayer for the Seven Gifts
Our hearts need to be fixed within the Liturgical Year. We can find rest and consolation and direction with and from the liturgy of the Church.
Ascension--We Are
Filled with Joy
Every year I find myself with mixed emotions contemplating the Ascension. I always think the Apostles would have felt some sadness and they would have missed Jesus. They thought they had lost Him completely in His death on the cross, only to have the impossible and unthinkable of Him rising from the dead. Jesus was alive! For forty days Jesus appeared to them at various times. His presence wasn't the same as before, as He didn't eat and sleep and live with them anymore, but His resurrection and presence was even more of a gift. And then He gives them His final commission and ascends to the Father, not to return in an appearance with His glorified body. Did the Apostles sometimes hope He would appear, or did they know that this was the last time they would see Him? It feels like it should be a sad day, with the Apostles missing the human presence of Jesus.
But the Gospel for the Ascension clearly says:
They did him homage and then returned to Jerusalem with great joy, and they were continually in the temple praising God (Luke 24:53). The whole Ascension liturgy is filled with reference to joy and rejoicing. The Collect opens with Gladden us with holy joys, almighty God, and make us rejoice with devout thanksgiving.... The Responsorial Psalm from Psalm 47 is full of rejoicing:
God
mounts his throne to shouts of joy: a blare of trumpets for the Lord.
The answer lies in the words of the Solemn Blessing:
And
may you, who believe he is seated
with the Father in his majesty,
know with joy the fulfillment of his promise
to stay with you until the end of time.
with the Father in his majesty,
know with joy the fulfillment of his promise
to stay with you until the end of time.
Preparing for the
Departure
"I
give you a new commandment: love one another. As I have loved you, so you also
should love one another." "I am the True Vine, you are the
branches, remain in Me."
·
Pentecost
and Confirmation --
The overflowing gifts of the Holy Spirit and celebrating that emphasis at
home.
·
The
Solemnity of Pentecost: An Elementary Feast -- The elements of earth,
wind, fire and water all in Pentecost.
Daily Devotions
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