Twin Docs

Tuesday of the Twenty fifth Week in Ordinary Time &
Saints Cosmas and Damian, martyrs

Biographical Information about St. Cosmas and St. Damian
Readings for Tuesday

Reading 1 Prv 21:1-6, 10-13

Responsorial Psalm Ps 119:1, 27, 30, 34, 35, 44
R. Guide me, Lord, in the way of your commands.

Gospel Lk 8:19-21

Reflection:

There is not much written about the lives of the Arabic twins, St. Cosmas and Damian. We know they were physicians and that they did not charge for their services and won many converts. We also are told that they were not harmed by the tortures inflicted on them before they were crucified in 303 A.D.. What is interesting is there are listings for them in the roles of the Saints for not only the Roman Catholic Church but also the Greek Orthodox Church and the Coptic Christian Church. Being revered by three major Christian communities makes them a unifying point for us and therefore, Saints of particular note. (That was strange to write as all the Saints are important and all give us examples of faith to follow.)

Our scripture today continues with more wise sayings from the book of Proverbs. As we said yesterday, we need to pay attention to this list as it frames what Jesus has instructed us to do. These are the basics, if you will.

Some of the sayings may be difficult to internalize at first glance. Like this one:

“All the ways of a man may be right in his own eyes, but it is the Lord who proves hearts.”

Here is an important article of moral theology. What the author tells us is that it is the intent of the deed that tells us if the impulse is from our own greed or truly done for God’s glory. It is frequently difficult for us to sort out what we do. We constantly ask ourselves; “Am I doing this because it will make me feel good or look good to others? Or, am I doing this because I am following what God wants me to do?” At the roots of this question is humility but it is sometimes difficult to come to an answer. We can always trust God and understand that sometimes he calls us to do things He wants and we will not be sure of the impulse.

Let’s look at one more:

“He who shuts his ear to the cry of the poor will himself also call and not be heard.”

Jesus always focuses on the poor (look at the Beatitudes) and here is God’s sentiment expressed in simple terms before his Son came to us to give us a more intense lesson. Being part of a community of faith means that we are always heard by our brothers and sisters in the Lord. In Luke’s Gospel today we hear him define us as His family (“My mother and my brothers are those who hear the word of God and act on it.”). Inside that community, we are constantly reminded to give to the poor.

When we fail to respond out of our excess, we fall to this proverb. We fall in a number of ways. First, all wealth is not material. There are many ways to be poor and a majority of materially very wealth folks have needed to focus so much of their effort on building wealth they have neglected the spiritual side of things, they have neglected their families, they have not heard the poor. They find themselves in the empty place; the place where their cries are not heard. Who ever heard of a stack of currency answering a cry.

It is good to review the framework of the good we are called to do, the beacon we are called to be. Hard as it is, we are called to follow the Lord in this and we need to be constantly filling ourselves up. After all, if we are doing this right, we are pouring out what we have received on others.

Pax