Wednesday/ Thursday of the Second Week of Lent

February 24th- The Finding of the Head of St. John the Baptist

On Wednesday we celebrated the feast of the finding of the head of St. John the Baptist. Eastern tradition holds that the head of St. John the Baptist was not buried with his body, but was thrown into a dung heap. St. Johanna, who was married to one of the king's stewards found it and buried it at the Mount of Olives where it remained for many years. When the land passed to a man who became a man named Innocent, who became a monk, he found the head of the Forerunner. Since he feared that the head would be abused by unbelievers he his it and it became lost...again. During the reign of Constantine the head of John the Baptist was found again.

In the tropar (hymn of the day) for this feast we sign: "The head of the Forerunner arose from the earth like a light, sending out rays of healing and immortality. In heaven, it gather together to choirs of angels, while on earth it assembles the human race in a single voice to sing the glory of Christ God."

In case you were wondering, there is also a feast of the Third finding of the head of St. John the Baptist which is celebrated in May. It might be hard to grasp how such a precious relic could be misplaced so many times. As I mentioned above, it was not necessarily out of neglect, but out of necessity. Times were tough back then, it wasn't always safe to be a Christian and so the early Christians needed to keep their relics safe, and in doing so, sometimes they became lost.

On Wednesday and Thursday we have readings once again from Isaiah, Genesis and Proverbs. In Isaiah 5:16-25 we are given a warning "Woe to those who are wise in their own sight, and prudent in their own esteem." Sometimes, during Lent it is very easy to get arrogant about our fasting rituals. We may feel superior because we feel as if we are making a greater sacrifice. This, of course, is not the proper attitude we should be fostering. Christ himself tells us that we should not even let people know that we are fasting, so how can we judge another? Fasting isn't about being better than another person, but about making ourselves better people so that we may be worthy to join in the Resurrection of Christ. In Isaiah 6:1-12 we have the familiar line in verse eight when the Lord says " 'Whom shall I send? Who will go for me?' 'Here I am,' I said. 'send me!'".

When I was in grade school at St. Patrick's in Joliet we often sang a song called "Here I Am Lord." It was one of my favorite songs and it was based on this passage. Part of it goes "...Whom shall I send? Here I am Lord, is it I Lord? I have heard you calling in the night. I will go Lord, if you need me. I will hold your people in my heart." It is easy for us to think "the Lord has never come to me in a dream and asked me to do something, in fact, I never hear him talk to me that much at all. He must not need me for anything." Just because we don't necessarily get a text message or voicemail from God doesn't mean he isn't talking to us. Sometimes it can come in the form of a friend who needs help. Do we say "here I am, what can I help you with?" or do we say "I'm too busy." It can also come at a time when our faith is being mocked. It is easy to not say anything because we are worried about looking foolish. That is exactly the time we need to say "Here I am" and to stand up for our faith. In the East we have a title called "Fool for Christ". A Fool for Christ might seem crazy in the eyes of men. They often live an ascetic life, say shocking things and are very holy. They are usually outcasts in society but they are righteous in the eyes of the Lord.

Sometimes we may not know how to speak about our faith or write about our faith but we must always be certain that God will guide us. I would like to leave with a quote from Mother Teresa to be pondered on. "We are all pencils in the hand of God. "