Bible
Study: 1st Samuel 18, 6 to 9
and 19, 1 to 7. And Mark 3, 7 to 12.
Yesterday,
we celebrated the feast of Blessed Tansi, a man who lived a life of deep piety fuelled
by his trust in God. Today, we mark the feast of another great inspiration as
far as Christianity is concerned. St. Agnes of Rome was born in 291 AD and
raised in a Christian family. Agnes was very beautiful and belonged to a
wealthy family. Her hand in marriage was highly sought after, and she had many
high ranking men chasing after her. However, Agnes made a promise to God never
to stain her purity. Her love for the Lord was great and she hated sin even
more than death!
Whenever a
man wished to marry Agnes, she would always say, "Jesus Christ is my only
Spouse." According to legend, the young men she turned away became so
angry and insulted by her devotion to God and purity that they began to submit
her name to authorities as a Christian follower.
In one
incident, Procop, the Governor's son, became very angry when she refused him.
He tried to win her for his wife with rich gifts and promises, but the
beautiful young girl kept saying, "I am already promised to the Lord of
the Universe. He is more splendid than the sun and the stars, and He has said
He will never leave me!"
Legend say
that Agnes was condemned to be dragged through the streets naked but her hair
grew instantly to cover her entire body and all the men who attempted to rape
the beautiful virgin were immediately struck blind. Agnes was tied to a stake,
but either the wood would not burn or the flames parted away from her. This
prompted an officer to draw his sword and behead the girl. It is believed that
her blood, which poured out to the stadium, was soaked up with cloths by
Christians.
She died a
virgin-martyr at the age of 12 on 21 January 304. St. Agnes is widely known as
the patron saint of young girls. She is also the patron saint of chastity and
rape survivors. She is often represented with a lamb, the symbol of her virgin
innocence, and a palm branch, like other martyrs. She is shown as a young girl
in robes holding a palm branch with the lamb either at her feet or in her arms.
In our
readings today, we see Saul becoming so jealous of the little David that he
openly expressed his desire to kill the young man. Jonathan intervenes on David’s
behalf and tries to make peace but Saul’s jealousy would later on turn into a
form of madness. That which Saul was afraid of by trying to kill David would
eventually happen. If only Saul had trusted God enough so as to seek
reconciliation with him.
Trust in
God entails that we surrender our fears to God in the confidence that God alone
will take care of us. Even when people threaten us for our goodness like St.
Agnes, even if we know it will cost our life, we do not panic or give in to
sin.
Let us
Pray:
Lord
Jesus, teach me to trust more and live entirely for you. Amen.
St. Agnes:
Pray for us
God bless you. Good morning. Be Happy. Live Positive. Have Faith. It is
well with you.
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