Pope Melchiades?

The early popes are not often remembered by name...I know I have never heard of Pope Melchiades...Have you?  And yet...this man (considered a saint) was a very important part of our faith history.  He is considered a transitional pope and a martyr (not because he died for the faith but because he was persecuted and persevered for the faith during a time of martyrdom).  He began his episcopacy under the persecution of Diocletian.  However, he would lead the Christians into an era of peace, being the first pope who could openly celebrate Easter without fear of physical martyrdom.

So this made me think...why don't we know more about these early popes?  It seems we skip from Peter to Gregory the Great with little thought to the men who led our early church through persecutions.  I think we will take some of our religion time over the next few weeks to learn more about these early leaders of the faith.

The boys and I were back to STARTING our day with our Bible devotion.  We read from Luke about the paralytic man whose friends lowered him from a hole in the roof in order to be healed (5: 17-26).  I read the passage and then asked the boys to imagine they were in the story as I read it a second time.  Then I asked which character they imagined being...they all gave different answers.  I also asked what they thought about Jesus forgiving the paralytic man of his sins.  Sean said..."He did not just forgive the paralytic!"

What?!  We went back and read the passage again.  Sure enough..."When Jesus saw their faith, he said, 'As for you, your sins are forgiven.' ...in verse 20.  Most of the time the focus ins on what Jesus said but 'you' can be a singular or plural pronoun.  The only way to know for sure if 'you' is singular or plural is to look back in the passage for the antecedent, which would be 'the men.'  Is it possible that Jesus forgave the sins of ALL the men who came to see Him that day?  Well, as we know...anything is possible with God.

It makes me think about the times when we go out of our way to bring a friend to church.  Maybe someone who has been away from God for a long time and we want them to renew their commitment to Christ.  When we lead them back to the faith, we gain from that experience as well.   In helping others, we help ourselves...not our physical needs but our spiritual needs are met.  I have often felt that when I help guide someone else to spiritual healing, I have the desire to be healed spiritually as well.  For me that means going to confession...it is like I have a greater desire to be forgiven through the sacrament.

After that great devotion, blankets were added to the nativity scene...the warmth needed on a cold night with gentle care...reminds us to "avoid harsh and angry words; be kind and gentle to all. Jesus, help us to be meek and humble like You. Amen."

The Jesse Tree now as a symbol to reflect the story of Samuel being called by God (1 Sam 3).  The last words of this chapter are so profound...Samuel grows up and "God revealed himself to Samuel through his word."  He would be one of the greatest prophets for the Lord...attesting to God's promise to bring the Messiah.  We can certainly learn from the humble call of Samuel to this role as prophet. When God called...he answered without question.

We had a quiet day of school today...we worked hard but as with any big school break...the light of the end of the tunnel looks so far away...will we make it to Friday...the boys are already so stir crazy!!!  We had a photography class for 4H learning about taking still life photos.  Then they went to bed early tonight...and we did not even get to nightly reading of Jesus of Nazareth.  We will try to read a little extra tomorrow.

Oh...almost forgot our pumpkin experiment...day 3!  IT is looking pretty gross...I hope this ends soon!  Come on bugs and rain!