Our Faith

January 20, 2023 | catholicnewsherald.com

St. Sebastian: Roman soldier to saint

Nothing is known about St. Sebastian’s youth other than that he may have come from southern France and he was educated in Milan. He joined the Roman Army in 283 A.D., ostensibly to be of service to other Christians who were being persecuted by the Romans. St. Sebastian distinguished himself, and for his excellent service, he was promoted to serve in the Praetorian Guard to protect Emperor Diocletian.

While serving as a Praetorian Guard, Marcus and Marcellian, twin brothers, were imprisoned for refusing to make public sacrifices to the Roman gods. The brothers were deacons of the Christian Church. During their imprisonment, their parents visited them to implore them to renounce Christianity. However, St. Sebastian convinced both parents to convert to Christianity. St. Sebastian also converted several other prominent individuals, including the local prefect.

This led to his discovery, and he was reported as a Christian to Emperor Diocletian in 286. The emperor, who was already infamous for ordering the deaths of hundreds of Christians, scolded Sebastian and ordered him to be killed by having him tied to a stake on a training field and used as target practice.

Archers riddled his body with arrows, and his body was described as “full of arrows as an urchin.” Believed to be dead, the archers left his body for retrieval and burial. He was recovered by Irene of Rome, whose Christian husband was a servant to Diocletian and also later martyred. Irene discovered that Sebastian was still living, so she hid him and nursed him back to health.

Once he was well, Sebastian went in search of Diocletian to surprise him. He managed to catch Diocletian by a stairwell and proceeded to criticize him loudly and publicly for his persecution of the Christians. Surprised that

Sebastian was still alive, Diocletian was taken aback, but immediately recovered his composure. This time, he would not permit Sebastian to escape with his life. He ordered his former guard to be beaten to death with clubs, then thrown into the sewers. Sebastian’s body was recovered by a Christian woman named Lucina, and she secretly buried him in the catacombs beneath Rome. Nearly 80 years after his death, around 367 A.D., his remains were moved to a basilica in Rome, built by Pope Damasus I. His body, or at least some relics from his body, were reportedly removed and shared with a community of monks in France. His cranium was sent to a German monastery, where it was placed in a special silver case in 934. The relic remains in its case today in a special reliquary in Ebersberg. St. Sebastian was commonly invoked as a protector against the plague. According to historical records, he defended Rome against the plague in 680. His association with the plague could be because he survived being shot full of “St. Sebastian” by Il Sodoma (1525) arrows and in pagan belief, pestilence was delivered by arrows shot by the gods above. Even Christian Romans would appreciate this symbolism. That symbolism is even captured in artwork as late as the Renaissance, where artists painted plague victims with black arrows in their body. St. Sebastian is the patron saint of soldiers, athletes and those who desire a saintly death. His feast day is Jan. 20. — www.catholic.org

Daily Scripture readings

JAN. 22-28

Sunday: Isaiah 8:23-9:3, 1 Corinthians 1:10-13, 17, Matthew 4:12-23; Monday (Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of Unborn Children): Hebrews 9:15, 24-28, Mark 3:2230, James 3:13-18, John 14:23-29; Tuesday (St. Francis de Sales): Hebrews 10:1-10, Mark 3:31-35; Wednesday (The Conversion of Paul): Acts 22:3-16, Mark 16:15-18; Thursday (Sts. Timothy and Titus): 2 Timothy 1:1-8, Mark 4:21-25; Friday (St. Angela Merici): Hebrews 10:32-39, Mark 4:26-34; Saturday (St. Thomas Aquinas): Hebrews 11:1-2, Luke 1:69-75, Mark 4:35-41 JAN. 29-FEB. 4

Sunday: Zephaniah 2:3, 3:12-13, 1 Corinthians 1:26-31, Matthew 5:1-12a; Monday: Hebrews 11:32-40, Mark 5:1-20; Tuesday (St. John Bosco): Hebrews 12:1-4, Mark 5:21-43; Wednesday: Hebrews 12:4-7, 11-15, Mark 6:1-6; Thursday (The Presentation of the Lord): Malachi 3:1-4, Hebrews 2:14-18, Luke 2:22-40; Friday (St. Blaise, St. Ansgar): Hebrews 13:1-8, Mark 6:14-29; Saturday: Hebrews 13:15-17, 20-21, Mark 6:30-34 FEB. 5-11

Sunday: Isaiah 58:7-10, 1 Corinthians 2:1-5, Matthew 5:13-26; Monday (St. Paul Miki and Companions): Genesis 1:1-19, Mark 6:53-56; Tuesday: Genesis 1:20-2:4a, Mark 7:1-13; Wednesday (St. Jerome Emiliani, St. Josephine Bakhita): Genesis 2:4b-9, 15-17, Mark 7:14-23; Thursday: Genesis 2:18-25, Mark 7:24-30; Friday (St. Scholastica): Genesis 3:1-8, Mark 7:31-37; Saturday (Our Lady of Lourdes): Genesis 3:9-24, Mark 8:1-10

Our faith

CATHOLIC NEWS HERALDI 3

Pope Francis

To be pastoral, look to the Good Shepherd

Christians must develop a pastoral heart to care for those who have not heard the Gospel or who have left the fold, Pope Francis said.

“By being with Jesus, we discover that His pastoral heart always beats for the person who is confused, lost, far away,” the pope said at his weekly general audience Jan. 18. “Jesus never said, ‘Let them sort themselves out,’ He went out to find them.”

Pope Francis encouraged Christians to model themselves on Jesus, the Good Shepherd, longing for those who have left the Church just as a shepherd longs for lost sheep, rather than treating them as “adversaries or enemies.”

“When we meet them at school, work or on the streets of our city, why don’t we think instead that we have a beautiful opportunity to witness to them the joy of a Father who loves them and has never forgotten them?” the pope asked.

Being a shepherd is not merely a job, but a “true and proper way of life: 24 hours a day,” he said.

Jesus, the Good Shepherd, “does not just do something for us, but He gives His life for us.”

The pope encouraged the pilgrims and visitors gathered in the Vatican’s Paul VI Audience Hall to reflect on how God seeks out those who distance themselves from Him, saying that many Christians may have followed Jesus for a long time but “have never wondered if we share His feelings, if we suffer and we take risks.”

“The Lord suffers when we distance ourselves from His heart,” he said, “but in response to this suffering He does not withdraw; rather, He risks. He leaves the 99 sheep who are safe and ventures out for the lost one.”

“Do we feel similar emotions?” the pope asked.

Without a love that suffers and takes risks for others, Pope Francis said, “we risk being pastors only for ourselves.”

At the end of his catechesis, the pope greeted a group of pilgrims from Congo, where he will travel Jan. 31, and he asked for prayers for the country.

He also remembered Father Isaac Achi, who was killed Jan. 15 when bandits set fire to his parish rectory in Minna, Nigeria. (Editor’s note: More coverage of this is on page 28.)

“So many Christians continue to be the target of violence, let us remember them in our prayers,” the pope said. — OSV News