Thursday, June 5, 2025

 

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

(Acts 22:30.23:6-11; John 17:20-26)

Today’s patron, St. Boniface, was English born and educated.  He became a monk but also a missionary.  He preached today’s gospel – the unity of Father, Son, and Spirit -- mainly in what is now Germany.  His message included the unity of humans in Christ.  Boniface exemplified this unity when he gave his life for the people he served.

Giving themselves to Christ in Baptism, Christians take on his mind and heart.  They share the same faith and come to love selflessly as Christ did.  It is not only a matter of imitating Christ’s love.  More importantly, they imbibe his Precious Blood which moves them to perfect love.

We cannot have the same mind and will as the Father, Son, and Spirit.  Their unity in everything except the relationships among them makes them God.  However, we approach their unity by believing what the Son taught and, especially, loving one another as he loved all.

Monday, June 5, 2023

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

(Tobit 1:3.2.1a-8; Mark 12:1-12)

Tobit, like St. Joseph, obeys the law, come what may.  In today’s reading he not only buries the dead, but also waits for the holy day to end before doing it.  In doing so, he defies orders of temporal rulers and inhibitions of kinsmen.  Jews as well as Christians see such actions as meritorious.  Today’s patron, St. Boniface, provides another example of such righteousness.

Boniface, English by birth, zealously preached the gospel among German pagans.  Once he defied pagan sensibility by cutting down an oak tree thought to be divine.  The act led to a mass conversion.  Named archbishop, Boniface established multiple monasteries and dioceses.  He was eventually martyred.  He is recognized as the patron saint of Germany.

We live in a time of social upheaval.  Sexual activity outside of marriage is not considered wrong; it is even expected.  We need people to defy the new social convention.  Parents and teachers ought to tell of the beauty of intimate relations when reserved for marriage.

Wednesday, June 5, 2019

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

(Acts 20:28-38; John 17:11b-19)

In today’s first reading St. Paul is on his way to Jerusalem where he senses trouble awaiting.  He has called the presbyters of Ephesus together for a final exhortation.  He warns them about false prophets who will try to lead astray their congregants.  The life of today’s patron exemplifies Paul’s care about true teaching.  Also like Paul, St. Boniface died giving testimony to the faith.

Boniface was a British monk eager to preach in Germany, a missionary land.  Once there within a span of just twenty years he converted different pagan peoples and established the Church.  Rather than retire in one of the monasteries he founded, Boniface returned to the missions.  He was killed while reconverting a tribe of Germans that had lapsed into pagan practices. 

Our times have seen many unorthodox ideas gain followings.  Recently a former priest, discontent with the teaching of the Church on sexual ethics, wrote an article in a leading magazine calling for the abolition of the priesthood.  It is doubtful that the idea will take root, but it does erode people’s faith.  As much as at any time in history, we need men and women like Boniface who will testify to the truth.

Monday, June 5, 2017

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

(Tobit 1:3.2:1a-8; Mark 12:1-12)

St. Boniface was born in England and raised there in a Benedictine monastery.  He was a successful teacher but desired to be a missionary among the pagans in what is now Germany.  When he arrived, he achieved notoriety by chopping down an old oak tree worshipped by the people without incurring harm.  He labored successfully throughout the land.  After a distinguished career in which he was named “Primate of Germany,” Boniface retired to where he began his mission.  There he and a group of followers were martyred by a band of pagans.

Missionaries leave their native place for many reasons.  But they need to have love of both Christ and the people to whom they preach if they are to succeed.  Their purpose is not to change the culture which they find in the land of their destination but to deepen it.  They will demonstrate how the best part of any culture resonates with the teachings of Christ.  Sometimes people will resent the connections that are being made.  This is what happened to St. Boniface and cost him his life.  The gospel today relates how Christ was a missionary whose life was taken out of resentment for what he said.

Christian missionaries serve humanity as well as the Church.  At their best, they bring the message of God’s love for the world and His mandate that we love one another.  They also crossbreed cultures leaving behind the best of their culture and often taking the new culture home before they die.  Today we sing their praises. 

Thursday, June 5, 2014

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

(Acts 22:30.23:6-11; John 17:20-26)

St. Boniface, the patron of Germany, was martyred while at work as a missionary.  Born in late seventh century England, Boniface was commissioned by the pope to convert pagan tribes.  Doing so, he endeavored to realize the vision that Jesus proclaims in today’s gospel.

Jesus is praying for unity.  The words he uses – “’so that they may all be one’” – are often quoted in ecumenical circles.  But Jesus has more in mind than the unification of disparate Christian communities.  He wants to draw all people– believers and non-believers alike – into communion.  In the end he is praying for the reconciliation of the whole world!

As always, we need to adopt Jesus’ position as our own.  We not only pray but also endeavor to bring the world together in peace.  Simple efforts are needed: conversing with people of different backgrounds, greeting friends of different religions on their holy days, and taking interest in the traditions of different nations.

Tuesday, June 5, 2012

Memorial of Saint Boniface, bishop and martyr

(2 Peter 3:12-15a.17-18; Mark 12:13-17)

Saint Boniface confronted many challenges in a long career. He was an English monk who served for a while as both a resident scholar and administrator of an abbey school. At forty he became a missionary in what is now northern Netherlands and eventually was named by Pope Gregory the Great as bishop of Germany where he was to preach to non-Christians. He baptized thousands, ordained and organized the hierarchy of Germany, and founded a famous monastery at Fulda. He was martyred as he was preparing to confirm German converts. The gospel today pictures Jesus in Jerusalem as facing the first of a similar series of challenges.

Jesus is confronted by an odd mixture of Pharisees and Herodians. His adversaries place him on the horns of the ancient dilemma of who is owed allegiance—God or the state. Jesus sagely calls for a middle way. He tells his challengers that people should pay the state its proper tribute and God His. In other words, they are to keep the two distinct. There is no inherent conflict.

Sometimes, however, the interests of Church and state come to loggerheads. Such is the case in the present standoff between the Obama Administration and the Catholic Church on the issue of mandating the payment of health insurance that includes contraceptive services. Of course, the Church gives a priority to God’s law. It seems hardly possible that it may pay for a morally offensive service.