We’ve just listened to a striking Gospel passage – Herod trying to figure out who Jesus is… but he doesn’t seem to be getting good information… some people say he is Elijah, some say he is John… Herod is perplexed, but it doesn’t seem that anyone outright tells him that Jesus is the Christ, the Son of God.
It’s a great Gospel, but I’d like to turn our focus to today’s feast day – of Sts Cosmas and Damien. As is common with these early saints, we don’t know much for certain about them… they were brothers from Syria who practiced medicine in southern Turkey. They were nicknamed the 'silverless ones', because they treated the sick for free. Apparently, their charitable work helped to convince many pagans to convert to Christianity. In 300AD they were arrested, tortured, and then beheaded for professing the name of Christians.
Cosmas and Damian should inspire all of us to stick our necks out – pun intended – for our faith. We should be willing to suffer to bring more souls to Christ.
Many of us Catholics were taught ‘preach always, when necessary, use words’ … we were told that, if we just show love in our deeds, this alone will bring souls to Christ. Well, I’ll tell you that I tried that approach for about 10 years as a physician, and I found it totally ineffective. I’ve never had a patient ever ask me, ‘Gee, doctor, you’re really nice, you’re different than the other doctors – what makes you tick? Is it your faith?’
The truth is, most of my non-Christian doctor colleagues show a lot of compassion to the sick. Yes, in 300 AD, Cosmas and Damian won many converts because their charity was extraordinary. But nowadays, Christianity doesn’t have a monopoly on charity… look at Doctors without Borders or the Red Cross. Caring for the vulnerable among us is now expected in today’s post-Christian world.
So of course, we should show charity – this is the greatest commandment. But we Catholics often forget the commandment: ‘go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing…’… to bring souls to Christ, we need to be more than compassionate. We need to be bold and outspoken.
I would challenge everyone here – including myself –to stick our necks out to evangelize. What is one thing you could do this week to bring the truth of Christ to someone? Maybe it’s inviting a non-Catholic friend to Mass and coffee. Maybe it’s asking questions like, “I’m curious why you left the Church?” Maybe it’s sharing one of our evangelization pamphlets with someone. Maybe it’s posting something on social media about your faith.
Whatever it is, we need to preach by deed and word. Preaching might make us uncomfortable, but it’s far less than what Cosmas and Damian suffered for professing the name of Christ. We need to do better than the people around Herod, who never told him the truth about Christ. Let’s be true witnesses, true martyrs, in professing Christ’s name. So be it.
