He is the chief Physician.

He is the chief Physician.

   "'Now Simon's mother-in-law was kept in her bed sick with a fever.'
May Christ come to our house and enter in and by his command cure the
fever of our sins. Each one of us is sick with a fever. Whenever I
give way to anger, I have a fever. There are as many fevers as there
are faults and vices. Let us beg the apostles to intercede for us with
Jesus, that he may come to us and touch our hand. If he does so, at
once our fever is gone. He is an excellent physician and truly the
chief Physician. Moses is a physician. Isaiah is a physician. All the
saints are physicians, but he is the chief Physician."
 by Jerome (excerpt from HOMILIES ON THE GOSPEL OF MARK 75.1)

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14 December – Saint Berthold of Regensburg OFM

(c 1220-1272)
Friar of the Order of the Friars Minor, Renowned Preacher for which
reason he was known as “Sweet Brother Berthold,” “The Beloved of God
and man,” “A Second Elias,” “The Teacher of the Nations,” Missionary
Evangelist covering large areas of Germany. It is recorded that he
would preach to up to 100,000 people at one time. Born as Berthold
Sachs, at Ratisbon, which is now Regensburg, Germany in c 1220 and
died there on 14 December 1272 of natural causes. Also known as –
Berthold of Ratisbon. Berthold was a Franciscan Friar in the Monastery
of Regensburg and the most powerful preacher of repentance in the 13th
Century. Patronage – of Preachers.

Berthold was probably a member of a well-to-do middle-class family of
Ratisbon named Sachs. The excellence of his literary training is
proved by his sermons ,which show more than common acquaintance with
the ancient classics. From his knowledge of the usages of secular
life, it may be inferred that he was of mature age before he entered
the Franciscans. The first fixed date in Berthold’s life is 1246, when
the Papal Legate appointed him and David of Augsburg (another
Franciscan Friar) as Inspectors of the Convent of Niedermünster. One
of his contemporaries, the Abbot of Niederaltaich, a reliable
Historian, speaks in 1250 of the great reputation that Berthold had in
Bavaria as a preacher.

Four years later, the missionary journeys of this preacher extended as
far as the Valley of the Rhine, Alsace and Switzerland. During the
next ten years Berthold’s apostolic labours led him eastward into
Austria, Moravia, Bohemia and Silesia. In 1263 Pope Urban IV appointed
him to preach the Crusade and Saint Albert the Great was designated as
his assistant. When speaking to Slavonic audiences, Berthold naturally
employed an interpreter, just as St Bernard, in his day, made use of
an interpreter in Germany. Notwithstanding any difficulties that might
arise as to understanding, wherever he went Berthold exerted an
extraordinary power of attraction over his hearers so that the
Churches were not able to hold the great crowds of the faithful who
came from all quarters to his Masses, and he was often obliged to
preach in the open air. When this was the case, a Pulpit was generally
arranged under the spreading branches of a linden tree. Long after his
day “Berthold’s Linden” was to be seen at Glatz.

About 1270 he seems to have returned to Regensburg where he remained
until his death on 14 December 1272. He had fallen down the stairs a
few days prior to his death. His remains form the most precious relic
among the treasures of the Cathedral of Regensburg.

The poets and chroniclers of Bertold’s time made frequent reference to
him. He was called “Sweet Brother Berthold,” “The Beloved of God and
man,” “A Second Elias,” “The Teacher of the Nations.” All of these
expressions are proofs of the high esteem in which his preaching and
missionary zeal were held. The secret of the Preacher’s success lay
partly in the saintliness of his life and partly in his power to make
use of the language of humble life. He became the great master, it may
be said, the classic of homely speech and this rank has been
maintained by his sermons to the present day. One of his two popular
discourses on the Last Judgment became a favourite book of the people
under the title “The Valley of Josaphat“. There is no doubt, that
Brother Berthold preached in German, and used translators when
necessary, as said above

For a long time scholars disagreed as to how his sermons had been
preserved. It is now generally accepted, that the sermons were often
written down afterwards in Latin, frequently with marginal comments in
German – these reports of the sermons, as they may be called, partly
German, partly Latin, or at times in the language in which they were
delivered (recorded by the translators, we presume), are what have
been handed down to posterity.

The discourses thus preserved, are of the greatest importance for the
history of the development of the literature of homiletics; -they are
of equal value as rich sources for determining the condition of
education and culture in the 13th century. It is difficult, therefore,
to understand how this greatest of Catholic Preachers to the poor,
could have been forgotten for centuries! It was not until some of
Brother Berthold’s sermons were published in 1824 that attention was
called to the eloquent Franciscan and his holy and zealous life of a
true disciple of Christ! Since this date, the enthusiasm for Berthold
grew steadily, so that he has become a favourite, both of Germanic
scholars and of the historians of the development of German
civilization and of the Faith. He is also regarded as the great
pattern of homely Pulpit eloquence.
Seventy-two of his sermons have been preserved for our edification,
some of which are available online.

https://anastpaul.com/2021/12/14/


“John came to you in the way of righteousness and you did not believe
him.” – Matthew 21:32

REFLECTION

 Let your behaviour be as one who has beenconverted be manifest. 
You who preferred what is human, to what is divine, who desired to be 
the world’s slave, rather than to conquer the world along with the world’s
Lord, Repent. You who fled the freedom which virtue would have won for
you because you wished to take on the yoke of sin: Repent. Repent in
earnest, you who, for fear of possessing Life, have given yourself up
to death!
 – St Peter Chrysologus (c 400-450) Bishop of Ravenna, Father and
Doctor of the Church (Sermon 167).

PRAYER – Lord God, You hold out the Light of Your Word to those who do
not know You. Strengthen in our hearts, the faith You have given us
and the Credo we profess, so that no trials may quench the fire Your
Spirit has kindled in us. May the intercession of St Berthold of
Regensburg who spent himself preaching repentance, grant us the grace
of following the way of the Cross, to stand beneath it with our
Mother, the Mother of God, Ave Maria! We make our prayer through Jesus
Christ with the Holy Spirit, one God forever, amen.


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Covetousness

"Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon earth, where moth and rust
doth corrupt, and where thieves break through and steal: But lay up
for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth
corrupt, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: For where
your treasure is, there will your heart be also... No man can serve
two masters: for either he will hate the one, and love the other; or
else he will hold to the one, and despise the other. Ye cannot serve
God and mammon" (Matthew 6:19-21, 24).

"Seek those things which are above, where Christ sitteth on the right
hand of God. Set your affection on things above, not on things on the
earth" (Colossians 3:1-2).

"Behold, these are the ungodly, who prosper in the world; they
increase in riches" (Psalm 73:12).

"He also that received seed among the thorns is he that heareth the
word; and the care of this world, and the deceitfulness of riches,
choke the word, and he becometh unfruitful" (Matthew 13:22).

"He that maketh haste to be rich shall not be innocent" (Proverbs 28:20).

"For the love of money is the root of all evil: which while some
coveted after, they have erred from the faith" (1 Timothy 6:10).

"Love not the world, neither the things that are in the world. If any
man love the world, the love of the Father is not in him" (1 John
2:15).