Festival of St. Henry of Uppsala, Bishop and Martyr
Posted on January 19, 2021 by under
Scripture: St. Luke 19:1-10 (NKJV)
19:1 Then Jesus entered and passed through Jericho. 2 Now behold, there was a man named Zacchaeus who was a chief tax collector, and he was rich. 3 And he sought to see who Jesus was, but could not because of the crowd, for he was of short stature. 4 So he ran ahead and climbed up into a sycamore tree to see Him, for He was going to pass that way. 5 And when Jesus came to the place, He looked up and saw him, and said to him, “Zacchaeus, make haste and come down, for today I must stay at your house.” 6 So he made haste and came down, and received Him joyfully. 7 But when they saw it, they all complained, saying, “He has gone to be a guest with a man who is a sinner.”
8 Then Zacchaeus stood and said to the Lord, “Look, Lord, I give half of my goods to the poor; and if I have taken anything from anyone by false accusation, I restore fourfold.”
9 And Jesus said to him, “Today salvation has come to this house, because he also is a son of Abraham; 10 for the Son of Man has come to seek and to save that which was lost.”
Devotion
Today we commemorate St. Henry of Finland. Henry served as a bishop in Sweden and continued his service to the Lord’s Church in Finland. According to his legend, Henry was trying to teach and correct a murderer who had allegedly converted, but despised the efforts of the Lord’s servant and killed Henry.
Faithful martyrs do not set out to be killed for the faith. They set out to do the work that our God has prepared for them to do, and if the devil and his servants choose to resist with violence, saints are made to follow Christ even unto death. Our Lord sought to save many sons of Abraham, including not just tax collectors, but also Pharisees, scribes, and other wealthy and powerful men. Our Lord knew that His work would lead to His death, but that was His purpose even from the promise of God that He would crush the Serpent’s head and save man.
All of us who are converted to the faith and made sons and daughters of the Church are made aware that we must take up our crosses and follow our Lord, even to a martyr’s death. But that does not change the fact that our sins are forgiven by His cross, and we have eternal life in Him even if we lose our life in this world!
Prayer: O Almighty God, who hast knit together Thine elect in one communion and fellowship in the mystical body of Thy Son Jesus Christ, our Lord, grant us grace so to follow Thy blessed saints in all virtuous and godly living that we may come to those unspeakable joys which Thou hast prepared for those who unfeignedly love Thee; through Jesus Christ, Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.
Scripture taken from the New King James Version®. Copyright © 1982 by Thomas Nelson. Used by permission. All rights reserved.
