Memorial of Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop

 Lectionary: 334

Jeroboam did not give up his evil ways after this,
but again made priests for the high places
from among the common people.
Whoever desired it was consecrated
and became a priest of the high places.
This was a sin on the part of the house of Jeroboam
for which it was to be cut off and destroyed from the earth.

Historians of the 19th and 20th centuries seemed to take delight in challenging Biblical history with its earth-covering flood, rain of fire and brimstone, and a Red Sea that mysteriously split apart to allow passage of escaping slaves and then slapped shut again on their pursuers. "It never happened!" they claimed. "It could never happen!"

But there was something that certainly happened repeatedly in David's Israel, and happens repeatedly in every nation's history, and that is sin. We know it; we recognize it; but only God's faithful people acknowledge, confess, and try to atone for it. Secular historians hypocritically say they make no judgments about people or their decisions; but judgments are made nonetheless. The winners are the good guys who write the history books; the losers are the bad people who remember what happened.

The Bible faithfully records the sins of God's people, of winners and losers, as in today's story of Jeroboam's leading the northern kingdom of Israel out of David's kingdom. But the Word of God also remembers the nations who insulted the authority of God and suffered dreadful consequences. As we approach Ash Wednesday we thank God that He gives us the courage and honesty to recognize, own, confess, and atone for our sins. 

And we thank God who helps us to live in purity of heart even among idolatrous nations. Today, as millions of people celebrate Valentines Day without even a passing reference to a gentle bishop who preferred torture and death to betrayal of God's love, the Church turns our attention to other names and other saints who practiced heroic virtue. There is no shortage. 

We remember Saints Cyril and Methodius, for bringing the Catholic faith to the people of eastern Europe. Their story is complicated by the sin of the German bishops who opposed the Greek brothers for their work among the despised Slavs. The brothers translated the Gospels, the psalter, Paul’s letters and the liturgical books into Slavonic, and composed a Slavonic liturgy. Despite the Bavarian bishops' opposition, Pope Adrian II approved their liturgical work. 

Cyril created the Cyrillic alphabet which is used in Eastern Europe and Northern/Central Asia. It serves as the official script for over 50 languages spoken by approximately 250 million people. Major nations using it include Russia, Ukraine, Belarus, Bulgaria, Serbia, North Macedonia, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Mongolia.  

In 1974-75, I saw an effect of their great work as I witnessed eastern European priests celebrating Mass and hearing confessions for Americans citizens and migrants in many Slavonic languages at our shrine in Carey, Ohio. 

Sometimes, it seems, if the Church cannot find someone to persecute our saints, we'll do it ourselves. As Cardinal Dolan said, "Don't tell me about sin in the Church; I am a Church historian!" But God gathers sinners to praise his Name, and in the process purifies us and makes us worthy to join the company of martyrs like Valentine and courageous souls like Cyril and Methodius.