St Leo the Great | Tuesday 10 November 2020

Today is Tuesday the 10 November, the feast of St Leo the Great, in the 32nd week of Ordinary Time.  

Salt of the Sound sing “Turn your eyes upon Jesus… and the things of the earth will fall strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace.”

Today’s reading is from the letter to Titus.  

Titus 2:11-14 For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation to all, training us to renounce impiety and worldly passions, and in the present age to live lives that are self-controlled, upright, and godly, while we wait for the blessed hope and the manifestation of the glory of our great God and Saviour, Jesus Christ. He it is who gave himself for us that he might redeem us from all iniquity and purify for himself a people of his own who are zealous for good deeds.    

Today is the feast day of St Leo the Great, the first pope to have been titled ‘Great’, as an acknowledgment of his dedication to the role given to him.  From Pope Leo, we have the Church’s official teaching on Jesus Christ as True God and True Man, something that was still under debate in the 5th century. How does this understanding of who Jesus is and so, who we can become, speak to you?  

The Letter to Titus describes the responsibilities of being an elder in the Church. Reminding us what a mature Christian would look like. How do I respond to the call to holiness when there are so many other distractions surrounding me? What does it mean to me to live a godly life?  

Pope Leo wrote, ‘Do not forget that you have been rescued from the power of darkness and brought into the light of God’s kingdom’. Reminded of this,  I listen to the reading again noticing the words, ‘the grace of God has appeared’. I am reminded that we are all still works in progress dependent on the power of grace and the ‘blessed hope’ that our faith offers.    

As I move through the day I ask for what is needed to live out a godly life.  I share my  thoughts and feelings with the Lord.

Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.