Br. Jack Crowley

Martin of Tours

Matthew 25:31-46

Tonight we celebrate the life of Saint Martin of Tours. Saint Martin lived in the fourth century and converted to Christianity as a young adult at a time when Christianity had only recently become legal in the Roman Empire. Martin went on to be a Roman soldier, then a hermit, then started the first monastery in what is now France, and finally became a bishop. His life was a series of pendulum swings between solitude and service.

There is one anecdote from his life that I’d like to focus on tonight. The story goes that in the year 371, the bishop of Tours died and the people wanted to elect Martin to take his place. The people knew Martin was too humble to accept the position, so they tricked him to come into the city by telling him there was a sick woman who needed his help. When Martin realized he was being fooled, he ran from the crowd and hid in a barn full of geese. If you’ve ever been around geese, you know that is not a good hiding spot. The geese started to honk, Martin was discovered, and soon became bishop. To this day, it is common in some countries to eat goose on Saint Martin’s day in celebration of this anecdote.

Like Martin in the goose barn, we human beings have been trying to hide from the call of God for a long time. From the very beginning, we’ve never really been good at it. One of the first things Adam did after he ate the forbidden fruit was hide. Adam covered up himself and tried to hide from the call of God among the trees. This first game of hide and go seek did not go in humanity’s favor.

To hide from the call of God is like trying to run away on a treadmill. You may think you are gaining distance, but in the eyes of God, you have not moved. The call of God has a way of catching up to us all.

So what would it look like to stop hiding? What would it look like to answer the call of God? What does it take to make us step out of our own barn full of geese and face the crowds?

One of the many things I love about the lives of saints is that they all had to answer these questions with their lives. So do we. The Christian life is not an escape from anything. The Christian life is a confrontation. We do not hide from the hard questions, the hard conversations, or the hard times we must endure.

We also do not hide from joy. That little bubble of hope that lifts up our hearts and surprises us with a smile when things seem bleak. We have a God who loves us and a Holy Spirit that guides us. It may be tempting to hide from these wonderful truths of life but the good news is they are there no matter what kind of day we are having.

Saint Martin answered the call of God, maybe not in the way he wanted to, but he answered it. Saint Martin, give us the courage to do the same.

Saint Martin, pray for us. Amen.