Fr Alex Swain
Beloved in Christ,
Today we remember Chad of Litchfield, born around the year 634 in Northern England (according to Lesser Feasts & Fasts).
Chad was, according to the prominent and methodical historian the Venerable Bede, “a holy man, modest in his ways, learned in the Scriptures, and zealous in carrying out their teaching.”
As Lent progresses, we are encouraged to spend more time reading and pondering the Holy Scriptures. Chad was somebody who knew them intimately, who incorporated their principals into his life.
In my experience, I find that when I make time to slowly read and reflect on the holy scriptures, my relationship to God feels much fuller, much more alive. We approach the Bible not merely to learn something, but to grow in relationship with God.
The Bible speaks to us, alive, challenging us, as the divinely inspired text of God. It is no wonder, then, that reading the text can help us feel more proximal to God. Despite its being written millennia ago (and even across millennia), it relates something about who God was, who God is, and who God continues to be.
Chad’s life was influenced strongly by the themes of the scriptures, which he internalized and then integrated into his life practice. The Venerable Bede writes that he was, “a man who kept the church in truth and purity, humility, and temperance” and, on the day of his death in 672 due to plague which broke out, he “joyfully beheld… the day of the Lord, whose coming he had always anxiously awaited. He was mindful to his end of all that the Lord did.”
How mindful am I, how mindful are we, of “all that the Lord did” or does in our lives? How might being deeply enmeshed in the text of God’s word influence our lives?
Like the Apostles in today’s Gospel, we too are called to make Christ known in the world around us. But how can we do that if not fed, rooted, and living out the divine text we are given?
Chad, today, gives us an example of what that can look like.
May Chad pray for us to the Lord our God as we strive to know our Lord, and love our Lord, and be a loving people in the name of our Lord, each day!
Yours in Christ,
—Fr Alex