Cosmas and Damian

zechariah 8:1-8; Psalm 102 The lord will build up Zion again and appear in all his glory; Luke 9:46-50


Often times I hear self proclaimed preachers telling the people gathered that God wants to fulfill their dreams or make their dreams come true.

Every one seems to eat these words up. They flock to this kind of message.

I, however, cringe when I hear such things.
Do I really want a God who wants to make my dreams come true? It sounds cheesy and too much like disney land or hollywood.

We have emasculated our God by such notions. Think about God who goes around trying to make everybody's dreams come true. More importantly, think about all those dreams. Do we really want to make some them come true?

No, I refuse to accept a God whose sole purpose is too make my dreams come true. I need something more. I need some one bigger than my dreams.

I want a God who isn't caught up dream land. I need a God who has a plan. I need who God who has included me in his plan, a God who invites me to surrender my dreams or allow my dreams to be purified by his plan for my life and the life of the world.

This is something I can hang my hat on.

This is what Zechariah tells us in the first reading of today,

"I am intensely jealous for Zion, stirred to jealous wrath for her. Thus says the Lord, I will return to zion and dwell within Jerusalem; Jerusalem shall be called the faithful city, and the mountain of the Lord of hosts, the holy mountain. Thus says the Lord of host: Old men and old women, each with a staff in hand because of old age, again shall sit in the streets of Jerusalem. The city shall be filled with boys and girls playing in the streets...I will rescue my people...I will bring them back ...they shall be my people and I will be their God with faithfulness and justice."

There it is, God's plan of action. Notice, Zechariah doesn't once speak of dreams.

St. Cosmas and St. Damian understood this. Thus they were willing to lay their life in order to be part of God's plan of faithfulness and justice.

These twin brothers who were doctors, who went around practicing medicine free of charge so that they might imitate God's generosity, were willing to give their life completely in martyrdom so that they might truly imitate the plan of action laid out by God' son: for the one who is the least among you is the greatest."

Set aside your dreams and jump into God's plan of salvation and there you shall find true joy and satisfaction, faithfulness and justice.

Cosmas and Damian pray for us