Feria III infra Hebdomadam Septuagesimæ — IV classis
Commemoration of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr
As the sacred liturgical cycle turns toward Septuagesima, the violet vestments reappear, and the alleluia falls silent. The Church, like a wise mother, rouses her children from their spiritual slumber to prepare for the coming combat of Lent. The Epistle and Gospel of today’s Mass, in this third feria of Septuagesima week, bring into sharp focus the paradox of divine grace and human striving — the race for an incorruptible crown (1 Cor. 9:24–27), the dangers of presumption (1 Cor. 10:1–5), and the generous justice of God in the vineyard of souls (Matt. 20:1–16).
The Race That Is Set Before Us
St. Paul’s exhortation to the Corinthians compares the Christian life to the footraces of the stadium:
“Know you not that they that run in the race, all run indeed, but one receiveth the prize? So run that you may obtain” (1 Cor. 9:24).
This is no empty metaphor. The Apostle, ever conscious of the danger of spiritual complacency, disciplines his own body — lest, after preaching to others, he himself be disqualified. St. John Chrysostom, commenting on this passage, warns against relying on past labors:
“Even Paul feared. And if he feared, what security remains for us? For the higher a man is, the greater the fall he fears” (Hom. in Ep. I ad Cor., 23).
There is a Lenten sobriety already in these words: it is not enough to begin the race. One must persevere. The reward is not temporal, but eternal — “an incorruptible crown.” This crown, as St. Augustine explains, is “not the glory of men, not the applause of the world, but the eternal praise of God” (Enarr. in Ps. 103).
Israel’s Warning: Grace Is No Guarantee
To press his point further, St. Paul recalls the Israelites who passed through the Red Sea and were fed with manna — clear types of the sacraments. And yet, “with most of them God was not well pleased” (1 Cor. 10:5). Here, the Apostle shatters the illusion that sacramental participation alone guarantees salvation. The waters of baptism, the spiritual food of the Eucharist — these are true and necessary means of grace, but they do not dispense with the need for faith, obedience, and interior conversion.
St. Gregory the Great makes the moral application:
“What they received in the flesh, we receive in mystery. If they perished notwithstanding these things, let us fear lest we, receiving the reality, should perish more grievously by our ingratitude” (Moralia in Job, XIX.26).
In other words, the more we have received, the more we are accountable.
The Just Wages of Divine Mercy
The Gospel for today (Matt. 20:1–16), the parable of the laborers in the vineyard, stands as a fitting counterbalance. If the Epistle warns us against complacency, the Gospel cautions us against envy and pride. The householder, who is the figure of God, calls laborers at different hours, yet he gives each the same reward. The murmuring of the first-called exposes the all-too-human assumption that time and effort alone should measure one’s merit.
St. Jerome interprets the denarius — the day’s wage — as the reward of eternal life, which is equal for all, since in heaven all are filled according to their capacity:
“The penny bears the image of the King; and he who receives it is made conformable to the image of the Son of God” (In Matt. 20).
The laborers called at the eleventh hour are not less loved. St. John Chrysostom marvels at this divine generosity:
“Behold the goodness of God! He not only seeks those who remain idle, but even rewards them equally” (Hom. in Matt. 64).
This parable stands in harmony with the commemorated feast of St. Blaise, Bishop and Martyr. Though we know little about his early life, his fidelity in the hour of martyrdom won him the eternal crown. He is one of the “last called” in a sense — called not in years of service but in the ultimate act of love: to lay down one’s life for Christ. His intercession, especially invoked today for ailments of the throat, reminds us that sanctity is not measured in duration but in charity and fidelity.
Perseverance with Humility
These readings, placed together by the wisdom of the Church in the Septuagesima season, form a harmonious exhortation. We must run, strive, mortify the body, lest we be cast away. But we must also labor humbly, trusting in the generosity of the Lord who rewards not strictly by our merit, but according to His mercy.
Let us then, with St. Paul, “so run, not as at an uncertainty… fight, not as one beating the air” — but with focused purpose, humility of heart, and joyful trust in the goodness of our Master. May the prayers of holy St. Blaise strengthen us in body and soul as we enter the long race of Lent, so that we, too, may receive the reward — the denarius of eternal life.
Collect for St. Blaise:
O God, Who dost gladden us with the yearly festival of blessed Blaise, Thy Martyr and Bishop: mercifully grant that, as we venerate his heavenly birthday, we may also rejoice in his protection.
Per Dóminum nostrum Iesum Christum, Fílium tuum…
— Amen.