In Psalm 146 today, we hear it proclaimed: “Praise the LORD, O my soul; I will praise the Lord all my life; I will sing praise to my God while I live.” We can praise the Lord in many different ways in our lives, through our words, our actions, our work, and our works of mercy.
As a poet, teacher, and defender of the faith, St Ephrem, the saint we celebrate today praised God in his life in different ways, especially in the way he opposed the false doctrines and heresies of his day. Born in Meopotamia in the early 4th century, Ephrem was baptized as a young man and became well-known in his community as a teacher. When his community fell to the Persians, with the Christians losing control, he and many other Christians fled to another city, Edessa, where he brought great acclaim to the biblical school there and where he was ordained as a deacon. In the essays, poems, and hymns that he wrote, he showed great holiness and embodied orthodox doctrine. As a reflection of his simple humble austere faith, Ephrem spent his last days living in a cave outside of the city of Odessa where he died in 373 AD. Ephrem was named as a Doctor of the Church by Pope Francis in the first part of his papacy. I will conclude my homily with a beautiful prayer written by St Ephrem: O Lord and Master of my life, take from me the spirit of sloth, despair, lust of power, and idle talk. But give rather the spirit of chastity, humility, patience, and love to your servant. O Lord and King, grant me to see my own transgressions, and not to judge my brother, for blessed are you, unto ages of ages. Amen.
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