Tess Koning, a member of our Parish Pastoral Council and Principal of St Peter’s Primary School, reads from the Gospel of Mark (12: 18-27) in which the Jesus, when tested with an outlandish scenario by Sadducees, tells them they understand neither the scriptures nor the power of God. Afterwards, Tess shares a little about the life of St Boniface whose memorial we celebrate today.

Tess says, St Boniface was very bold in his faith and was well known for being very good at using the local customs and culture of the day to bring people to Christ. He was born in Devonshire, England, around 675. He was educated at a Benedictine monastery and became a monk and was sent as a missionary to Germany in 719 instead of becoming abbot for his monastery.

There, he destroyed idols and pagan temples, and built churches on the sites. He was eventually made archbishop of Mainz, where he reformed churches and built religious houses on those sites.

Boniface was martyred on June 5, 754 while on mission in Holland, where a troop of pagans attacked and killed him and his 52 companions.

One story about St Boniface talks about when he met a tribe in Saxony that was worshipping a Norse deity in the form of a huge oak tree. Boniface walked up to the tree, removed his shirt, took an axe, and without a word, chopped it down. Then he stood on the trunk, and asked: “How stands your mighty god? My God is stronger than he.”

Today, acknowledging St Boniface’s absolute commitment to faithful service, Tess invites us to pray:

St Boniface, you faced discouragement and failure and learned from them. Help us to hear God’s message in our moments of failure and to use what we learn to serve God better. Amen.