My Google search for 4th March, 1999, produced a lot of political happenings over the past thirteen years. But for me, I guess, the biggest event of any kind on this great day back then was the bringing together of two lonely souls on earth. Yes, this is the day we met thirteen years back!
Now another round of search on number ‘thirteen’ highlighted that THIRTEEN is a 2003 American drama film directed by Catherine Hardwicke, and written by Hardwicke and Nikki Reed, the film’s co-star. Well, I have never heard about this movie and so what should I do?
It also happens that THIRTEEN is one of America’s most respected and innovative public media providers. Hmm, this sounds interesting!
But my religious research on ‘thirteen’ enlightened me that a great superstition has always surrounded the number 13 as it is considered unlucky or dark. But luckily (according to Wikipedia) in Roman Catholicism, the apparitions of the Virgin of Fátima in 1917 were claimed to occur on the 13th of six consecutive months. In Catholic devotional practice, the number ‘thirteen’ is also associated with Saint Anthony of Padua, since his feast day falls on June 13. A traditional devotion called the ‘Thirteen Tuesdays’ of Saint Anthony involves praying to the saint every Tuesday over a period of thirteen weeks. Another Devotion – St. Anthony’s Chaplet – consists of thirteen decades of three beads each. So there’s nothing to fear about the number 13. The Lord is with us!
But the greatest support here with 13 is that at Jesus Christ’s Last Supper, there were ‘thirteen’ people around the table, counting Jesus and the twelve apostles. Praise the Lord!!!
The mention of ‘thirteen’ is in connection with Ishmael, Genesis 17:25. He was thirteen years old when Abraham circumcised him and admitted him into the covenant to which he was a stranger in heart, and which ended in his rebellion and rejection. But this is Old Testament (OT) and I am more of a New Testament (NT) person and just love reading and believing in it and so the Lord turns the number of rebellion into the number of love in NT. John, the beloved disciple, tells us to “love one another” eleven times. The first occasion is in the thirteenth chapter of John, verse 34, where he uses the phrase twice. The Apostle Paul uses “love one another” two more times, for a total of ‘thirteen’ occurrences of this phrase in the NT.
In addition, the “love” chapter of First Corinthians is chapter ‘thirteen’. And in it Paul lists the attributes of love (or charity). There are thirteen attributes. And I love Paul for this because he has been a great instrument in changing my heart – I owe St. Paul a lot for my new found spirituality!
So I just want to praise the name of the Lord now and forever and for the thirteenth year of our togetherness. On this beautiful day I pray to Jesus from the bottom of my heart that I be forever faithful to my Golu; not only in this life but for the next thirteen lives (if) I get on this earth. Amen
Hallelujah…!
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