+ St Ignatius of Antioch was born in the year 50 in Syria. He was a convert from
paganism to Christianity. He was believed to be a disciple of St. John the
Apostle. His apostolic letters to the various churches in the ancient Christian
world serve as a major source regarding the life, faith, and structure of the
early Church in Asia Minor and Rome.
He was the first writer to use
the term “Catholic Church” as a collective designation for Christians, among
the first to attest to the “monoepiscopacy” or the governance of a diocese by
one bishop. He became the bishop of Antioch, succeeding St. Peter the Apostle.
He served during the persecution of Domatian. But during the persecution of
Trajan he was ordered to be taken to Rome to be killed by wild animals. On his
way there, which took months, he wrote letters to the churches stressing the
divinity and humanity of Jesus, his bodily death and resurrection, the central
importance of the Eucharist and the bishop for church unity, and the special
reverence owed to the church of Rome as the one founded by Peter and Paul.
Ignatius died in 107 and his relics are in St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome.
St.
Ignatius considered himself as wheat
that must be ground in order to make something useful – corresponding with
Jesus imperative in the gospel passage. It
is when the disciple of Christ – in imitation of his master – falls to the earth and dies, that
something beautiful, useful and salvific can result. For Jesus it meant
resurrection to a newness of life, the fullness and completion of human life,
and likewise for his faithful followers – including St. Ignatius of Antioch.
May
we strain for the prize of everlasting
glory and resurrected
life with God – who so eagerly wants to share them with us. May we pause at
least once each day to envision heaven, imagine a totally restored and
fulfilled human life, and a Wedding and Reception that will last for ever and
ever. We must live the life prescribed by Jesus – come what may – but always
with his help moment by moment – and it will be so for us!
Blessed
are those who persevere in temptation, for when they have been proven they will
receive the crown of life.
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