Office Of Readings | Week 10, Tuesday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Letter Of Saint Ignatius Of Antioch To The Romans | Earthly Longings Have Been Crucified

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Office Of Readings | Week 10, Tuesday, Ordinary Time | A Reading From The Letter Of Saint Ignatius Of Antioch To The Romans | Earthly Longings Have Been Crucified

‘With Jesus Christ, earthly longings have been crucified.’

The reading expresses Saint Ignatius’ faith in Jesus Christ as he was escorted to Rome for Christian martyrdom, to be torn apart by wild beasts in the Coliseum. One crucial point of the reading to take away is that Saint Ignatius expresses possible doubt in his own confidence to go through with his martyrdom with courage. He prays that his fellow Christians might support him through prayer to enable him to embrace his witness – his martyrdom – to Jesus Christ and to Christian faith.

Here is a man escorted to Rome to die horribly. There is a thought that, with Jesus, earthly attachments have been crucified, that we are all in a sense martyrs for Jesus. However, our courage might well and understandably flounder, and there are times when we ask for the prayers of the whole Church to sustain us through difficulty.

A Reading From The Letter Of Saint Ignatius Of Antioch To The Romans | Earthly Longings Have Been Crucified

All the kingdoms of this world are worth nothing to me. It is better for me to die in Christ Jesus than to be king over the ends of the earth. I seek him who died for our sake, I desire him who rose for us.

The pains of birth are upon me. Be understanding, my brethren: do not hinder me from coming to life, do not wish me to die. I desire to belong to God: do not give me to the world, do not try to deceive me with material things. Allow me to receive the pure light: when I have reached it I shall become a man. Allow me to follow the example of the Passion of my God. If there is any man who has God within himself, let him understand what I wish, and let him sympathize with me, knowing the things which constrain me.

The Prince of this world wishes to tear me in pieces and twist my mind away from God. Let none of you who are present help him, but be on my side: that is, on God’s. Do not speak of Jesus Christ but still desire the world. Let no envy dwell among you.

Perhaps when I arrive I will ask you to save my life. Ignore what I say then, but give me what I am writing to ask you now. In the midst of life I write to you desiring death. My bodily desires have been crucified, and there is in me no fire of love for material things. Within me there is no fire, but only water living and speaking in me, and saying to me from within, “Come to the Father.” I have no pleasure in the food of corruption or in the delights of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ, who was of the seed of David, and for drink I desire his blood, which is incorruptible love.

I want no more of what men call life. And I can receive what I want, if that is your desire. Desire it, so that you also may be desired. I beg you by this short letter; believe me. And Jesus Christ shall make this plain to you, that I am speaking the truth. He is the mouth which cannot lie, by which the Father has spoken truly. Pray for me that I may attain my goal. I am writing to you not according to the flesh, but according to the mind of God. If I am given suffering, it will be proof of your goodwill; if it is denied to me, that will be a proof of your disfavour.

Remember in your prayers the Church in Syria. God has now taken my place as its shepherd. Its bishop shall be Jesus Christ — Jesus Christ and your love. For myself I am ashamed to be called a member of that church, for I am not worthy. I am the least of them, a foetus born before its time. Yet, if I succeed in reaching God, then I shall have received true mercy, and I shall have become a human being.

My spirit greets you, and the love of the Churches which have received me in the name of Jesus Christ, not as a mere passer by. Even those which did not lie on my path (as the world measures it) have escorted me from one city to the next.

Prayer With Jesus Christ

Lord Jesus,

Help me to embrace in my heart the lesson of Saint Ignatius of Antioch.

Help me to pray in myself, in confidence that as I do so the Church prays with me.

Help me to pray with communion of believers for those who suffer; may my strength in prayer contribute to their strength in faith in adversity.

I ask this prayer in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,

Amen