Saint Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop, Martyr

Luke tells us of an encounter between squabbling siblings and Jesus. The quarrel as is often the case is about property and Jesus' response is the parable about storing up treasure which is worthless, as we all die and leave it behind. Jesus is very abrupt in how he speaks to them - our missal translation 'my friend' is often rendered in other bible translations as 'Man!'. That word points to all of us, so we know the message that follows applies to each one of God's people.

One of our ancestors in Faith set a good example - possibly an extreme example - of the radical way that we should regard property: Ignatius of Loyola left his wealthy (and debauched) lifestyle to live in poverty at the service of others and in so doing founded the Jesuits who have enriched our lives and continue to do so today.

But he is not the only St Ignatius:

St Ignatius of Antioch (- 107)

He was the second bishop of Antioch after St Peter (the first being Evodius). He was arrested (some writers believe that he must have been denounced by a fellow-Christian), condemned to death, and transported to Rome to be thrown to the wild beasts in the arena. In one of his letters he describes the soldiers who were escorting him as being like “ten leopards, who when they are kindly treated only behave worse.”

In the course of his journey he wrote seven letters to various churches, in which he dealt wisely and deeply with Christ, the organisation of the Church, and the Christian life. They are important documents for the early history of the Church, and they also reveal a deeply holy man who accepts his fate and begs the Christians in Rome not to try to deprive him of the crown of martyrdom.

He was martyred in 107 and his feast was already being celebrated on this day in fourth-century Antioch.

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Ephesians 2:1-10; Psalm 100; Luke 12:13-21