Imagine this: You are on your way to your execution, brutal at best and torturous at worst. But you write your friends to not try and stop it. Rather, you want to die as an example for others. This is what St. Ignatius of Antioch did when he was taken to the Circus Maximus in Rome. He was a second-generation Christian, having been taught by John the Apostle. As bishop of Antioch, he was a successor to Peter, who was bishop there before going to Rome. He was brought before the Emperor Trajan and refused to recant his faith, whereupon he was sentenced to death in the Circus, to be eaten by lions. In anticipation of the efforts of the Christians in Rome, he wrote: “The only thing I ask of you is to allow me to offer the libation of my blood to God. I am the wheat of the Lord; may I be ground by the teeth of the beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ.”
St. Ignatius wrote to various communities on his way to his martyrdom. He wrote about the importance of loyalty to the bishop. In this day we are seeing the bishops in a different light. Some have sinned grievously, while others have sinned in covering up grievous sins. Our bishops are successors to the apostles, but they are also men who need God’s grace in their own lives. We do need to be loyal to them, but we also need to help them in being accountable for the responsibilities they have. The laity has a co-responsibility, along with the clergy, to bring about the Kingdom of God. Let us never renege on our own baptismal promises to reject Satan and all his evil works! St. Ignatius, pray for us.
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