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**Two men, both Christian but opposed to each other; one a pope for only five years, the other an anti-pope for 18 years; both arrested and sent to Sardinia to die a “living death” in the mines around 235/236. However, both are saints. St. Pontian was pope from 230-235 and, when arrested to be exiled, resigned his office as pope, the first to do so. St. Hippolytus entered into schism with St. Pontian’s predecessors on the grounds that the pope did not condemn a heresy strongly enough. He was then elected pope by his followers, the first anti-pope. However, in Sardinia he became reconciled with the Church. St. Hippolytus is also known for his theological and liturgical writings.
So what brings two such different men together to be celebrated as saints on the same day? St. Hippolytus was a “holier than the Church” sort of man and St. Pontian was a pope who had to make difficult decisions, including a resignation that led to the end of the schism St. Hippolytus began. Perhaps reconciliation is the key to the mystery!
Reconciliation is the key to our relationship with God. Without our conversion, our repentance, our turning back, our metanoia, we cannot be reconciled with the God who made us, loves us, and saved us through his own passion, death, and resurrection. Jesus started his ministry proclaiming his Gospel in Galilee: “This is the time of fulfillment. The kingdom of God is at hand. Repent, and believe in the gospel” (Mk 1:15). He ended his ministry on the cross in Jerusalem: “Jesus cried out in a loud voice, ‘Father, into your hands I commend my spirit’; and when he had said this he breathed his last” (Lk 23:46). He reconciled us to the Father and brought us into communion with our God.
*http://faith.nd.edu/s/1210/faith/interior.aspx?sitebuilder=1&pgid=15938&cid=32078&ecid=32078&ciid=104285&crid=0
**https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Dieric_Bouts_%26_Hugo_van_der_Goes_-_Triptiek_van_de_Heilige_Hippolytus.jpg
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