And then the Lions ate him!

I met with and facilitated a prayer meeting with some great Catholic Youth this week. We reflected on the Holy Spirit and then on an Early Church Father/Apostolic Father. "Huh!?" they said. Maybe you are saying the same?! So, here it goes in a nut shell.

First an Apostolic Father is an early Chrisitian and a church father of the first or second century A.D. who was believed to have received personal instruction from the 12 Apostles or from their disciples. Ignatius was one of the earliest of the lot. He passed down the truths of Jesus and very early Christian theology (study of God). The baton was passed so to speak, from Jesus to apostle John to Ignatius. It is amazing to me, that Ignatius knew and was taught by the apostle John. Ignatius lived in Antioch (now Antakya, Turkey), the 3th largest city of the Roman empire in the 1st century. He became Bishop of Antioch which in the bible, the book of Acts, speaks of Antioch (one of the first pagan (non-believing) communities to receive evangelism/teachings about Christ.) Thank you Ignatius.

He was the first man to pen the word "Catholic" to describe our Church in one of his 7 letters/epistles. He also wrote about the order in the Church (ecclesiolgy), mainly Bishop, priests and then Deacons. He spoke about the "real presence" of Jesus in the Eucharist and other Sacraments (a sacred rite recognized as of particular importance). He uses the word Eucharist. Yes, this word is not in the bible. But, as quoted from John 20:25, “But there are also many other things that Jesus did; if every one of them were written down, I suppose that the world itself could not contain the books that would be written.” This is such a book/letter. (I could get into Sola Scriptura, a whole other topic...another post)

Some of his letters are addressed to the Romans, the Ephesians. Sound familiar, those of you who read the bible? His letters, and a letter on his Martyrdom can be viewed online for free. Just do a search. They are fascinating and eye opening. He was a brave, brave and devoted man that tried his best to walk the life of Christ. He was fed to the Lion's for not renouncing his faith in God, thus he is always pictured with Lions biting him. His feast day (Holy day of commemoration) is October 17th. This is why I spoke to the youth about him, as that day is almost here. They really enjoyed the video I presented from Steve Ray on the Apostolic Fathers, and learned a lot. I hope you learned something too.

Pray for us St. Ignatius of Antioch...we need your prayers! Amen.