Monday 8 June 2020
Monday of week 10 in Ordinary Time
Spiritual Reading
Your Second Reading from the Office of Readings:
Monday of week 10 in Ordinary Time
From St Ignatius of Antioch's letter to the Romans
Let me not only be called a Christian, but prove to be one
You have never begrudged the martyrs their triumph but rather trained them for it. And so I am asking you to be consistent with the lessons you teach them. Just beg for me the courage and endurance not only to speak but also to will what is right, so that I may not only be called a Christian, but prove to be one. For if I prove myself to be a Christian by martyrdom, then people will call me one, and my loyalty to Christ will be apparent when the world sees me no more. Nothing you can see is truly good. For our Lord Jesus Christ, now that he has returned to his Father, has revealed himself more clearly. Our task is not one of producing persuasive propaganda; Christianity shows its greatness when it is hated by the world.
I am writing to all the churches to declare to them all that I am glad to die for God, provided you do not hinder me. I beg you not to show me a misplaced kindness. Let me be the food of beasts that I may come to God. I am his wheat, and I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become Christ’s pure bread.
I would rather that you coaxed the beasts to become my tomb and to leave no scrap of me behind; then when I have died I will be a burden to no one. I shall be a true disciple of Christ when the world no longer sees my body. Pray to Christ for me that by these means I may become a sacrifice to God. I do not give you orders like Peter and Paul. They were apostles, I am a condemned criminal; they were free, I am still a slave. But if I suffer, I shall become the freedman of Jesus Christ and I shall rise again to freedom in him.
Now as a prisoner I am learning to give up my own wishes. All the way from Syria to Rome I am fighting wild beasts, by land and by sea, by day and by night, chained as I am to ten leopards, I mean the detachment of soldiers who guard me; the better you treat them, the worse they become. I am more and more trained in discipleship by their ill usage of me, but I am not therefore justified. How happy I will be with the beasts which are prepared for me! I hope that they will make short work of me. I shall even coax them to devour me quickly and not to be afraid of touching me, as sometimes happens; in fact, if they hold back, I shall force them to it. Bear with me, for I know what is good for me. Now I am beginning to be a disciple. May nothing visible or invisible rob me of my prize, which is Jesus Christ! The fire, the cross, packs of wild beasts, lacerations, rendings, wrenching of bones, mangling of limbs, crushing of the whole body, the horrible tortures of the devil – let all these things come upon me, if only I may gain Jesus Christ!
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In other parts of the world and other calendars:
Saint William of York, Bishop
Address of Pope John Paul I to the Clergy of Rome
On priestly discipline
To a certain degree all priests are guides and pastors; but have they all the right idea of what it really means to be a pastor of a particular Church, that is a Bishop? On the one hand Jesus, the supreme Pastor, said of himself: “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me”. And on the other hand he added: “I came to serve”, and he washed his Apostles’ feet. In him, therefore, power and authority went together.
Something similar should be said of the Apostles and Bishops. We Bishops preside, if we serve; our presidency is just if it consists of service or takes place for the purpose of service, with the spirit and style of service. This Episcopal service would be lacking, however, if the Bishop did not wish to exercise the powers received. Augustine said: “The Bishop who does not serve the public (by preaching, guiding) is only a scarecrow put in the vineyards so that the birds will not peck the grapes.” For this reason it is written in Lumen Gentium: “Bishops govern… by their counsel, exhortations and example, as well, indeed, as by their authority and sacred power.”
Another element of priestly discipline is love of one’s own job. It is not easy, I know, to love one’s job and stick to it when things are not going right, when one has the impression that one is not understood or encouraged, when inevitable comparisons with the job given to others would drive us to become sad and discouraged. But are we not working for the Lord? Ascetical theology teaches: do not look at whom you obey but for whom you obey. Reflection helps too. I have been a bishop for twenty years. On several occasions I suffered because I was unable to reward someone who really deserved it; but either the prize position was lacking or I did not know how to replace the person, or adverse circumstances occurred. Then too, St Francis de Sales wrote: “There is no vocation that does not have its troubles, its vexations, its disgust. Apart from those who are fully resigned to God’s will, each of us would like to change his own condition with that of others. Those who are bishops wish they were not; those who are married wish they were not; and those who are not married wish that they were. Where does this general restlessness of spirits come from, if not from a certain allergy that we have towards constraint and from a spirit that is not good, which makes us suppose that others are better off than we are?”
I have spoken simply and I apologise for it. I can assure you, however, that since I have become your Bishop I love you a great deal.
Copyright © 1996-2020 Universalis Publishing Limited: see www.universalis.com. Scripture readings from the Jerusalem Bible are published and copyright © 1966, 1967 and 1968 by Darton, Longman & Todd, Ltd and Doubleday, a division of Random House, Inc, and used by permission of the publishers. Text of the Psalms: Copyright © 1963, The Grail (England). Used with permission of A.P. Watt Ltd. All rights reserved.