Friday, October 17, 2014
Acts 28:1-6 (Ignatius of Antioch)
Today, October 17th is the day that Ignatius of Antioch is commemorated. Before beginning I should confess that when I think of Ignatius I tend (or tended to before last week) to think of the much later Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Society of Jesus (the ‘Jesuits’). It was much less often that I called to mind Ignatius of Antioch. Indeed in the spirit of complete disclosure, until a recent class assignment. I really knew very little at all about this Ignatius.
‘This’ Ignatius was the second Bishop of Antioch who lived in the first century and is known as one of the early Church fathers whose writings offer important insight into the Christian church in the first century. Around AD 115 Ignatius was caught up in the persecution against the Church and was ultimately sentenced to die in the “public arena”—a punishment that usually involves wild animals (often lions). For reasons that aren’t wholly clear and which are, in some corners questioned, it was decided that this would take place in Rome quite a long way from Ignatius’ home in Antioch. The route that Ignatius and his guards travelled passed through several cities with large Christian communities. And, on a prolonged stopover in Smyrna, Ignatius took the opportunity to write to each of the four churches he had visited. Later, three more letters were written leaving us with seven letters in all. Together, these letters, says one scholar, are “Ignatius’ last testament”
These seven letters are, each, relatively short and form a very small body of work attributed to Ignatius. Now there are some scholars who will tell you that these letters are written in haste, that they aren’t well thought out and some will even question whether the journey took place and wonder about the details of Ignatius’ martyrdom. I wonder, whether any of this is really important. What is important are the ideas contained within and the fact, that written in haste or not, in these epistles Ignatius reached out to a set of Christian communities at a time when being a Christian was new and probably quite difficult and perhaps even a bit lonely.
One of the really important ideas comes in a letter which was written to the Church at Ephesus. In this letter, no doubt well aware of the difficult and disparate times which the early Church found itself, Ignatius calls for unity and for harmony with the Church; a coming together of people under God and within the authority of bishops. How this comes together is part of the elegance of Ignatius’ reflections, his spirituality and what appears to be an attempt to build, or at least strengthen—to give ‘heart’ to—some of the early Christian communities.
The central imagery that arises out of this letter is that of the church as a symphony where each person has a distinct note to sing and which together comes together in harmony. Ignatius’ idea of a symphony is nuanced and sees the bishops and priests and people not simply as a combination of those who lead and those who are lead but rather as a body which comes together towards the greater glory of God. Nowhere is the coming together more important than at the time of the Eucharist
“Come together in common…so that with undivided mind you may obey the bishop and the priests and break one Bread which is the medicine of immortality and the antidote against death, enabling us to live forever in Jesus Christ”
What is remarkable about the ideas in this letter written to the Church in the first century is that many of them continue to resonate within the twenty-first century Church. Embedded within Ignatius’ call for unity and harmony is Ignatius’ own robust spiritual life of his strong sense of a life lived in obedience—in faith—first to the bishops and, critically, by extension to God Himself. Twenty centuries later significant elements of Ignatius’ call for unity and harmony (agreement) and a life lived in faith have been retained not only within the ordination rites for both priests and bishops (Book of Common Prayer, 1962) but also within the Anglican Church of Canada’s ‘Competencies for Ordination to the Priesthood’.
And so, on this day as we think of Ignatius of Antioch let us reflect upon his works, his passion, his faith and his hope for the Church. And in these days when unity and harmony within the Church sometimes seem elusive, let us reflect upon these words:
Heavenly Father,
who adorned your Church
with the witness of your holy martyr Ignatius,
grant to us, we pray
the gift of true and gracious unity,
that your Spirit may direct our service
and our offering may be your work in our midst.
We ask this in the Name of Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen
- Mary-Cate Garden
[Mary-Cate is a student at Trinity College in Toronto, and Co-Head of the Divinity Class]
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