Feast of St Ignatius of Antioch
Legend has it that St Ignatius of Antioch was the child whom Jesus took in his arms and said “Suffer the little children to come unto me.” (Mark 9:35)
Ignatius was probably a friend of St Peter and was the third bishop of Antioch after St Peter, and Eusebius and then Ignatius. He is also famous for his letters that he wrote to several churches while on his way to Rome to face martyrdom. In the letters he pleads with the churches not to try to intercede for him; he is willing and anxious to die for the Lord and to go to be with him.
In his Letter to the Romans which he wrote on his way to Rome he says that ‘The pangs of birth are upon me.’ This is his way of describing martyrdom and death in general as the pangs of death to a new life and he also says in relation to God: ‘I am his wheat, ground fine by the lion’s teeth.’
For today’s reading the church chooses the gospel of John, chapter 12, verses 24-26. This is the parable where Jesus tells the disciple that a grain of wheat must fall into the ground and die before it bears fruit and becomes a whole head of wheat giving out much more than it could as a grain.
This is reference to the blood of martyrs being the seeds upon which the church is built. We look back to men like Ignatius and think why were they so anxious to die. They would look at us and say, ‘why do you want to stay here. Jesus is in heaven.’
While times have changed and martyrdom is no longer sought for its own sake, we should nevertheless not be afraid of death because heaven is our homeland. At the same time we should be willing and happy to live the life and span of years that God gives us in this world.