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Gospel: Luke 11: 37-41
After Jesus had spoken,
a Pharisee invited him to dine at his home.
He entered and reclined at table to eat.
The Pharisee was amazed to see
that he did not observe the prescribed washing before the meal.
The Lord said to him, “Oh you Pharisees!
Although you cleanse the outside of the cup and the dish,
inside you are filled with plunder and evil.
You fools!
Did not the maker of the outside also make the inside?
But as to what is within, give alms,
and behold, everything will be clean for you.”
The Gospel of the Lord.
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Saint Ignatius, whose feast we celebrate today, was part of the second generation of Christians. He was the bishop of Antioch, located in modern-day Turkey, and might have known the Apostle John personally.
Little is known about Ignatius, aside from his pastoral letters which he wrote to several Christian communities on his way to Rome, where he was martyred. We can still read the text of his letters today.
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One of the great insights Ignatius offers us is the early Christian belief in the Eucharist.
In his Letter to the Romans, he writes, “I have no taste for corruptible food nor for the pleasures of this life. I desire the bread of God, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ… and for drink, I desire his blood.”
Elsewhere, in his Letter to the Smyrnaeans, he writes, “The Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ.”
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Ignatius offered his life for this belief. Because of his witness, and other Christians like him, the sacrifice of the Mass has been handed on to Christians for two-thousand years, even to us today.
May Ignatius intercede on our behalf that we, too, would see Christ fully present in the Eucharist, profess our faith publicly, and find ways to hand on our faith to the next generation.
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Image credits: (1) The History Channel: Christianity, Dogma, Definition, and Beliefs (2) Who Was Ignatius of Antioch? Christianity (3) Seton Shrine