An old Dakota cowboy told a newsman, “It’s going to be a fine day. If geese were flying closer together, we’d have bad weather.” The cowboy went on to say that he could predict weather better than electronic equipment. “You must use your eyes and look at God’s radar. Furry calves mean early winter; hairy caterpillars signal hard winter; gophers nestling in prairie grass mean rain.” Then the old cowboy paused and mused, “Sometimes, I think we don’t see anymore.” This can also be said about modern Christians when it comes to their spiritual vision. It’s the grace Paul prays that the Ephesians will receive.
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How clear is our own spiritual vision? “Nothing here below is profane for those who know how to see. On the contrary, everything is sacred.” Teilhard de Chardin
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Feast day October 17
Ignatius was a convert to Christianity. When he was named the second bishop of Antioch, Syria, Ignatius became a successor of Saint Peter. In 107, Emperor Trajan tried to force Christians to renounce their religion.
Ignatius allowed soldiers to bind him in a rickety cart and lead him to Rome for martyrdom. As his cart rolled into towns, local bishops and Christians came to meet and encourage him. His friend Saint Polycarp, the bishop of Smyrna, received him with great honor, because he saw Ignatius’s holiness.
On the journey, Ignatius wrote seven letters to the churches he left behind. The letters give insight into the growth of theology. Ignatius praised the love and support he experienced on his way to Rome. He insisted that the people obey their bishop and act only with his approval. “Wherever the bishop is, there let the people be, for there is the Catholic Church.” (Letter to the Church at Smyrna 8.1–2) Ignatius wrote that Christ was present in the Church, in each member, and in the Blessed Sacrament. Of himself, he said, “I am the wheat of Christ, may I be ground by the teeth of beasts to become the immaculate bread of Christ.” He asked his people to gather around the Eucharist and to care for “the widow, the orphan, the oppressed, as well as those in prison, the hungry and the thirsty.” (Letter to the Church at Smyrna 6.2) He called himself “the bearer of God.” Ignatius was devoured by wild beasts in the Roman amphitheater.
