We must bear with everything for God, so that he in turn may bear with us.

Treasures of Our Faith with Deacon Richard Vehige

On Friday of the Seventeenth Week in Ordinary Time our church invites us to reflect on a passage from the second letter of the apostle Paul to the Corinthians (11:30---12:13) entitled “Paul boasts of his weaknesses”. Our treasure, which follows, is from the beginning of a letter to Polycarp by Saint Ignatius of Antioch, bishop and martyr.

The Second Letter to the Corinthians is the most personal of all of Paul’s extant writings, and it reveals much about his character. In it he deals with one or more crises that have arisen in the Corinthian church. The confrontation with these problems caused him to reflect deeply on his relationship with the community and to speak about it frankly. One moment he is venting his feelings of frustration and uncertainty, the next he is pouring out his relief and affection. The importance of the issues at stake between them calls forth from him an enormous effort of personal persuasion, as well as doctrinal considerations that are of great value for us.

Saint Ignatius was a successor of Saint Peter as the bishop of Antioch. Condemned to death by being thrown to wild animals, he was brought to Rome for execution and was martyred there under the emperor Trajan in 107. On the journey to Rome he wrote seven letters to different churches. In these he discussed Christ, the structure of the Church, and the Christian life in a manner at once wise and learned. At Antioch, this day was observed in his memory as early as the fourth century.