Daily Inspiration

“Brothers and sisters: Hearing of your faith in the Lord Jesus and of your love for all the holy ones, I do not cease giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers, that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation resulting in knowledge of him. May the eyes of your hearts be enlightened, that you may know what is the hope that belongs to his call, what are the riches of glory in his inheritance among the holy ones, and what is the surpassing greatness of his power for us who believe, in accord with the exercise of his great might, which he worked in Christ, raising him from the dead and seating him at his right hand in the heavens, far above every principality, authority, power, and dominion, and every name that is named not only in this age but also in the one to come. And he put all things beneath his feet and gave him as head over all things to the Church, which is his Body, the fullness of the one who fills all things in every way.” —Ephesians 1:15-23

Born while Jesus walked the earth, St. Ignatius of Antioch, a disciple of St. John the Apostle, walked with the men who walked with Jesus. St. Peter and St. Paul laid hands on him and made him Bishop of Antioch (Turkey). If you have ever questioned the origin of the Catholic Church, then the writings of this saint hold the answers.

A scant few years after the Ascension of Our Lord, Jesus, St. Ignatius was already calling the one true Church Catholic (Universal). He strove to teach Jesus’ presence of flesh and blood, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Eucharist. His writings, along with those of his contemporary bishops, offer the clearest look inside the early Churches we read about in the New Testament letters to the Churches.

Three Ignatius quotes from three separate letters…but there is so much more for those willing to read.

“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, which is love incorruptible.”

“They abstain from the Eucharist and from prayer, because they do not confess that the Eucharist is the flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ, flesh which suffered for our sins and which the Father, in his goodness, raised up again.”

“Let that be deemed a proper Eucharist, which is administered either by the bishop, or by one to whom he has entrusted it.”

Watch today’s saint of the day video