MEMORIAL OF ST IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH, BISHOP AND MARTYR.
THE GOSPEL:
"At that time: So many people were crowding together that they were trampling one another underfoot.
Jesus began to speak, first to his disciples,
“Beware of the leaven—that is, the hypocrisy—of the Pharisees.
“There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed,
nor secret that will not be known.
Therefore whatever you have said in the darkness will be heard in the light, and what you have whispered behind closed doors will be proclaimed on the housetops.
I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body but after that can do no more.
I shall show you whom to fear.
Be afraid of the one who after killing has the power to cast into Gehenna; yes, I tell you, be afraid of that one.
Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins?
Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.” (Luke 12: 1 - 12).
Friday 17th October 2025 in the 27th Week in Ordinary Time is the feast of a giant of our faith:
St Ignatius of Antioch. (+ 107). Syrian. Bishop and Martyr.
Ordained Bishop by St Peter himself. He is Father of the Church. Ground to pieces by wild beasts under the persecution of Emperor Trajan.
Why is St Ignatius of Antioch pivotal in the history of the Church?
Anyone ordained Bishop by the Apostle Peter has a claim to fame. But for St Ignatius of Antioch, there are other reasons.
During his journey from Antioch to Rome under heavy armed guards, Ignatius composed seven extraordinary letters. These letters are the earliest authoritative teaching on the Eucharist, the hierarchy of the Church, etc.
Ignatius was torn to pieces by the iron teeth of wild beasts because he acknowledged Jesus Christ as Lord and Savior before Emperor Trajan.
Below is St Ignatius of Antioch in his own words, his quotes:
'Do not have Jesus Christ on your lips, and the world in your heart."
“Let me be food for the wild beasts for they are my way to God. I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread. Pray to Christ for me that the animals will be the means of making me a sacrificial victim for God.” (St Ignatius of Antioch).
In the Gospel of today, Our Master and Teacher touches a variety of topics.
What touches me most is:
"Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”
"Are not five sparrows sold for two small coins? Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
“Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”
The subject of Divine Providence is the sweetest doctrine in the entire Bible. It has no rival in the entire magisterium of Church teachings.
The Church Fathers, Doctors of the Church and countless Saints have amply added their reflections and writings to the elucidation of Divine Providence.
What is Divine Providence?
This is Divine Providence:
Five sparrows are sold for two small coins. Yet not one of them has escaped the notice of God.
Abba Father knows every single thing of the trillions of things He created.
He knows where they are. He gives each creature a name.
Each of these creatures worships Abba Father in its own way and Father delights in this worship.
"Even the hairs of your head have all been counted. Do not be afraid. You are worth more than many sparrows.”
We humans are created in God's image and likeness. We are created with immortal souls and are created to live with God forever.
If Father cares for sparrows and delights in sparrow worship, how much more you and me?
Here is what the Church teaches on DIVINE PROVIDENCE From the Catechism of the Catholic Church :
321 Divine providence consists of the dispositions by which God guides all his creatures with wisdom and love to their ultimate end.
322 Christ invites us to filial trust in the providence of our heavenly Father (cf.Mt 6:26-34), and St. Peter the apostle repeats: "Cast all your anxieties on him, for he cares about you" (I Pt 5:7; cf. Ps55:23).
323 Divine providence works also through the actions of creatures. To human beings God grants the ability to cooperate freely with his plans.
324 The fact that God permits physical and even moral evil is a mystery that God illuminates by his Son Jesus Christ who died and rose to vanquish evil. Faith gives us the certainty that God would not permit an evil if he did not cause a good to come from that very evil, by ways that we shall fully know only in eternal life."
For me, the best quote of the Catechism of the Catholic Church on Divine Providence is #303:
It states:
"The witness of Scripture is unanimous that the solicitude of divine providence is concrete and immediate; God cares for all, from the least things to the great events of the world and its history. The sacred books powerfully affirm God's absolute sovereignty over the course of events: 'Our God is in the heavens; he does whatever he pleases.' And so it is with Christ, 'who opens and no one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens.' As the book of Proverbs states: 'Many are the plans in the mind of a man, but it is the purpose of the LORD that will be established.'"
What does this mean? There are no accidents in life. No coincidences. Everything is Divine Providence.
“The Rosary is the most powerful weapon to touch the Heart of Jesus, Our Redeemer, who loves His Mother.” (St Louis Marie de Monfort).
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