The Martyrs of Georgia

Today the church honors the martyrs of Georgia.

Orate pro nobis.

In AD 1227, the Muslim Sultan Jalal al-Din Khwarazmshah and his army of Muslim Turks attacked Georgia. On the first day of the battle, the Georgian army valorously warded off the invaders as they were approaching the capital city of Tbilisi. That night, however, a group of Persians, who were long standing enemies, who were living in Tbilisi secretly opened the gates and summoned the enemy Muslim army into the city.

According to one manuscript, this most terrible day in Georgian history was described: “Words are powerless to convey the destruction that the enemy wrought: tearing infants from their mothers’ breasts, they beat their heads against the bridge, watching as their eyes dropped from their skulls....”

A river of blood flowed through the city. The Muslim Turks castrated young children, raped women, and stabbed mothers to death over their children’s lifeless bodies. The whole city shuddered at the sound of wailing and lamentation. The river and streets of the city were filled with death.

The sultan ordered that the cupola of Sioni Cathedral be taken down and replaced by his vile throne. And at his command the icons of the Theotokos and our Savior were carried out of Sioni Cathedral and placed at the center of the bridge across the Mtkvari River. The invaders goaded the people to the bridge, ordering them to cross it and spit on the holy icons. Those who betrayed the Christian Faith and mocked the icons were spared their lives, while the Orthodox confessors were beheaded.

One hundred thousand Georgians sacrificed their lives to venerate the holy icons. One hundred thousand severed heads and headless bodies were carried by the bloody current down the Mtkvari River.

Almighty God, who gave to your servants the Martyrs of Georgia boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for the true Faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs

Today, the Church honors Sts. Simon and Jude, Apostles and Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

St. Simon and St. Jude were both Apostles of Jesus.

Jude, also called Thaddeus, is so named by Luke in his Gospel and Acts of the Apostles (originally a single book, later divided). Matthew and Mark call him Thaddeus. He is not mentioned elsewhere individually in the Gospels, except where all the apostles are mentioned. Jude has the same name as Judas Iscariot. Evidently because of the disgrace of that name, it was later shortened to “Jude” in English translations of the Bible. In Church tradition, Jude is known for performing many miracles, and has a great following as “the saint of the impossible.” In Hebrew, his name is Yehudah, meaning “praised”, a popular name as it was the name of the founder of the tribe of Judah, Judah the son of Jacob and Leah, and by extension, the eponym of the Kingdom of Judah, the land of Judea, and the word Jew (Yehud). 

In all probability, he spoke both Greek and Aramaic, like almost all of his contemporaries, and was a farmer by trade.

At the Last Supper, Jude is mentioned specifically, asking Jesus: 

“Judas (not Iscariot) said to him, ‘Lord, how is it that you will reveal yourself to us, and not to the world?’ Jesus answered him, ‘Those who love me will keep my word, and my Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. Whoever does not love me does not keep my words; and the word that you hear is not mine, but is from the Father who sent me.

I have said these things to you while I am still with you. But the Advocate,the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you everything, and remind you of all that I have said to you. Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled, and do not let them be afraid.” (St. John 14:22-27)

Saint Jude is credited with writing the Letter of Jude, a very short epistle preceding the Book of Revelation. Jude’s letter is wrought with exhortation to remain faithful to Christ and avoid false teachers encouraging lust and corruption, leading to damnation. He challenges the faithful to showing mercy and correction of those who have gone astray, saying, “Have mercy on some who are wavering ... snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 22-23).

Saint Jude was very possibly a relative of our Lord, referenced in Acts 1:13 and Luke 6:16 as “son of James” (the Just, the “brother of Jesus”), as opposed to James, the son of Zebedee and brother of John. [“Son” of James could also be translated here as “brother”] James the Just was the son of Alphaeus (who was probably brother to St. Joseph, the husband of Mary); therefore Jude, whether son or brother to James, probably was a cousin of Jesus. According to tradition, Jude was the son of Clopas, the brother of Joseph, and Mary Cleophus. Traditionally, Alpheus and Clopas are the same man. Tradition also whas it that Jude's father, Clopas, was martyred because of his forthright and outspoken devotion to the risen Jesus.

Simon is mentioned on all four lists of the apostles. On two of them he is called “the Zealot.” The Zealots were a Jewish sect that represented an extreme of Jewish nationalism. For them, the messianic promise of the Old Testament meant that the Jews were to be a free and independent nation. God alone was their king, and any payment of taxes to the Romans—in effect participating and funding the domination of the Romans—was a blasphemy against God. No doubt some of the Zealots were the spiritual heirs of the Maccabees, carrying on their ideals of religion and independence. They were fierce freedom fighters, often extreme, in that they not only raided and killed the Roman occupiers but also  “collaborating” Jews. This would have put Simon at the opposite end of the political spectrum from Matthew, who, as a tax collector, was part of the Roman government. Only the love of Christ could unite two men who were so incredibly different. 

The Zealots were among the many militaristic independence groups whose guerrilla tactics were chiefly responsible for the rebellion against Rome which ended in the destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple in A.D. 70. Josephus wrote that 1.1 million people, the majority of them Jewish, were killed during the siege – a death toll he attributes to the masses having journeyed from around the Roman Empire and beyond for the celebration of Passover. Josephus goes on to report that after the Romans killed the armed and elderly people, 97,000 were enslaved. He goes on to say that of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 40,000 individuals survived, but were impoverished, injured, starving, and diseased, and the emperor let them to go wherever they chose, knowing that few would survive.

The most widespread tradition is that after proclaiming the gospel of Jesus in Egypt, Simon joined Jude in Persia and Armenia. In Beirut, Lebanon, both were martyred in 65 A.D.

O God, we thank you for the glorious company of the apostles, and especially on this day for Simon and Jude; and we pray that, as they were faithful and zealous in their mission to proclaim the gospel of Jesus to all peoples, so we may with ardent devotion make known the love and mercy of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

St. Frumentius, First Bishop of Ethiopia

Today the Church honors St. Frumentius, First Bishop of Ethiopia.

Ora pro nobis.

Frumentius (died c. AD 383) was a Phoenician Christian missionary and the first bishop of Axum who brought Christianity to the Kingdom of Aksum. He is sometimes known by other names, such as Abuna ("Our Father") and Aba Salama ("Father of Peace") by the Ethiopian Church.

According to the fourth-century historian Tyrannius Rufinus (x.9), who cites Frumentius' brother Aedesius as his authority, as children (ca. 316) Frumentius and Aedesius accompanied their uncle Meropius from their birthplace of Tyre on a voyage to Ethiopia. When their ship stopped at one of the harbors of the Red Sea, local people massacred the whole crew, sparing the two boys, who were taken as slaves to Ousanas, the King of Axum. The two boys soon gained the favor of the king, who raised them to positions of trust. Shortly before his death, the king freed them. The widowed queen Sofya, however, prevailed upon them to remain at the court and assist her in the education of the young heir, Ezana, and in the administration of the kingdom during the prince's minority. They remained and (especially Frumentius) used their influence to spread Christianity.

First they encouraged the Christian merchants present in the country to practice their faith openly, and they helped them find places "where they could come together for prayer according to the Roman Rite"; later they converted some of the Ethiopian people. When the prince came of age, Aedesius returned to Tyre, where he stayed and was ordained a priest. Frumentius, eager for the conversion of Ethiopia, accompanied his brother as far as Alexandria, where he requested Athanasius, Patriarch of Alexandria, to send a bishop and some priests as missionaries to Ethiopia. By Athanasius' own account, he believed Frumentius to be the most suitable person for the job and consecrated him as bishop, traditionally in the year AD 328, or according to others, between 340 and 346.

Frumentius returned to Ethiopia, where he erected his episcopal see at Axum, then converted and baptized King Ezana, who built many churches and spread Christianity throughout Ethiopia. Frumentius established the first monastery of Ethiopia, called Dabba Selama in Dogu'a Tembien. The people called Frumentius Kesate Birhan (Revealer of Light) and Abba Salama (Father of Peace). He became the first Abune, a title given to the head of the Ethiopian Church.

In about AD 356, the Emperor Constantius II wrote to King Ezana and his brother Saizana, requesting them to replace Frumentius as bishop with Theophilos the Indian, who supported the Arian position, as did the emperor. Frumentius had been appointed by Athanasius, a leading opponent of Arianism. The king refused the request.

Ethiopian traditions credit him with the first Ge'ez translation of the New Testament, and being involved in the development of Ge'ez script from an abjad (consonantal-only) into an abugida (syllabic).

Frumentius and Aedesius are considered the apostles of Ethiopia.

Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Frumentius, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with him attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

The Martyrs of Najran

Today the Church honors the Martyrs of Najran.

The existence of a Christian community in the city of Najran in present-day southwestern Saudi Arabia is attested by several historical sources of the Arabian Peninsula, where it recorded as having been created in the 5th century AD or perhaps a century earlier. According to the Arab Muslim historian Ibn Ishaq, Najran was the first place where Christianity took root in South Arabia.

The Martyr Arethas and with him 4299 Martyrs suffered for the Lord Jesus Christ in AD 524. Arethas was prefect of the Christian city of Najran in Arabia. The Arabian Himyarite king named Dhu Nuwas decided to eliminate Christianity from the land. He issued an edict that all followers of Christ were to be put to death.

Because the inhabitants of Najran remained faithful to the Lord, Dhu Nawas came with a large army to destroy the city. At the city walls of Negran the king’s heralds announced that Dhu Nawas would only spare those who renounced Christ and referred to His Cross as a "sign of malediction."

Not daring to assault the Christian city by force, Dhu Nawas resorted to a ruse. He swore an oath that he would not force the Christians to renounce the Faith, but would merely collect a tribute from Najran. The inhabitants of the city would not heed the advice of Saint Arethas, and putting their trust in Dhu Nawas, they opened the city gates.

The very next day Dhu Nawas gave orders to light an immense fire and throw all the clergy of the city into it in order to frighten the rest of the Christians. 427 men were burned alive. He also threw the prefect Arethas and the other chief men into prison. Then the oppressor sent his messengers through the city to convert the Christians to Judaism. Dhu Nawas himself conversed with those inhabitants brought from the prisons, saying, "I do not demand that you should renounce the God of heaven and earth, nor do I want you to worship idols, I want merely that you do not believe in Jesus Christ, since the Crucified One was a man, and not God."

The holy martyrs replied that Jesus is God the Word, the Second Person of the Holy Trinity, Who for the salvation of mankind was incarnate of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary. Those suffering said, "We shall not abjure Christ, since He is Life for us. To die for Him is to find Life."

One of the named martyrs was Syncletica and her two daughters. He summoned Saint Syncletica and her daughters before him, and in urging her to forsake her "folly," he promised as reward to take her into the retinue of his wife.

"How can you not be afraid, O King, to speak evil of Him Who has given you both royal crown and life?" replied the holy martyr.

Dhu Nawas gave orders to lead Saint Syncletica and her daughters through the city as though they were criminals. Women, looking on at the disgrace of the saint, started crying, but she told them that this "shame" for her was dearer than any earthly honor.

Again they brought the martyr before Dhu Nawas, and he said, "If you wish to remain alive, you must renounce Christ."

"If I do, then who will deliver me from eternal death?" the saint asked. In a rage, the tormentor ordered that Saint Syncletica’s daughters be killed first, and then for the mother to be beheaded with a sword.

More than four thousand Christians, men, women, both the aged and children, from the city of Najran and surrounding villages suffered martyrdom for Christ.

Almighty God, who gave to your servants the Martyrs of Najran boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

St. James the Just

Today, the Church honors St. James of Jerusalem, the brother of Jesus.

Ora pro nobis.

James the Just, or a variation of James, brother of the Lord, was an early leader of the Jerusalem Church of the Apostolic Age, to which Paul was also affiliated. He died in martyrdom in 62 or 69 AD. Eusebius records that Clement of Alexandria related, "This James, whom the people of old called the Just because of his outstanding virtue, was the first, as the record tells us, to be elected to the episcopal throne of the Jerusalem church." Other epithets are "James the brother of the Lord, surnamed the Just," and "James the Righteous." He is sometimes referred to in Eastern Christianity as "James Adelphotheos" (Greek: Ἰάκωβος ὁ Ἀδελφόθεος), James the Brother of God. The oldest surviving Christian liturgy, the Liturgy of St James, uses this epithet. 

The Jerusalem Church

The Jerusalem Church was an early Christian community located in Jerusalem, of which James and Peter were leaders. Paul was affiliated with this community, and took his central kerygma, as described in 1 Corinthians 15, from this community. 

According to Eusebius, the Jerusalem church escaped to Pella during the siege of Jerusalem by the future Emperor Titus in 70 AD and afterwards returned, having a further series of Jewish bishops until the Bar Kokhba revolt in 130 AD. Following the second destruction of Jerusalem and the rebuilding of the city as Aelia Capitolina, subsequent bishops were Greeks. He was the leader of the Church at Jerusalem and from the time when Peter left Jerusalem after Herod Agrippa's attempt to kill him, James appears as the principal authority who presided at Council of Jerusalem." 

The Pauline epistles and the later chapters of the Acts of the Apostles portray James as an important figure in the Christian community of Jerusalem. When Paul arrives in Jerusalem to deliver the money he raised for the faithful there, it is to James that he speaks, and it is James who insists that Paul ritually cleanse himself at Herod's Temple to prove his faith and deny rumors of teaching rebellion against the Torah (Acts 21:18ff). 

Paul describes James as being one of the persons to whom the risen Christ showed himself, and in Galatians 2:9, Paul lists James with Cephas (better known as Peter) and John the Apostle as the three "pillars" of the Church. Paul describes these Pillars as the ones who will minister to the "circumcised" (in general Jews and Jewish Proselytes) in Jerusalem, while Paul and his fellows will minister to the "uncircumcised" (in general Gentiles) (2:12), after a debate in response to concerns of the Christians of Antioch. The Antioch community was concerned over whether Gentile Christians need be circumcised to be saved, and sent Paul and Barnabas to confer with the Jerusalem church. James played a prominent role in the formulation of the council's decision. James was the last named figure to speak, after Peter, Paul, and Barnabas; he delivered what he called his "decision" (Acts 15:19 NRSV) – the original sense is closer to "opinion". He supported them all in being against the requirement (Peter had cited his earlier revelation from God regarding Gentiles) and suggested prohibitions about eating blood as well as meat sacrificed to idols and fornication. This became the ruling of the Council, agreed upon by all the apostles and elders and sent to the other churches by letter. 

Pauline epistles

Paul mentions meeting James "the Lord's brother" (τὸν ἀδελφὸν τοῦ κυρίου) and later calls him one of the pillars (στύλοι) in the Epistle to the Galatians (1:18-2:10). A "James" is mentioned in Paul's First Epistle to the Corinthians, 1Corinthians 15:7, as one to whom Jesus appeared after his resurrection.

Acts of the Apostles

There is a James mentioned in Acts, which the Catholic Encyclopedia identifies with James, the brother of Jesus (Acts 12:17), and when Peter, having miraculously escaped from prison, must flee Jerusalem due to Herod Agrippa's persecution, he asks that James be informed (Acts 12:17). 

James is also an authority in the early church at the Council of Jerusalem (Acts 15:13–21). After this, there is only one more mention of James in Acts, meeting with Paul shortly before Paul's arrest: "And when we were come to Jerusalem, the brethren received us gladly. And the day following Paul went in with us unto James; and all the elders were present. (Acts 21:17–18) 

Gospels

The Synoptic Gospels, similarly to the Epistle to the Galatians, recognize a core group of three disciples (Peter, John and James) having the same names as those given by Paul. In the list of the disciples found in the Gospels, two disciples whose names are James, the son of Alphaeus and James, son of Zebedee are mentioned in the list of the twelve disciples (Matthew 10:1–4). The Gospel of Mark and the Gospel of Matthew also mention a James as Jesus' brother. The Gospel of John never mentions anyone called James, but mentions Jesus' unnamed "brothers" as being present with Mary when Jesus attended the wedding at Cana (John 2:12), and later that his brothers did not believe in him (John 7:5). 

Church Fathers

Fragment X of Papias (writing in the 2nd century AD) refers to "James the bishop and apostle".

Hegesippus (2nd century AD), in the fifth book of his Commentaries, mentions that James was made a bishop of Jerusalem but he does not mention by whom: "After the apostles, James the brother of the Lord surnamed the Just was made head of the Church at Jerusalem." Hegesippus (c.110–c.180 AD), wrote five books (now lost except for some quotations by Eusebius) of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church. In describing James's ascetic lifestyle, Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History (Book II, 23) quotes Hegesippus' account of James from the fifth book of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church. 

Clement of Alexandria (late 2nd century) places James as one of the apostles by saying "The Lord after his resurrection imparted knowledge to James the Just and to John and Peter, and they imparted it to the rest of the apostles and the rest of the apostles to the seventy." Clement of Alexandria wrote in the sixth book of his Hypotyposes that James the Just was chosen as a bishop of Jerusalem by Peter, James (the Greater) and John: "For they say that Peter and James and John after the ascension of our Saviour, as if also preferred by our Lord, strove not after honor, but chose James the Just bishop of Jerusalem." But the same writer, in the seventh book of the same work, relates also the following concerning him: "The Lord after his resurrection imparted knowledge (gnōsin) to James the Just and to John and Peter, and they imparted it to the rest of the apostles, and the rest of the apostles to the seventy, of whom Barnabas was one." 

According to Eusebius (3rd/4th century AD) James was named a bishop of Jerusalem by the apostles: "James, the brother of the Lord, to whom the episcopal seat at Jerusalem had been entrusted by the apostles". Jerome wrote the same: "James... after our Lord's passion... ordained by the apostles bishop of Jerusalem..." and that James "ruled the church of Jerusalem thirty years". Epiphanius (4th century) , bishop of Salamis, wrote in his work The Panarion (AD 374-375) that "James, the brother of the Lord died in virginity at the age of ninety-six".

According to Jerome (4th century AD), James, the Lord’s brother, was an apostle, too; Jerome quotes Scriptures as a proof in his work "The Perpetual Virginity of Blessed Mary".

Relationship to Jesus, Mary, and Joseph

Jesus' brothers – James as well as Jude, Simon and Joses – are named in Matthew 13:55 and Mark 6:3 and mentioned elsewhere. James' name always appears first in lists, which suggests he was the eldest among them. In the passage in Josephus' Jewish Antiquities (20.9.1), he describes James as "the brother of Jesus who is called Christ." 

Interpretation of the phrase "brother of the Lord" and similar phrases is divided between those who believe that Mary had additional children after Jesus and those (Catholics, Eastern Orthodox, and some Protestants, such as many Anglicans and Lutherans) who hold the perpetual virginity of Mary. The only Catholic doctrine which has been defined regarding the "brothers of the Lord" is that they are not biological children of Mary; thus, Catholics do not consider them as siblings of Jesus. 

Death

According to Josephus James was stoned to death by Ananus ben Ananus. Clement of Alexandria relates that "James was thrown from the pinnacle of the temple, and was beaten to death with a club". Hegesippus cites that "the Scribes and Pharisees placed James upon the pinnacle of the temple, and threw down the just man, and they began to stone him, for he was not killed by the fall. And one of them, who was a fuller, took the club with which he beat out clothes and struck the just man on the head".

According to a passage found in existing manuscripts of Josephus' Antiquities of the Jews, (xx.9) "the brother of Jesus, who was called Christ, whose name was James" met his death after the death of the procurator Porcius Festus but before Lucceius Albinus had assumed office (Antiquities 20,9) – which has been dated to 62 AD. The High Priest Hanan ben Hanan (Anani Ananus in Latin) took advantage of this lack of imperial oversight to assemble a Sanhedrin (although the correct translation of the Greek synhedrion kriton is "a council of judges"), who condemned James "on the charge of breaking the law", then had him executed by stoning. Josephus reports that Hanan's act was widely viewed as little more than judicial murder and offended a number of "those who were considered the most fair-minded people in the City, and strict in their observance of the Law", who went so far as to arrange a meeting with Albinus as he entered the province in order to petition him successfully about the matter. In response, King Agrippa II replaced Ananus with Jesus son of Damneus. 

The Early Church Father Origen, who consulted the works of Josephus in around 248 AD, related an account of the death of James, an account which gave it as a cause of the Roman siege of Jerusalem, something not found in our current manuscripts of Josephus. 

Eusebius wrote that "the more sensible even of the Jews were of the opinion that this (James' death) was the cause of the siege of Jerusalem, which happened to them immediately after his martyrdom for no other reason than their daring act against him. Josephus, at least, has not hesitated to testify this in his writings, where he says, «These things happened to the Jews to avenge James the Just, who was a brother of Jesus, that is called the Christ. For the Jews slew him, although he was a most just man.»" Eusebius, while quoting Josephus' account, also records otherwise lost passages from Hegesippus and Clement of Alexandria (Historia Ecclesiae, 2.23). 

Hegesippus' account varies somewhat from what Josephus reports and may be an attempt to reconcile the various accounts by combining them. According to Hegesippus, the scribes and Pharisees came to James for help in putting down Christian beliefs. 

Vespasian's siege and capture of Jerusalem delayed the selection of Simeon of Jerusalem to succeed James. 

Grant, O God, that, following the example of your servant James the Just, brother of our Lord Jesus Christ, your Church may give itself continually to prayer and to the reconciliation of all who are at variance and enmity; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. 

Amen.

Render unto God

Fr. Troy Beecham

A Sermon, Proper 24 A, 2023

Matthew 22:15-22

“The Pharisees went and plotted to entrap Jesus in what he said. So they sent their disciples to him, along with the Herodians, saying, “Teacher, we know that you are sincere, and teach the way of God in accordance with truth, and show deference to no one; for you do not regard people with partiality. Tell us, then, what you think. Is it lawful to pay taxes to the emperor, or not?” But Jesus, aware of their malice, said, “Why are you putting me to the test, you hypocrites? Show me the coin used for the tax.” And they brought him a denarius. Then he said to them, “Whose head is this, and whose title?” They answered, “The emperor’s.” Then he said to them, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s.” When they heard this, they were amazed; and they left him and went away.”

In the Gospel readings for the previous several weeks,  Jesus has been teaching in the Temple. The Sadducee Temple officials, who sought to turn the people against Jesus because He publicly called their authority over the Temple invalid due to their many abuses of the poor and because they were not priests of the line of Aaron, questioned His authority to do “these things”, that is, his authoritative teaching of the Torah and Prophets, as well as his miracles. Jesus declines to answer their repeated questions about where he derives his authority to teach and power to perform miracles. He declines because any answer He gave would be twisted and used against Him because of their lack of true faith, the kind of faith that would transform them upon hearing His words. Last Sunday we read and explored the parable of the Wedding Feast, a parable which the Pharisees saw as an attack on them, as evidenced by their actions following their interaction with Jesus.

In this Gospel passage, the Pharisees, acting on behalf of the Sadducees, are joined by Herodians, who were those people who supported the rule of Herod and his successors, the client kings of the Roman Empire, and by the Zealots, a militant religious sect who claimed that God’s people should not be subject to pagan Gentiles and who were attempting to raise an armed rebellion against Rome. In every other aspect of life, these four groups were enemies, but now they had become united in purpose in their desire to get rid of Jesus: because He either threatened to disrupt the Herodian’s legitimacy to rule and maintain their corrupt lives, as had John the Baptist; or because He threatened the Pharisee’s claim to be the sole authorities on the interpretation and teaching of the Torah and Prophets; because He said the Sadducees had not Biblical authority over the Temple; or because He performed miracles for Roman occupiers as freely as He did for Jews, which outraged the Zealots. The many powerful forces at play in Israel, each despising the other and each wanting to be in power over Israel, became partners in a common cause to destroy the One who threatened to expose them all as acting against God and His Son sent to save the world. 

As they approach him to engage in debate, they use language that gives the appearance of respect for him, when in fact they were trying to entrap him so that they could denounce him to the Roman and Temple authorities. The question they bring to Jesus in this passage was a subject of great debate in Jewish circles at the time that had both religious and civic repercussions: should faithful Jews pay the annual census tax to Rome? The census tax was different from other taxes in that it was a tax that went directly to the emperor’s personal treasury, and had to be paid using a specific coin bearing the image and titles of the emperor. Ordinary taxes are covered in the Torah as a common part of life, and though they may have chafed under all taxes, the census tax was a particularly thorny question. Opinions on paying taxes to Rome varied at the time depending on whether you were coming from a religious background or a civic. But this tax was a special case because it involved possible participation in idolatry because of having to handle a coin with a graven image and blasphemous words. 

As in other such encounters, Jesus sees through their plot; He calls them hypocrites for pretending to respect Him while actually intending to discredit Him. It’s an interesting side-note that the Greek word “hypocrite” was the word used for stage actors. Jesus is telling them that they are being used as puppets by those with power to act against God, and ultimately their own best interests, when they believe that they are acting for God. He doesn’t just call them out to shame them, but to invite them into true a dialogue with Him that has the possibility of leading them to true faith. He knows that this is simply stage play pretending to be honest debate with the desire to learn. If Jesus says “yes, Jews must pay the census tax”, the Zealots and other Jews hostile to Rome, who had been hoping that Jesus would be their Messianic military leader, will turn against him, which in fact they eventually do. If Jesus says “no, Jews ought not to pay the emperor’s census tax”, he risks being arrested for inciting rebellion against Rome, which was one way for the Pharisees, Herodians, and the Sadducees to get rid of their opponents. It’s a sad reality, then as now, that the desire for power over others is as present in secular politics and life today as they are in the Temple or the Church. This same lust for power, masquerading as righteousness, is an ever present evil in all human politics and even in the Church, which calls for much wisdom and discernment on all our parts, wisdom that can only come from God. 

Part of the stage acting, for the sake of the common people who would no doubt be intently listening, can be seen in their saying, “for you do not regard people with partiality.” The Greek literally translates as “for you do not look upon the face of a man.” This literal translation is interesting and important because this attempt at entrapment involves the face of the emperor on a coin. Time and again, they had tried to entrap Him, which was forbidden by the Torah, and they have failed yet again in one of their most devious and coordinated attempts. In fact, it shows up at the trial of Jesus when the Temple authorities and Sanhedrin cite this encounter as indemnification of Jesus to Pilate. When Jesus asks, “Whose head (image) is this, and whose title?” the key issue for His enemies is that the emperor’s head is inscribed on the coin as well as his blasphemous titles. For Jesus, it is just a coin. What is truly at stake is their souls, and ours. 

For non-Jews, we may miss the vital connection that Jesus wants us to make, that God makes each one of us in His image. This coin may bear Caesar’s image, but you and I bear God’s image in our soul. So Jesus reframes the question, requiring them to court idolatry and blasphemy: what does it mean to render unto the emperor or God? The emperor may get a few of these coins, but God requires us to give ourselves. The ultimate question, the real question, Jesus asks is “who has ultimate sovereignty over us, the emperor or God, and whose purposes are we meant to serve, God, the state, or the Temple/Church”? For Roman listeners, they hear Jesus say that taxes should be paid. But for some Jewish listeners, who will immediately hear his referring to our being made in the image of God in Genesis 1, this places his religious peers in a bind: are they going to continue in this charade or will they hear the voice of God and repent?

His answer includes the word “give”, which in Greek can also mean give back or repay. This again redirects their question in a subtle way, taking the encounter from a question about the authority of Rome to the authority of God. Reframing the question in this manner forced his Jewish peers to accept that there were larger implications to what they thought was a narrow question, that this encounter was not about taxes but about a deeper faithfulness to God and recognizing that God was sitting there with them in Jesus.  For Jews and Christians, we believe ultimately that God created all things, and that all we have is given to us by God; all that we are and have comes from God and belongs to God. We owe everything to him. This change of direction in the encounter invites them, and us,  to remember this, and acknowledge the often difficult teaching that all human authority is, in some manner, appointed or allowed by God. Jesus seems to accept the status quo as the lesser of two evils, either being ruled by Rome or descend into a war that the Jews cannot hope to win, which is what sadly happens only a few decades after His crucifixion, resurrected , and ascension. He does not accept the Roman emperor or the Roman state’s claim to be divine, but teaches that God’s domain is greater than that of all emperors, kingdoms, states, and the Temple/Church, and that God’s kingdom will come on a day of God’s choosing. (St. Paul later uses similar logic in his Letter to the Romans 13:7 as part of a passage in which Paul says that administrators are sanctioned by God, as does St. Peter in his Letter, 1 Peter 2:17.)

In practical terms, Jesus sidesteps an obvious ploy: rather than holding the coin and pointing out what is objectionable about it, He has one of them hold the coin, which had the image of the emperor on one side and on  the obverse side of the coin is inscribed Tiberius Caesar, son of the divine Augustus, great high priest. Simply touching such a coin was an affront to his fellow Jews, as it was idolatrous and blasphemous, and would make anyone touching it ritually unclean, and He manages to have them hold the coin rather than touching it Himself because they are so intent on trapping Him that they forget themselves. Jesus’ wise answer, “Give therefore to the emperor the things that are the emperor’s, and to God the things that are God’s”, and his forcing them to hold the offending coin without realizing what they were doing because their sole focus was on entrapping him rather than seeking wisdom from God, left his opponents “amazed”, literally gaping with their mouths wide open in astonishment. They are shamed in front of all the people in the Temple, and their desire to destroy Him only intensifies. The most important question, Jesus says, is “Who is really in charge of the world and the human family?”

In the end, this is the question: who is in charge of your life? Yes, we are all subject to the powers of this world, for now, and held captive by governments ruled by human greed and the desire for the power to rule over others, and often by a Church internally embroiled in human politics and interested more in power than the Gospel. But only for now. God promises that the age of the world in which we now live, which we must endure with faith, hope, and love, and strive to bring some part of the kingdom of God into being through the Holy Spirit, will come to an end. God promises to create a new heaven and earth, a conjoined reality in which there will no longer be any evil, suffering, or wickedness. We will finally one day be free from the spiritual powers of darkness and from our own desires to be gods with the power of life and death over each other in our hands. That day is coming, says Jesus and the Jewish Prophets. We have only to endure through hope and faith, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Until that day, as St. Paul says in his Letter to the Galatians 6:10, “Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers”, and “therefore encourage one another and build each other up, just as in fact you are doing.” 

Let us leave behind the coarse discourse of our time, the falling apart into factions, of desiring to rule over each other, and win no matter the cost. The price for these is too high, drawing our entire focus away from God. Instead, may our words and actions with each other show the truth of the Christian Faith, and that God is in control and is working out all things for our mutual good. As St. Paul tells us in his Letter to the Philippians 4:8, “Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things”. 

Sisters and brothers in Jesus, pray that our words and actions may always show forth the sovereignty and the love of God in Jesus our Savior, so that all those who are not yet part of the mystical Body of Jesus through Holy baptism and through true faith may come at last into His loving arms and be saved. 

Almighty and everlasting God, in Jesus you have revealed your glory among the nations: Preserve the works of your mercy, that your Church throughout the world may persevere with steadfast faith in the confession of your Name; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

St. Usthazanes and Companions, Martyrs

Today the Church honors St. Usthazanes and Companions, Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

St. Usthazanes was a monk in late 3rd-4th c. Persia. He was also the Abbot of his monastery.  He is numbered among the Martyrs of Persia under Shapur II, who were a group of Assyrian Christian martyrs put to death by Shapur II of Persia (r. 309–379) for refusing to renounce the Christian Faith. 

Shapur II severely persecuted the Christians of the Persian empire from AD 339 until his death in 379. This was in part a response to the increasing Christianization of the Roman Empire, the fierce enemies of Persia, making all Christians suspected traitors. This was confirmed in his mind when St. Shimun Bar Sabbae, bishop of Seleucia-Ctesiphon, was accused of being in secret correspondence with the Roman emperor. In total, it is estimated that Shapur martyred roughly 200,000 Persian Christians. They are remembered as a group in the Roman and Orthodox calendars. The Roman Martyrology gives feast days of 6 April, 22 April and 9 May for different groups. Some individuals we know by name and they are honored with their own feast days. 

St. Usthazanes is one such saint and martyr. Little is known about his life except that he was a monk and abbot. As part of the sweeping persecution of Christians, St. Usthazanes was tortured and executed with 12 of his brother monks at Ishtar in AD 341.

In “The Ecclesiastical History of Sozomen : comprising a history of the Church from A.D. 324 to A.D. 440” (written c. AD 349-350), he records the story of the martyrdom of St. Usthazanes, his fellow monks, and nearly 100 other clergy:

“In this manner the honorable life of Usthazanes was terminated, and when the intelligence was brought to Symeon in the prison, he offered thanksgiving to God on his account. The following day, which happened to be the sixth day of the week, and likewise the day on which, as immediately preceding the festival of the resurrection, the annual memorial of the passion of the Saviour is celebrated, the king issued orders for the decapitation of Symeon; for he had again been conducted to the palace from the prison, had reasoned most nobly with Sapor on points of doctrine, and had expressed a determination never to worship either the king or the sun. On the same day a hundred other prisoners were ordered to be slain. Symeon beheld their execution, and last of all he was put to death. Amongst these victims were bishops, presbyters, and other clergy of different grades. As they were being led out to execution, the chief of the Magi approached them, and asked them whether they would preserve their lives by conforming to the religion of the king and by worshiping the sun. As none of them would comply with this condition, they were conducted to the place of execution, and the executioners applied themselves to the task of slaying these martyrs. Symeon, standing by those who were to be slain, exhorted them to constancy, and reasoned concerning death, and the resurrection, and piety, and showed them from the sacred Scriptures that a death like theirs is true life; whereas to live, and through fear to deny God, is as truly death. He told them, too, that even if no one were to slay them, death would inevitably overtake them; for our death is a natural consequence of our birth. The things after those of this life are perpetual, and do not happen alike to all men; but as if measured by some rule, they must give an accurate account of the course of life here. Each one who did well, will receive immortal rewards and will escape the punishments of those who did the opposite. He likewise told them that the greatest and happiest of all good actions is to die for the cause of God. While Symeon was pursuing such themes, and like a household attendant, was exhorting them about the manner in which they were to go into the conflicts, each one listened and spiritedly went to the slaughter. After the executioner had despatched a hundred, Symeon himself was slain; and Abedechalaas and Anannias, two aged presbyters of his own church, who had been his fellow-prisoners, suffered with him.”

Almighty God, who gave to your servant Usthazanes and Companions boldness to confess the Name of our Savior Jesus Christ before the rulers of this world, and courage to die for this faith: Grant that we may always be ready to give a reason for the hope that is in us, and to suffer gladly for the sake of our Lord Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

The Martyrs of Canada

Today the Church honors the Martyrs of Canada, also known as the Martyrs of North America. 

Orate pro nobis.

Toward the end of his reign, Henry IV of France started to look at the possibility of ventures abroad, with both North America and the Levant being among the possibilities. In 1604, the French explorer Samuel de Champlain initiated the first important French involvement in North America. He founded Port Royal as the first permanent European settlement in North America north of Florida in 1605, and the first permanent French establishment at Quebec in 1608.

The first Jesuit mission in North America was established on Penobscot Bay in 1609, which was part of the French colony of Acadia; a second in 1611 in Terre-Neuve (Newfoundland); and a third mission was built on Mount Desert Island (an island off of Maine)in 1613, all of which failed. The Jesuits conceived plans to move their efforts to the banks of the Saint-Laurent river. A fourth mission was established in 1625, made by Fathers Charles Lalemant (as Superior), Enemond Massé, Jean de Brébeuf, and assistants François Charton and Gilbert Buret. This mission also failed following the occupation of Quebec by English forces in 1629. It was not until until 1632, with the arrival of the Jesuit Paul Le Jeune, that the fifth Jesuit mission found long-term stability. Between 1632 and 1650, 46 French Jesuits arrived in North America to preach the Gospel of Jesus among the First Nations peoples of Quebec and Canada.

This is the story of the fifth mission. Jesuit missionaries worked among the Huron (Wendat), an Iroquoian-speaking people who occupied territory in the Georgian Bay area of Central Ontario. (They were not part of the Iroquois Confederacy, initially made up of five tribes south and east of the Great Lakes.) The area of their traditional territory is called Huronia. The Huron in this area were farmers, fishermen and traders who lived in villages surrounded by defensive wooden palisades for protection. Sainte-Marie among the Hurons was the headquarters for the French Jesuit Mission to the Huron Wendat people.

By the late 1640s, the Jesuits believed they were making progress in their mission to the Huron, and claimed to have made many converts. But, the priests were not universally trusted. Many Huron considered them to be malevolent shamans who brought death and disease wherever they travelled, and they were right. After European contact, the Huron had suffered epidemics of smallpox and other Eurasian infectious diseases. By 1640, nearly half the Huron had died of smallpox and the losses disrupted their society. Many children and elders died. With their loved ones dying before their eyes, many Huron began to listen to the words of Jesuit missionaries who, unaffected by the disease, appeared to be men of great power.

The nations of the Iroquois Confederacy considered the Jesuits legitimate targets of their raids and warfare, as the missionaries were nominally allies of the Huron and French fur traders. Retaliating for French colonial attacks against the Iroquois was also a reason for their raids against the Huron and Jesuits. When the Jesuits in France decided to begin a new mission to bring the Gospel of Jesus to the indigenous peoples of New France, or present-day Canada, the newly ordained Fr. Jean de Brébeuf (b. 1593 – d. 1649) was ready. Already in his youth, he had made a vow never to refuse martyrdom if it came; and he knew that in this distant land full of vast forests, snow and warring tribes, it might come. He arrived in the territory of the Huron (Wendat) people in 1626. For twenty years he labored among this people, living with them, compiling the first dictionary of their language, and writing a catechism in Wendat. Echon, or “he who carries a heavy load,” the Hurons called him. Some of them accepted baptism.

�Gradually, others joined the mission: the Jesuits Fr. Isaac Jogues (b. 1607–d. 1646), Fr. Gabriel Lalement (b. 1610–d. 1649); Fr. Antoine Daniel (b. 1601–d. 1648); Fr. Charles Garnier (b. 1606–d. 1649); Fr. Noël Chabanel (b. 1616–d. 1649); the deaf lay brother René Goupil (b. 1609-d. 1642); and layman Jean de la Lande (d. 1646). 

All were martyred, caught in the turbulent decades of European powers attempting to establish colonies in North America and the First Nations peoples fighting to keep their lands and freedom.

The Iroquois Confederacy was at war with the Hurons and saw the French missionaries as allies of their enemies. In 1642, an Iroquois war party captured Fr. Isaac Jogues and René Goupil, taking them to the Mohawk village of Ossernenon (present-day Auriesville, New York). The first of all the martyrs to suffer death was Rene Goupil, who was tomahawked to the head on September 29, 1642, for having made the Sign of the Cross on the brow of some children. This Rene Goupil was a remarkable man. He had tried hard to be a Jesuit and had even entered the Novitiate, but his health forced him to give up the attempt. He then studied surgery and found his way to Canada, where he offered his services to the missionaries, whose fortitude he emulated. 

Fr. Jogues was tortured, several of his fingers cut off so that he could not celebrate Mass. Fr. Jogues was a slave for over a year, but eventually was ransomed by a Dutch Protestant pastor and returned to France, where he received a dispensation allowing him to celebrate Mass with mutilated hands. Torture could not dissuade him from the mission, however, and he returned to New France. In 1646, Fr. Jogues returned to Ossernenon with Jean de la Lande, attempting to negotiate a peace treaty; both were captured and killed.

Fr. Antoine Daniel, who had a gift for teaching Huron children and for music, was the next, and first priest, to be martyred. In 1634 Daniel travelled to Wendake with Frs. Jean de Brébeuf and Daoust. Daniel studied the Wendat (Huron) language and made rapid progress. He translated the Lord's Prayer, the Creed and other prayers into the Huron native tongue and set them to music. For two years, in what is now Quebec, he had charge of a school for Huron boys. He returned to Huronia in 1638 to relieve Fr. Brébeuf at the new mission.

He returned to Teanaostaye, the chief town of the Huron, in July 1648. Shortly thereafter on 4 July, the Iroquois made a sudden attack on the mission while most of the Huron men were away in Quebec trading. Fr. Daniel rallied the defenders. Before the palisades had been scaled, he hurried to the chapel where the women, children, and old men were gathered. He gave them general absolution and, immersing his handkerchief in a bowl of water, he shook it over them, baptizing the catechumens by aspersion. Fr. Daniel, still in his vestments, took up a cross and walked toward the advancing Iroquois. The Iroquois halted for a moment, then fired on him. They put Daniel's body into the chapel, which they had set on fire. Many of the Huron escaped during this incident. Father Ragueneau, his superior, wrote of him in a letter to the Superior General of the Jesuits as "a truly remarkable man, humble, obedient, united with God, of never failing patience and indomitable courage in adversity."

�Frs. Jean de Brébeuf and Gabriel Lalemant were kidnapped in the present-day province of Québec the following year, after managing to warn some of the Huron villagers that Iroquois warriors were near. The martyrdom that Fr. de Brébeuf had vowed not to escape had come, and it was interminable. The two were made to run the gauntlet, and in mockery of the Christian Faith were tied to crosses, “baptized” with boiling water, and slashed with knives. Throughout the ordeal, Fr. de Brébeuf in particular prayed for the courage to suffer without crying out, for the sake of the warriors inflicting these sufferings. They valued courage, and he did not want them to think that Christians were weak. So impressed were they that when he died, they ate his heart so as to obtain a share in his bravery.

�Fr. Lalement had to watch as his confrere was killed first. “My strength is the strength of God,” he had once written, and this strength carried him through to the end.�

Frs. Charles Garnier and Noël Chabanel were killed later in the same year. Fr. Garnier reached the colony of New France in June 1636. He travelled immediately to the Huron mission with fellow Jesuit Pierre Chastellain. By early August, he had arrived among the Nipissings. He served for the rest of his life as a missionary among the Huron, never returning to France. The Huron nicknamed him Ouracha, or "rain-giver", after his arrival was followed by a drought-ending rainfall. He was greatly influenced by fellow missionary Fr. Jean de Brébeuf, and was known as the "lamb" to Brebeuf's "lion". From 1641 to 1646 Garnier was at the Saint-Joseph mission.

There were raids between Iroquois and Huron forces. When he learned that Brébeuf and Lalemant were killed in March 1649 by Iroquois after a raid on a Huron village, Garnier knew he too might soon die. On December 7, 1649, he was killed by musket fire from the Iroquois during an attack on the Petun village where he was living.

These deaths of these eight missionaries seemed like brutal failure after the sacrifices these men had endured for the mission. But God does not see as man sees. Later, Isaac Jogues’ killer would ask for baptism. And in Ossernenon, the same village where Isaac Jogues, René Goupil, and Jean de la Lande were killed, Kateri Tekakwitha, a Mohawk woman who became the first Native American saint, would be born only ten years later. Today, the Catholic Church in North America acknowledges these eight men as the small, suffering seed from which it sprang.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy Martyrs of Canada triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember them in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with them the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. 

Amen.

St. Luke the Evangelist

Today the Church honors St. Luke the Evangelist.

Ora pro nobis.

The Holy Apostle and Evangelist Luke, was a native of Syrian Antioch, a companion of the holy Apostle Paul (Phil.1:24, 2 Tim. 4:10-11), and a physician enlightened in the Greek medical arts. Orthodox tradition holds that after hearing about Jesus, Luke traveled to Israel and fervently accepted the preaching of salvation from the Lord Himself. As one of the Seventy Apostles, Saint Luke was sent by the Lord with the others to preach the Kingdom of Heaven during the Savior’s earthly life (Luke 10:1-3). According to Orthodox tradition, after the Resurrection, Saint Luke (and Cleopas) was one of the two disciples to whom the Lord Jesus Christ appeared on the road to Emmaus.

Saint Luke’s Gospel was written in the years AD 62-63 at Rome, under the guidance of the Apostle Paul. In the preliminary verses (1:1-3), Saint Luke precisely sets forth the purpose of his work. He proposes to record, in chronological order, everything known by Christians about Jesus Christ and His teachings. By doing this, he provided a firmer historical basis for Christian teaching (1:4). He carefully investigated the facts, and made generous use of the oral tradition of the Church and of what Mary herself had told him (2:19, 51). Luke explains his inspiration for writing in his introduction to the Gospel: "Since many have undertaken to set down an orderly account of the events that have been fulfilled among us, just as they were handed on to us by those who from the beginning were eyewitnesses and servants of the word, I too decided, after investigating everything carefully from the very first, to write an orderly account for you, most excellent Theophilus" (Luke 1:1-3).

Luke is commonly thought to be the only non-Jewish New Testament writer. It is also possible that he was a Hellenized Jew, which would account for what seems is his approach to writing as if he is an outsider. His writings place the life of Christ and the development of the early Church in the larger context of the Roman Empire and society. On the other hand, his writings are focused on Jerusalem and on the Temple. His Gospel begins and ends in the Temple, and chapters nine through nineteen portray Jesus as journeying from Galilee to Jerusalem. Similarly, the Book of Acts describes the Church in Jerusalem (and worshipping in the Temple) and then describes the missionary journeys of Paul as excursions from and returns to Jerusalem.

In Saint Luke’s Gospel, the message of the salvation made possible by the Lord Jesus Christ, and the preaching of the Gospel, are of primary importance. Luke's gospel shows special sensitivity to evangelizing Gentiles. It is only in his gospel that we hear the parable of the Good Samaritan, that we hear Jesus praising the faith of Gentiles such as the widow of Zarephath and Naaman the Syrian (Lk.4:25-27), and that we hear the story of the one grateful leper who is a Samaritan (Lk.17:11-19).

Luke's unique perspective on Jesus can be seen in the six miracles and eighteen parables not found in the other gospels. In Luke's Gospel, we find an emphasis on the human love of Christ, on His compassion for sinners and for suffering and unhappy persons, for outcasts such as the Samaritans, tax collectors, lepers, shepherds (not a respected profession), and for the poor. He is the only one who tells the parable of Lazarus and the Rich Man who ignored him. Only Luke records the parable of the Good Samaritan.

Luke also has a special connection with the women in Jesus' life, especially Mary. It is only in Luke's gospel that we hear the story of the Annunciation, Mary's visit to Elizabeth including the Magnificat, the Presentation of Jesus in the Temple and prophetess Anna, and the story of Jesus' disappearance in Jerusalem at age 12. Only in Luke's gospel do we hear Mary 's Magnificat where she proclaims that God "has brought down the powerful from their thrones, and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things, and sent the rich away empty" (Luke 1:52-53) when she goes to visit her cousin Elizabeth, who was pregnant with St. John the Baptist.

Forgiveness and God's mercy to sinners is also of first importance to Luke. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the Prodigal Son welcomed back by the overjoyed father. Only in Luke do we hear the story of the forgiven woman disrupting the feast by washing Jesus' feet with her tears. Throughout Luke's gospel, Jesus takes the side of the sinner who wants to return to God's mercy. Reading Luke's gospel gives a good idea of his character as one who loved the poor, who wanted the door to God's kingdom opened to all, who respected women, and who saw hope in God's mercy for everyone.

Saint Luke also wrote the Acts of the Holy Apostles at Rome around 62-63 A.D. The Book of Acts, which was originally part of his Gospel, speaks about the works and the fruits of the holy Apostles after the Ascension of the Savior. At the center of the narrative is the Council of the holy Apostles at Jerusalem in the year AD 51, a Church event of great significance, which resulted in allowing Gentiles to become disciples of Jesus without (for men) having to undergo circumcision and living under the Judaic ritual laws. This momentous decision led to the proliferation of Gentile Christians and the beginning of missionary activity in the Gentile world (Acts 15:6-29). The theological focus of the Book of Acts is the coming of the Holy Spirit, Who will guide the Church "into all truth" (John 16:13) until the Second Coming of Christ.

We have to go to Acts to follow the trail of Luke's Christian ministry following the Council of Jerusalem. We know nothing about his conversion, but looking at the language of Acts we can see where he joined Saint Paul. The story of the Acts is written in the third person, as an historian recording facts, up until the sixteenth chapter. In Acts 16:8-9 we hear of Paul's company "So, passing by Mysia, they went down to Troas. During the night Paul had a vision: there stood a man of Macedonia pleading with him and saying, 'Come over to Macedonia and help us.' " Then suddenly in 16:10 "they" becomes "we": "When he had seen the vision, we immediately tried to cross over to Macedonia, being convinced that God had called us to proclaim the good news to them."

So Luke first joined Paul's company at Troas at about the year AD 51 and accompanied him into Macedonia where they traveled first to Samothrace, Neapolis, and finally Philippi. Luke then switches back to the third person which seems to indicate he was not thrown into prison with Paul and that when Paul left Philippi, Luke stayed behind to encourage the Church there.

Seven years passed before Paul returned to the area on his third missionary journey. In Acts 20:5, the switch to "we" tells us that Luke has left Philippi to rejoin Paul in Troas in AD 58 where they first met up. They traveled together through Miletus, Tyre, Caesarea, and then to Jerusalem. Luke is the loyal comrade who stays with Paul when he is imprisoned in Rome about the year AD 61: "Epaphras, my fellow prisoner in Christ Jesus, sends greetings to you, and so do Mark, Aristarchus, Demas, and Luke, my fellow workers" (Philemon 24). And after everyone else deserts Paul in his final imprisonment and sufferings, it is Luke who remains with Paul to the end: "Only Luke is with me" (2 Timothy 4:11).

The reports of Luke's life after Paul's death are conflicting. Some early writers claim he was martyred, others say he lived a long life. Some say he preached in Greece, others in Gaul. The earliest tradition we have says that he died as a martyr at the age of 84 in Boeotia after settling in Greece to write his Gospel. Orthodox tradition holds that after the martyric death of the Apostles Peter and Paul, Saint Luke left Rome to preach in Achaia, Libya, Egypt and the Thebaid. He ended his life by suffering martyrdom in the city of Thebes.

Almighty God, who called Luke the Physician, whose praise is in the Gospel, to an Evangelist, and Physician of the soul: May it please thee that, by the wholesome medicines of the doctrine delivered by him, all the diseases of our souls may be healed; through the merits of thy Son our Savior, Jesus Christ our Lord.

Amen.

St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Today, the Church honors St. Ignatius of Antioch, Bishop and Martyr

Ora pro nobis.

Ignatius, along with the other Apostolic Fathers, is a precious link to the Apostles. For the Christians of the first and early second centuries, Christianity was like an explosion of light not only in the world but in their lives. It was new life, something so unexpected and undeserved that, persecutions notwithstanding, all they could do was praise.

Ignatius of Antioch (c. 35 – c. 107 AD), also known as Ignatius Theophorus ("the God-bearing") or Ignatius Nurono (lit. "The fire-bearer"), was an early Christian writer and the third bishop of Antioch and Pope of the Syrian Church (Saint Peter was the first bishop and Pope of Antioch before he went to Rome, then was followed by Evodius). Ignatius was arrested in a local persecution of Christians, and was sent to Rome for trial and punishment. En route to Rome, where he met his martyrdom, Ignatius wrote a series of letters. This correspondence now forms a central part of the later collection known as the Apostolic Fathers. His letters also serve as an example of early Christian theology. Important topics they address include ecclesiology, the sacraments, and the role of bishops.

Nothing is known of Ignatius' early life apart from what may be inferred internally from his letters. It is said Ignatius converted to Christianity at a young age. Tradition identifies Ignatius, along with his friend Polycarp, as disciples of John the Apostle. Theodoret of Cyrrhus claimed that St. Peter himself left directions that Ignatius be appointed to the episcopal see of Antioch. Ignatius called himself Theophorus (God Bearer). A tradition arose that he was one of the children whom Jesus took in his arms and blessed.

Ignatius' own writings mention his arrest by the authorities and travel to Rome to face trial:

From Syria even to Rome I fight with wild beasts, by land and sea, by night and by day, being bound amidst ten leopards, even a company of soldiers, who only grow worse when they are kindly treated.

— Ignatius to the Romans, 5.

Ignatius' transfer to Rome is regarded by scholars as unusual, since those persecuted as Christians would be expected to be punished locally. If he were a Roman citizen, he could have appealed to the emperor, but then would usually have been beheaded rather than tortured, and not put in chains. It has been suggested that the circuitous route the soldiers took indicated that they had other business to attend to before taking Ignatius to Rome.

During the journey to Rome, Ignatius and his captors made a number of stops in Asia Minor. Along the route Ignatius wrote six letters to the churches in the region and one to a fellow bishop, Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna. Ignatius wanted to reinforce the Apostolic teaching that Gentile Christians were free from having to follow Judaic Law if they were baptized into the Body of Jesus and were following His command to love each other as He loves us. This included celebrating the day of the Lord’s resurrection as the day of primary Christian worship rather than the sabbath.

But above all, Ignatius was a tireless witness to the Word made flesh, countering the seductive teachings of the Docetists, who taught that the Word of God had become flesh only in appearance, not in reality. The latter, for the Docetists, would have been all too humiliating for God. Ignatius, on the other hand, saw the Incarnation as supreme testament of God’s mercy. This testament is, first of all, the real body of our Lord Jesus Christ: "There is one Physician … God existing in flesh … even Jesus Christ our Lord."

Ignatius was the first Christian writer to use the word katholicos. Katholicos had been used in Greek civilization for centuries to refer to a wide variety of things, meaning all-embracing, universal or of general interest, having broad interests or wide sympathies, and inclusive, inviting. Ignatius was the first to use it to describe the Body of the Lord, the community of all the faithful baptized, wherever they are gathered around a bishop assisted by his priests and deacons: "Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the catholic Church."

Becoming "Christ’s pure bread"

Ignatius wrote about becoming Christ’s pure bread. This bread is the Eucharist that Ignatius celebrated as bishop, but it is also the eucharist, or "thanksgiving," that Ignatius himself would become. Writing to the Church of Rome, he asks them not to appeal his death sentence. In this extraordinary letter, Ignatius writes, "I am God’s wheat and shall be ground by [wild beasts’] teeth so that I may become Christ’s pure bread…. Do not stand in the way of my birth to real life." "Within me is the living water that says, deep inside me, ‘Come to the Father!’ I no longer take pleasure in perishable food… I want only God’s bread, which is the flesh of Jesus Christ … and for drink I crave his Blood, which is love that cannot perish." He also wrote about the Blessed Sacrament, "God’s bread … the flesh of Jesus Christ": the Eucharist, which Ignatius called "the medicine of immortality."

In his Chronicle, Eusebius gives the date of Ignatius's death as the 11th year of Trajan's reign, AD 108. Ignatius himself wrote that he would be thrown to the beasts, and in the fourth century Eusebius reports tradition that this came to pass, which is then repeated by Jerome, who is the first to explicitly mention "Lions". John Chrysostom is the first to allude to the Colosseum as the place of Ignatius' martyrdom.

"[The Bread of Communion] is the medicine of immortality and the antidote to prevent us from dying but which causes that we should live forever in Jesus Christ."

– Ignatius of Antioch (35-108), 'Letter to the Ephesians 20'

After Ignatius' martyrdom in the Circus Maximus his remains were carried back to Antioch by his companions. The reputed remains of Ignatius were moved by the Emperor Theodosius II to the Tychaeum, or Temple of Tyche, which had been converted into a church dedicated to Ignatius. In 637 AD, the relics were transferred to the Basilica di San Clemente in Rome.

Almighty God, we praise your Name for your bishop and martyr Ignatius of Antioch, who offered himself as grain to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts that he might present to you the pure bread of sacrifice. Accept, we pray, the willing tribute of our lives and give us a share in the pure and spotless offering of your Son Jesus Christ; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Today the Church honors Sts. Maxima, along with Martinian, Saturian, Saturninus, Nereus, and Companions, Martyrs. Orate pro nobis. Maxima, along with Martinian, Saturian, and their two brothers, were slaves in the Vandal kingdom of North Africa, where the Arian form of Christianity was the established religion and orthodox Nicene Christianity was considered heresy. The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century AD. In AD 429, under king Genseric (reigned AD 428–477), the Vandals entered North Africa. By AD 439, they established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province, and sacked the city of Rome in 455. Their sacking of Rome was so violent and destructive of property that we get our word vandalism from it to describe the wanton destruction of property. King Genseric violently persecuted orthodox Nicene Christians. A commander in the army of King Genseric had many slaves, among whom were Maxima (the woman who ran his household), Martinian (his armor-bearer), and three of Martinian's brothers (one of whom was named Saturian). The commander, being fond of both Maxima and Martinian, ordered their marriage, and being slaves, they had to comply. Maxima told Martinian that she had consecrated herself as a virgin bride of Jesus, and therefore could not truly be any man's wife. He ultimately agreed to convert to her orthodox Nicene Christianity, to live chastely, and to work on the conversion of his brothers and their fellow slaves. They converted many, and even managed to petitioned the Pope to send them a priest, though this never occurred. They then conspired to escape from their Arian master and live in monasteries. After some time, Maxima and the four brothers, who had been baptized into the orthodox Christian Faith, managed to escape. However, they were captured and returned to their master, who promptly insisted that they accept Arian baptism. They declined, and the inevitable tortures began. The commander was in no hurry. Perhaps he did not want to lose his investment in Maxima and the four brothers. Ultimately, he recognized that they would not serve him and the orthodox Christian Faith, so he slowly, methodically sought to break down their resistance to the Arian heresy. He was thwarted in this by the resolution of their faith as well as the divine destruction of the torture implements. The most ingenious engines of pain broke down when applied to the brothers. Not recognizing the signs of the presence of God, the commander persisted, so the divine message got a little louder. His livestock died, then his children, and then he died. His widow, in her grief and acknowledging the cause of her calamity, gave Maxima and the brothers to Genseric's kinsman. The plague followed them -- illness struck the new master’s family, and so the slaves were quickly sold on to Capsur, a Berber chieftain. Capsur sensed that Maxima might be the problem, so in spite of her beauty and cleverness, he turned her loose. She headed for a convent and lived piously ever after. The brothers began preaching in their new master's home, but he had little patience for the Christian proselytizing. He ordered them dragged by horses until the abrasions and contusions killed them. The year was AD 450. A group of some 365 martyrs (including Saturninus and Nereus) who were put to death in Africa during the persecution of the Church by the Arian Vandals who had conquered the region under their king, Geiseric. It is considered possible that they are to be identified with the martyrs who died under the leadership of Sts. Martinian and Saturian. Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Maxima, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with her attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen. Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Martinian, Saturian, and Companions triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever. Amen.

Today the Church honors

Sts. Maxima, along with Martinian, Saturian, Saturninus, Nereus, and Companions, Martyrs.

Orate pro nobis.

Maxima, along with Martinian, Saturian, and their two brothers, were slaves in the Vandal kingdom of North Africa, where the Arian form of Christianity was the established religion and orthodox Nicene Christianity was considered heresy. The Vandals were a Germanic people who first inhabited what is now southern Poland. They established Vandal kingdoms on the Iberian Peninsula, Mediterranean islands, and North Africa in the fifth century AD. In AD 429, under king Genseric (reigned AD 428–477), the Vandals entered North Africa. By AD 439, they established a kingdom which included the Roman province of Africa as well as Sicily, Corsica, Sardinia, Malta and the Balearic Islands. They fended off several Roman attempts to recapture the African province, and sacked the city of Rome in 455. Their sacking of Rome was so violent and destructive of property that we get our word vandalism from it to describe the wanton destruction of property.

King Genseric violently persecuted orthodox Nicene Christians. A commander in the army of King Genseric had many slaves, among whom were Maxima (the woman who ran his household), Martinian (his armor-bearer), and three of Martinian's brothers (one of whom was named Saturian).

The commander, being fond of both Maxima and Martinian, ordered their marriage, and being slaves, they had to comply. Maxima told Martinian that she had consecrated herself as a virgin bride of Jesus, and therefore could not truly be any man's wife. He ultimately agreed to convert to her orthodox Nicene Christianity, to live chastely, and to work on the conversion of his brothers and their fellow slaves. They converted many, and even managed to petitioned the Pope to send them a priest, though this never occurred. They then conspired to escape from their Arian master and live in monasteries.

After some time, Maxima and the four brothers, who had been baptized into the orthodox Christian Faith, managed to escape. However, they were captured and returned to their master, who promptly insisted that they accept Arian baptism. They declined, and the inevitable tortures began.

The commander was in no hurry. Perhaps he did not want to lose his investment in Maxima and the four brothers. Ultimately, he recognized that they would not serve him and the orthodox Christian Faith, so he slowly, methodically sought to break down their resistance to the Arian heresy. He was thwarted in this by the resolution of their faith as well as the divine destruction of the torture implements. The most ingenious engines of pain broke down when applied to the brothers. Not recognizing the signs of the presence of God, the commander persisted, so the divine message got a little louder. His livestock died, then his children, and then he died.

His widow, in her grief and acknowledging the cause of her calamity, gave Maxima and the brothers to Genseric's kinsman. The plague followed them -- illness struck the new master’s family, and so the slaves were quickly sold on to Capsur, a Berber chieftain. Capsur sensed that Maxima might be the problem, so in spite of her beauty and cleverness, he turned her loose. She headed for a convent and lived piously ever after. The brothers began preaching in their new master's home, but he had little patience for the Christian proselytizing. He ordered them dragged by horses until the abrasions and contusions killed them. The year was AD 450.

A group of some 365 martyrs (including Saturninus and Nereus) who were put to death in Africa during the persecution of the Church by the Arian Vandals who had conquered the region under their king, Geiseric. It is considered possible that they are to be identified with the martyrs who died under the leadership of Sts. Martinian and Saturian.

Almighty God, you have surrounded us with a great cloud of witnesses: Grant that we, encouraged by the good example of your servant Maxima, may persevere in running the race that is set before us, until at last we may with her attain to your eternal joy; through Jesus Christ, the pioneer and perfecter of our faith, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.

Almighty God, by whose grace and power your holy martyr Martinian, Saturian, and Companions triumphed over suffering and were faithful even to death: Grant us, who now remember him in thanksgiving, to be so faithful in our witness to you in this world, that we may receive with him the crown of life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, forever and ever.

Amen.