Christ’s Flesh is the Hinge of our Salvation(REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEYEAR I (ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH

REFLECTION/HOMILY FOR TUESDAY OF THE 28TH WEEK IN ORDINARY TIMEYEAR I (ST. IGNATIUS OF ANTIOCH

Rom.1:16-25; Lk.19; Luke 11:37-41

Christ’s Flesh is the Hinge of our Salvation

Today we celebrate the memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch. Ignatius emphasized Christ’s fleshy presence on earth even to the point of his death. He did this in defense against Docetism, a heretical school of thought that taught that Christ was not truly man; he only appeared to be man. This false teaching holds that since Christ only appeared to be man, all that he seemly experienced as man such as hunger and pain, were mere fictions.

Obviously, this was another way of rejecting Jesus by accusing him of claiming to be who he is not. Ignatius stated emphatically that if Christ did not truly suffer and die for us, we are not truly redeemed. We are redeemed through the paschal mystery of Christ. Again, if Christ did not really come in the flesh, then the Christian martyr’s death is of no gain.

Today, Docetism may not exist in its crude form but we practice it each time we distance ourselves from the sacraments. The sacraments derive their power of sanctifying grace from the merit of Christ precious blood which they communicate to our souls. If we understand and appreciate the saving grace of the sacraments, we will never distance ourselves from them. To evade the sacraments is to evade the fruit of the paschal mystery; this in turn translates to rejecting Jesus’ coming in the flesh.

It was for this rejection that Jesus often spoke woe to the Pharisees in the gospels. Their fathers rejected the prophets through which God communicated with them. They, in turn, are rejecting the Messiah himself; we on our part, are doing same by attaching little or no importance to the sacraments. Jesus says that for every time we reject salvation, we shall give account of it.

Today, let us ask St. Ignatius of Antioch to teach us how to be more appreciative of the mystery of the incarnation so that our love for God will burn so brightly that we will count as nothing whatever we give up for the sake God’s kingdom.