Hello everyone. I wanted to share some thoughts I had from reading the letters of St. Ignatius as well as our conversations about them.
Ghosts or Demons?
One thing that I found quite interesting was the use of the word "demon" instead of "ghost" when referring to what the disciples thought Christ was during his post-resurrection appearance. This sort of puts a whole new spin on the story. I had often wondered why the apostles would find Christ scary as a ghost but not as a body with a soul. But translating the term as "demon" instead gives a great answer to this. Perhaps the disciples thought that he was a deceiving spirit. And that it was not until He proved He was in the flesh that they truly believed it was Him. Maybe they thought He would never appear to them as a spirit so it could not have been Him? Those are just some thoughts I had on it.
Opposite Pulls of Martyrdom's Desirers
Another thing that really spoke to me, which I believe Scott mentioned in his report, was how concerned St. Ignatius was for his flock. Although I admire the saint for being so desirous of martyrdom, my earthly attachments and other imperfections have me at times clinging to my life with my very last breath. And seeing someone so wishful to be with the Lord as soon as possible, even through such a violent means, troubled me - because of how far I was from it. I felt convicted by the notion. But once the hallow mentioned how one of his main reasons, for being so brave, was because of his care for those in his flock who did not yet have such courage - that he was doing in an extreme way, for his whole flock, what the weaker were incapable of doing. This made me feel much better. Because I felt that his courageous action was not just for his flock at that time, but for all who would look up to him as a spiritual father for all time. Of course it would mean having to admit how weak and cowardly I feel.
On the one hand, regardless of how much I fear it, I do desire martyrdom in the sense of how great of a gift it would be to offer God. On the other hand, I fear losing faith and apostatizing if confronted with such a scenario. But only God knows if he has called me to martyrdom or not. And I have to trust that He would not do so unless I would have the ability to stay faithful. With all that in mind, I have at this time decided to not pray for or against martyrdom. But rather that I would die faithfully in whatever way God has for me. May God grant me the graces necessary for a good, happy, and holy death, in whatever way He has planned for me.
False Religion & Apostasy
One last matter that I wanted to express my thoughts on is the topic of false religion. First off, I distinguish between a Muslim individual and the Islamic religion; a Jew and the Jewish religion; a protestant and Protestantism; and so forth.
Before Christ's incarnation, there were both faithful and unfaithful Jews. I think the Catholic Church has always taught that we should admire our elder brothers who prepared the way for Christ in Israel. Likewise, after Christ's death and resurrection, there are both faithful and unfaithful Jews and gentiles.
Those faithful Jews and gentiles are the ones who have or will accept Christ (ahead of His time or during). But there were a group of Jews who systematically decided to reject Christ while holding onto some old testament systems. And by doing so they created a false religion - because any religion which rejects Christ, whether in part or in full, must by definition be false. The Catholic Church being the fulness of truth, anything that would veer from that fulness of truth in the slightest would have to be in error. The truth of the old testament is only true because it points us towards Christ who is the Truth. So any system that tries to manipulate the old testament into trying to get people to perpetually reject Christ is anti-Christ. Jesus even makes mention of the fact that His own peoples rejection of Him would lead to their acceptance of a false-Christ who would come later.
I think there is a danger in admiring an apostate religion just as there is a danger in keeping unnecessary company with material heretics, obstinate sinners, and unrepentant apostates. I also fear that by considering those who remain in an obstinate false religion to be brothers in Christ causes us to lose the urgency of evangelizing - and therefore causes confusion.
In conclusion, I absolutely believe that we should pray for and love Jews and gentiles who have not yet come to faith in Christ. But we should not consider them brethren. I am certain they are, in a special way, close to God's heart. But until they embrace God's heart they are, to the best of my understanding, anathema.
We seem to live in a time where any criticism of the Jewish religion or people is considered anti-Semitic. So with that in mind, I write these words knowing how controversial such a conversation can be. But considering that we live in times when it is even considered controversial to claim that we should protect babies from being murdered, controversy in of it self is not a reason for me to avoid a topic. I don't expect everyone to agree with me on this matter. But I thought I should bring this up nonetheless. Thanks for your patience and understanding. God bless.
Your friend in JMJ,
Keith
