Jesus said to his disciples, "I tell you, everyone who acknowledges me before others, the Son of Man will acknowledge before the angels of God. But whoever denies me before others will be denied before the angels of God.
"Everyone who speaks a word against the Son of Man will be forgiven, but the one who blasphemes against the Holy Spirit will not be forgiven. When they take you before synagogues and before rulers and authorities, do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say, For the Holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say."
The Gospel of the Lord.
Today is the feast day of St. Ignatius of Antioch, a bishop of the Church, martyred in 107, in his 80's, paraded before his churches on the way to Rome to be executed, and as such a martyr (witness), to Jesus Christ. He was executed in the Roman Coliseum; his form of execution was to be torn apart by wild animals. In his words, "I am God's wheat and I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may become the pure bread of Christ.” On his travel to Rome, he wrote seven letters that are part of the Scripture of the Church. Ignatius of Antioch is one of the ancient fathers of the Church.
Our entrance antiphon this morning: "With Christ I am nailed to the cross. I live now not with my own life, but Christ lives within me. I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and sacrificed himself for me."
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