Saint Ignatius of Antioch

Readings from Friday of the 28th week of the year, cycle "A"

The opening prayer of today's Mass contains a curious expression: "Almighty ever-living God, who adorn the sacred body of your Church with the confessions of holy Martyrs..." Confessions. Not one confession, but confessions with an "s." Plural. What does that mean? that the Church is made more beautiful because the martyrs went to confession every month? No. It goes back to the original meaning of the word confession: an audible, public profession of what someone was thinking on the inside. That's what make someone a martyr. Even when threatened with torture or even death, the martyrs said aloud what they believed in their minds and hearts. They professed the Faith, making a noble confession. Sometimes the place where the martyr did this came to be called a "confession." More frequently, the place where the martyr was buried was called a "confession." If you have ever been to St. Peter's Basilica in Rome, or seen pictures of the interior, you know that right in front of the altar there is a big hole in the floor, with staircases in it leading down to a lower level. And even further down, below that level, is the tomb of St. Peter. That big opening in the floor is called the "confessio." That's an architectural expression of what a martyr is. The martyr's witness, the martyr's courageous profession of faith, opens a hole that lets us see what someone really believes in their mind and heart.

What makes the martyrs stand out? Not the fact that they were Christians. There have been millions and millions of Christians; very few of them were martyrs. And they don't stand out because they believed the Creed. Millions of people recite the Creed out loud, every Sunday, all over the world. They are not all martyrs. What makes the martyrs stand out is that we know what they really believed. People say that they believe something. But when you tell them that they could avoid torture and death simply by denying what they say they believe, well, then you find out what they really believe. 
In the Gospel Jesus said, "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"
These words could be taken as frightening. We  Most of us have secrets that we would rather not be made known. On the other hand, the same words could be very comforting. If what we say in the darkness of the heart is "Lord, I do believe. I do believe that you are the only one who can help me and save me." If what we whisper behind the closed doors of the mind is, "I do believe. Help my unbelief. Teach me your paths," then, when the moment comes to give witness, those expressions of faith will be heard and proclaimed to the world!

Recently, amid all the events surrounding the Synod in Rome, we were treated to the unedifying spectacle of a Cardinal denying that he really said what he was reported to have said in an interview with a journalist. After he denied that he had said certain things, the journalist produced a recording of the Cardinal saying those very things. There is nothing concealed that will not be revealed, nor secret that will not be known.

Those words can be frightening or comforting. It all depends on what goes on in the darkness of our hearts, and behind the closed doors of our minds.

The Finger of God Friday of the Twenty-Seventh Week of the Year, II

Readings


Jesus has been attracting a lot of attention, going around driving out demons. Now he seems to be saying that the same demons are going to come back and possess the poor people all over again. Only this time they're going to bring reinforcements, so things will be even worse. That can't be right.

Jesus is responding to the question of his opponents: by what authority? by what power do you drive out demons? His answer indicates that if an unclean spirit decided on its own to leave a possessed person, it would eventually come back to home base and set up shop all over again. But if someone stronger drives out the spirit, it won't come back.

When a strong man fully armed guards his palace,
his possessions are safe.
But when one stronger than he attacks and overcomes him...

Jesus casts out demons "by the finger of God." What do we think of when we hear "the finger of God"? I think of the fresco by Michelangelo on the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel. God is reaching out his finger toward the first man, who reaches out his finger toward God. They are mirror images of each other, to indicate that man is made in the image and likeness of God. God reaches out his finger, and the man made of clay becomes a living being.

Perhaps this is in the back of Paul's mind when he says "it is those who have faith who are children of Abraham." Just so, Christ said, "God can raise up children to Abraham  from these stones!" How could God make stones into children? The same way he made clay into a living man.

Today the Word of God suggests something about our quest for self-improvement. We are painfully aware of our demons, of our sins, bad habits, and evil inclinations. We can do our best to drive them out by action and effort, only to see them come roaring back, stronger than before. We try this and that and the other thing, and perhaps that will make us different, but it can never bring us to life.