One Petition, One Prayer
Ordinary Time
Office of Readings · St. Ignatius of Antioch, Letter to the Magnesians
In the persons I mentioned, I saw and loved in faith your whole community; and so I urge you to strive to do all things in harmony of God. The bishop is to preside as God’s representative, the presbyters are to perform the rule of the apostolic council, and the deacons, who are so dear to me, are to be entrusted with the service of Jesus Christ, who was with the Father before time began and has now at last manifested himself to us. Follow the ways of God, and have respect for one another; let no one judge his neighbor as the world does, but love one another always in Jesus Christ. Let there be nothing among you that could divide you, but live in accord with the bishop and those who are over you as a sign and a pattern of eternal life. The Lord did nothing either of himself or through his apostles without his Father, with whom he is united; so too, you should undertake nothing without the bishop and the presbyters. Do not attempt to persuade yourselves that what you do on your own account is right and proper, but when you meet together there must be one petition, one prayer, one mind, one hope in love and in holy joy, for Jesus Christ is one and perfect before all else. You must all be quick to come together, as to one temple of God, one altar, to the one Jesus Christ, who came forth from the one Father, while still remaining one with him, and returned to him. Do not be led astray by false doctrines or by old and idle tales. For if we still live by the law, we admit that we have not received grace. But the holy prophets lived according to Jesus Christ, and that is why they were persecuted. They were inspired by his grace to bring full conviction to an unbelieving world that there is one God, manifested now through Jesus Christ his Son, his Word, who came forth from the Father and was in all things pleasing to the one who sent him. Those who lived by the ancient customs attained a fresh hope; they no longer observed Saturday, but Sunday, the Lord’s day, for on that day life arose for us through Christ and through his death. Some deny this mystery, but through it we have received our faith and because of it we persevere, that we may prove to be disciples of our only teacher, Jesus Christ. Even the prophets awaited him as their teacher, since they were his disciples in spirit. That is why Christ, whom they rightly awaited, raised them from the dead when he appeared. How then can we live without him?
Ignatius is obsessed with oneness, and once you notice it the letter starts to hum. One petition, one prayer, one mind, one hope. One temple, one altar, one Jesus Christ, who came forth from the one Father and returned to him. He is not just stacking up the word for emphasis. He is describing a shape. Christ came from the one Father and goes back to him, still united the whole way, and Ignatius wants the Magnesians to be built on that same pattern: undertake nothing on your own, do nothing apart from the others. The line that stings is the one about persuasion. Do not attempt to persuade yourselves that what you do on your own account is right and proper. He knows exactly how we operate. We act alone, and then we build a private case for why our solo move was actually the wise one. He is naming the self-talk before it starts. And he ties it to something larger: the Lord did nothing of himself, but only with his Father. If even Christ refused to act alone, the lone operator is not strong, just disconnected. There is also a quiet instruction about how to see each other. Let no one judge his neighbor as the world does. The world judges by ranking, by sorting people into useful and not. Ignatius asks for the opposite: respect, and love that holds always. Unity here is not everyone agreeing. It is people who refuse to move without each other, as a sign and a pattern of eternal life.
Today's intention
Today I'll stop before one solo decision and actually bring someone else into it.