Two Witnesses for the Eucharist

 (This is my letter from last week's bulletin that I forgot to post)

In the month of October we celebrate two feast days that point us to the importance of the Eucharist in the life of the Church.  On the 17^th we celebrated the memorial of St. Ignatius of Antioch, and on the 19^thwas the feast of the North American Martyrs.

Ignatius was the bishop Antioch, in modern day Turkey, who was arrested and sent to Rome to suffer martyrdom around the year 110 AD.  Rather than taking a direct rout to Italy, the ship carrying him sailed close to shore and made many stops along the way.  This was not so unusual, since sea travel was dangerous and hugging the coast was the norm, but that he was greeted by so many while at port was a bit out of the ordinary.  While these friends could have secured his freedom by way of bribes, he begged them not to interfere with what he saw as his mission to witness to Christ with is life.  He also wrote numerous letters to the various Christian communities.  In them he urged unity with their local bishops, especially in the celebration of the Eucharist.  He stressed that the Eucharist is the “flesh of our Savior Jesus Christ,” and that the faithful should avoid teachers who taught otherwise.

St. Isaac Jogues (1607-1646) was a French Jesuit who went to North America as a missionary to spread the Gospel to the indigenous peoples of what is today northern New York State and Canada.  He is remembered along with eight others who gave their lives to spread the Good News in the New World.  He was captured by a band of Iroquois Indians, and during his captivity was viciously tortured.  His captors may not have known much about the Faith, but they knew enough about the Mass to bite off several of St. Isaac’s fingers.  At that time a priest could only hold the consecrated host with his thumb and index finger, and with out then he was not allowed to offer the Mass.  Eventually St. Isaac escaped, with the help of some Protestant merchants, and returned to Europe.  Pope Urban VII granted St. Isaac permission to offer the Eucharist in spite of his injuries because “it would be unjust that a martyr of Christ should not drink the Blood of Christ.”  Isaac returned to North America and suffered martyrdom a short time later.  He went to his death with strong faith in the Gospel he preached and the sacraments that he celebrated and suffered so greatly for.

In the case of both these saints we see a great love of Christ, and a great love of the Sacrament of unity that is Christ’s Body and Blood.  Sts Ignatius and Isaac died centuries apart and in vastly different places.  But both died believing the same thing: That Christ is truly present in the Eucharist to unite us and help us grow in charity, and that this gift needs to be spread.  Let us renew our love of this sacrament and faith in Our Lord’s True Presence in it.