Memorial of Saint Irenaeus, Bishop and Martyr

Saint Irenaeus lived in the second century. As a bishop who dealt with terrible strife, external and internal to the Church: mercurial Roman emperors who randomly decided to persecute Christians and outspoken Christians who spread an array of heresies, most notably Gnosticism.

Irenaeus is most known for studying and thoughtfully condemning Gnosticism’s teachings, positing that all created things are evil and that salvation could only be achieved by escaping to some ethereal, spiritual realm. Some even asserted that Jesus was not fully human.

Channeling Saint Irenaeus, let me say that we only have one life to live: in the here and now, in the ordinary human events and experiences.

Saint Peter Julian Eymard chided himself for not remembering to look for God in the ordinary of his life — as Sister Mary Ann reminded us some weeks ago. Some 300 years earlier, Saint Ignatius of Loyola taught his followers to “find God in all things,” that is, to meet God in our daily human experiences: our relationships, our work (ministry), our striving and failures, our hopes and dreams – much like Eymard counseled. The mantra of Emmanuel magazine, a religious journal the province of Saint Ann published for over 100 years, was seeing all of reality in the light of the Eucharist.

In today’s Gospel, Jesus engages in conversation with a leper, the most reviled and shunned human in that society. The leper proposes to Jesus that he cure him if he wishes. Jesus does. A most holy moment amid “great crowds.”.

Let us go to Jesus at prayer and at the Eucharist today with our needs, specific concerns for others, relational or work challenges, and all those gifts in creation for which we are immensely grateful.

Let Us Pray:

Let us contemplate today this thought: “Behold God . . . beholding you . . . and smiling.”
(From a prayer exercise of Anthony DeMello SJ)