HE IS REGARDED AS A SAINT AND A CHURCH FATHER IN THE EASTERN ORTHODOX, ORIENTAL ORTHODOX, CATHOLIC, ANGLICAN, AND LUTHERAN CHURCHES.
St. Polycarp, Greek bishop of Smyrna. His name 'Polycarp' means 'much fruit' in Greek. He was baptized by St. John the Apostle and was the teacher of St. Irenaeus of Lyons. He possessed an elevated status among Christians of his time because he knew the apostles and his teachings were considered orthodox and authentic. His widespread influence was not lost on pagan Rome.
Saint Polycarp, (flourished 2nd century; feast day February 23), was the leading 2nd-century Christian figure in Roman Asia by virtue of his work during the initial appearance of the fundamental theological literature of Christianity. Historically, he formed a link between the apostolic and patristic ages.
By his major writing, The Letter to the Philippians, and by his widespread moral authority, Polycarp combated various heretical sects, including certain Gnostic groups that claimed religious salvation exclusively through their arcane spiritual knowledge. Polycarp's Letter to the Philippians contains a classic formulation in which he refutes the Gnostics' argument that God's incarnation, and the death and resurrection of Christ were all imaginary phenomena of purely moral or mythological significance.
More important, however, is the way in which Polycarp referred to the apostle Paul in The Letter to the Philippians. Not only does he repeatedly quote from Paul's writings but he also stresses the personal importance of Paul as a primary authority of the Christian church. It must be remembered that at that time Paul had been adopted as a primary authority by the Gnostic heretics. Polycarp, in response, reclaimed Paul as a treasured figure of the orthodox church. It is apparently thus partly due to Polycarp that Paul, the disputed apostle, became a theologically respectable part of the Christian church's tradition. Furthermore, Polycarp's orthodox use of the Pauline texts marked a crucial advance in the Christian theology of biblical interpretation. According to certain scholars, Polycarp may even have composed or directly influenced some of the letters traditionally ascribed to St. Paul, the so-called Pastoral Letters (I and II Timothy, Titus). These letters possess a 2nd-century vocabulary and style that are characteristic of Polycarp.
Toward the end of his life Polycarp visited Bishop Anicetus of Rome to discuss with him the date at which the Easter festival was to be celebrated, a controversy that threatened to provoke a schism between Rome and Asia Minor. The two men could not reach agreement on a common date on which to celebrate Easter, so they agreed that Rome and Asia Minor would follow different practices in this regard.
Around the year 155, Polycarp became aware that government authorities were on the lookout for him, seeking to stamp out the Catholic Church's claim of obeying a higher authority than the Emperor. He retreated to a country house and occupied himself with constant prayer, before receiving a vision of his death that prompted him to inform his friends: "I must be burned alive." He changed locations, but was betrayed by a young man who knew his whereabouts and confessed under torture.
He was captured on a Saturday evening by two public officials, who urged him to submit to the state demands. "What harm is there," one asked, "in saying, 'Caesar is Lord,' and in sacrificing to him, with the other ceremonies observed on such occasions, so as to make sure of safety?"
"I shall not do as you advise me," he answered. Outraged by his response, the officials had him violently thrown from their chariot and taken to an arena for execution. Entering the stadium, the bishop-along with some of his companions, who survived to tell of it-heard a heavenly voice, saying: "Be strong, and show yourself a man, O Polycarp!"
Before the crowd, the Roman proconsul demanded again that he worship the emperor. "Hear me declare with boldness, I am a Christian," the bishop said. "And if you wish to learn what the doctrines of Christianity are, appoint me a day, and you shall hear them." "You threaten me with fire," he continued "which burns for an hour, and after a little is extinguished. But you are ignorant of the fire of the coming judgment and of eternal punishment, reserved for the ungodly." "But," he challenged the proconsul, "what are you waiting for? Bring forth what you will."
Although the crowds clamored for Polycarp to be devoured by beasts, it was decided he should be burned alive, just as he had prophesied. He prayed aloud to God: "May I be accepted this day before you as an acceptable sacrifice just as you, the ever-truthful God, have foreordained, revealed beforehand to me, and now have fulfilled."
What happened next struck Polycarp's companions with amazement; they recorded the sight in the letter that they circulated after Polycarp's death. "As the flame blazed forth in great fury," they wrote, "we to whom it was given to witness it, beheld a great miracle."
The fire did not seem to touch the bishop's body. Rather, as they described, "shaping itself into the form of an arch, it encompassed as by a circle the body of the martyr. And he appeared within not like flesh which is burnt, but as bread that is baked, or as gold and silver glowing in a furnace." "Moreover, we perceived such a sweet odour coming from the flames-as if frankincense or some such precious spices had been burning there."
The executioners perceived that Polycarp's death was not going as planned. Losing patience, they ordered him to be stabbed to death. From the resulting wound, "there came forth a dove, and a great quantity of blood, so that the fire was extinguished." The crowd, as the Christian witnesses recalled, were understandably amazed. "All the people marveled," they wrote, "that there should be such a difference between the unbelievers and the elect."
Polycarp, they proclaimed, had been among that elect "having in our own times been an apostolic and prophetic teacher, and bishop of the Catholic Church which is in Smyrna." St. Polycarp has been venerated as a Saint since his death in 155.
“If you love me, keep my commands.” John 14:15
Jesus Christ did not come with a new religion. He came to save us and give us His life, eternal life. He gave us the key and the way to receive Him in the Holy Spirit. He said, “give me your heart,” If I am in your heart, you will love Me. And if you love Me, you will obey my commands. It is easy to turn our lives as Christians into mindless religious obedience. Many Christians pray not out of a heartfelt desire to communicate with God and cast their cares on Him, but they pray and go to church out of duty. Others read their Bibles to check a box and feel like they have done their duty towards God’s commandments to avoid His punishment and not to discover the will of God for their lives. But this is not what Jesus said and commanded us. He came to our world to give us Himself and His love, His power, His authority over demons, and to set us free from this evil world and its temptations. We must obey God out of love, not just out of duty, and move from mindless religion to a real relationship with God by making our obedience an overflow of our love for Christ. Amen
“A tree is known by its fruit, a man by his deeds. A good deed is never lost; he who sows courtesy reaps friendship, and he who plants kindness gathers love.”
You can start from now the work of a missionary among your friends and relatives close to you, especially those your age. I can give you essential advice and steps to succeed in your mission. First, you must read the Gospel daily and sequentially to know God’s will and what He wants to tell you. Second, make sure every day you match your life to the commandments of the Gospel by prayer and repentance so that your life changes to the image and likeness of Christ. Thirdly, You should have a profound daily opportunity to pray, examine yourself, and repent. Fourthly, when your life changes according to the Gospel, you can share with others what the Lord has done in your life so that they, too, may participate in Christ's life through the Gospel's word. Fifthly, pray an intercessional prayer for your friends who responded to your ministry.
The great among the prophets, Moses, explained the fall of man in the Book of Genesis, chapter three, in a simplified pictorial story that suits all minds. By the guidance of the Holy Spirit, He gave it a symbol of paradise and the tree from which it is forbidden to eat. With this expressive image of the meaning of the fall with the words used by Moses, that is, the tree, the paradise, and the serpent, he was able to enlighten our minds to understand the true meaning and the cause of the fall of man.
In Genesis, chapter three, verse four, Satan (who symbolized him with a serpent) said to the woman: “You will not surely die. For God knows that in the day you eat of it, your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” Thus, we can clearly understand that the fall of man occurred because Satan tempted man with the sin of pride. The trick Satan deceived man with was to rise to God’s level through the knowledge that Satan gave him. So, it is a matter of intellectual thinking and knowledge. Man’s fall under Satan’s temptation and acceptance of his evil thoughts has led him to be mentally and intellectually subdued under Satan’s evil power.
The fall of man is mainly intellectual and mental. The actual cause of the fall is the alienation of man’s mind and thoughts from God, who is the source of goodness, lightness, and knowledge, which filled his soul, mind, and spirit with love and goodness. He accepted the deceptive thoughts of the evil one, which is the source of selfishness, pride, and superiority. He meditated on the lust for bodies which led him to think about inventions for murder and destruction. He transformed his world and civilization into a material, selfish, and consumer civilization. He employed his knowledge of evil in making the tools of crushing and destruction that destroyed this civilization. And this is what the image of man has ended up with now.
The problem of man that brought him to misery and turned him into a vicious circle is that his human existence has become unrealized. It was the civilization he had created that erased and swallowed his humanity. It used its outputs of social media, films, and communications to eliminate his inner essence by pumping this massive amount of intellectual material, images, news, and culture that distorted his wonderful image. He shifted his focus from positive and enlightened thoughts that achieved his existence and his life in love and joy to empty thoughts of no content. He became living in fear and anxiety, spinning in the wheel of life that consumes him without stopping and this is the image we see of human life everywhere. Hollywood films and collapsed family life have plunged him into this painful and bitter situation.
Hence, we can conclude that changing the reality of humanity and getting man out of the predicament of emptiness, nothingness, and selfishness in which he is taking place can only be achieved by renewing human thought and mentality. He will only achieve this by finding a different alternative source that illuminates his mind with positive and comfortable thinking that expels this sense of fear, violence, and selfishness.
Jesus Christ is the true light “ In Him was life, and the life was the light of men” (John 1:4), that came into the world to enlighten every human being who has given many and can still give to many the renewal of thought and human nature to those who accept Him with faith, “And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God” (Romans 12:2.)
Dear Lord,
We love you. We thank you that no detour or change of plans is out of your sight. Thank you that you have our life in the palms of your hands, and your purpose is for your glory. Thank you that even though we don’t understand the change of plans we see in front of us, that we can trust in you and your provision over us. We trust that you have plans to prosper us and not to harm us.
Amen.
“For this is the will of God, your sanctification: that you should abstain from sexual immorality; that each of you should know how to possess his own vessel in sanctification and honor, not in passion of lust, like the Gentiles who do not know God; that no one should take advantage of and defraud his brother in this matter, because the Lord is the avenger of all such, as we also forewarned you and testified. For God did not call us to uncleanness, but in holiness. Therefore he who rejects this does not reject man, but God, who has also given us His Holy Spirit. But concerning brotherly love you have no need that I should write to you, for you yourselves are taught by God to love one another; and indeed you do so toward all the brethren who are in all Macedonia. But we urge you, brethren, that you increase more and more; that you also aspire to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business, and to work with your own hands, as we commanded you, that you may walk properly toward those who are outside, and that you may lack nothing.”
