Let Everything be Done for
God's Honour
Avoid evil practices: indeed, preach
against them. Tell my sisters to love the Lord and be content with their
husbands in the flesh and in the spirit, and in the same way bid my brothers in
Christ’s name to love their wives as the Lord loves his Church. If anyone can
remain chaste in honour of the Saviour’s flesh, then let him do so without
boasting. For if he boasts of it, he is lost; and if he thinks himself for this
reason better than the bishop, he is lost. Those who marry should be united
with the bishop’s approval, so that the marriage may follow God’s will and not
merely the prompting of the flesh. Let everything be done for God’s honour.
Hear your bishop, that God may hear you.
My life is a sacrifice for those who are obedient to the bishop, the presbyters
and the deacons; and may it be my lot to share with them in God. Work together
in harmony: struggle together, run together, suffer together, rest together,
rise together, as stewards, advisors and servants of God. Seek to please him
whose soldiers you are and from whom you draw your pay; let none of you prove a
deserter. Let your baptism be your armour, your faith your helmet, your charity
your spear, your patience your panoply. Let your good works be your deposits,
so that you may draw out well-earned savings. So be patient and gentle with one
another, as God is with you. May I have joy in you for ever!
Since I have heard that the church of
Antioch in Syria is in peace through your prayers, I too am more tranquil in my
reliance upon God. If only I may find my way to God through my passion and at
the resurrection prove to be your disciple! My most blessed Polycarp, you
should convene a godly council and appoint someone whom you consider dear and
especially diligent to be called God’s courier and to have the honour of going
into Syria and advancing God’s glory by speaking of your untiring charity. A
Christian is not his own master: his time is God’s. This is God’s work, and it
will be yours as well when you have performed it. I have trust in the grace of
God that you are ready to act generously when it comes to God’s work. Since I
knew so well your zeal for truth, I have limited my appeal to these few words.
I could not write to all the churches
because I am sailing at once from Troas to Neapolis, as is required of me. I
want you, therefore, as one who knows God’s purpose, to write to the churches
of the East and bid them to follow the same procedure. Those who can should
send representatives, while the rest should send letters through the messengers
you have sent. Thus your community will be honoured for a good work of eternal
value, as you yourself deserve.
I wish all of you well for ever in Jesus
Christ; through him may you all remain in God’s unity and in his care. Farewell
in the Lord!
Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings
Photo taken from Wikimedia Commons
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