Polycarp

Perhaps, I should have recognized the foreboding nature of a week filled with martyrs: Bonhoeffer and Polycarp. Bonhoeffer got the axe in the 20th century and Polycarp in the first. Bonhoeffer was in his 40s and Polycarp in his 80s. I love Polycarp's retort to being asked to deny Jesus: "For 86 years I have served Jesus Christ and he has never abandoned me. How could I curse my blessed King and Savior?" (This quotation from Saint Polycarp is used as the Benedictus antiphon.) The Roman officials didn't want to look like complete jerks and tried to get him to recant his faith. At Vespers, they read the part about him telling him not to nail him to the pyre. The selection is really inspiring until they get to the part about how wonderful the scent of his burning body was. I love the stories of the early martyrs, but they're over the top.


I was a martyr today on the pyre of pubescent hormones. I was ready to sell about half my students into indentured servanthood and call it character building. I can't wait to see what the rest of the week has in store in lessons of patience and humility, so I bought two bottles of Shiraz on the way home from Spiritual Direction.

I came up with a blue print for my denial during Lent. It's gonna hurt, but is immentently doable.