I no longer take pleasure in perishable food or in the delights of this world. I want only God's bread, which is the Flesh of Jesus Christ, formed of the seed of David, and for drink I crave His Blood which is love that cannot perish.
Interpretation
The quote expresses a desire for spiritual sustenance over earthly pleasures.
Ignatius of Antioch reflects on the transient nature of earthly pleasures, suggesting that true fulfillment comes from spiritual nourishment found in faith, particularly in the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. He advocates for a life focused on eternal values rather than temporary delights, emphasizing the importance of divine love and spiritual communion.
In practice
In a sermon emphasizing the importance of faith over worldliness.
Now do I begin to be a disciple of Christ, and care for nothing in this world, that so I may find Jesus. Let fire, or the cross, or wild beasts, or the breaking of my bones, or the cutting of me to pieces, or the shattering of my whole body, yea, all the tortures of the devil - let them all come upon me, only let me enjoy my God.
I greet you from Smyrna together with the Churches of God present here with me. They comfort me in every way, both in body and soul. My chains, which I carry about on me for Jesus Christ, begging that I may happily make my way to God, exhort you: persevere in your concord and in you community prayers.
I am writing to all the Churches and I enjoin all, that I am dying willingly for God's sake, if only you do not prevent it. I beg you, do not do me an untimely kindness. Allow me to be eaten by the beasts, which are my way of reaching to God. I am God's wheat, and I am to be ground by the teeth of wild beasts, so that I may become the pure bread of Christ.
Where the bishop is present, there is the Catholic Church
I am God's wheat and shall be ground by their teeth so that I may become Christ's pure bread.
I am the wheat of God, and am ground by the teeth of the wild beasts, that I may be found the pure bread of God.
How could this world be so unlike the world that I believed I was living in? I can't describe it. Do I not want to describe it, or do I simply not possess the vocabulary?
There is a period near the beginning of every man's life when he has little to cling to except his unmanageable dream, little to support him except good health, and nowhere to go but all over the place.
Remember, democracy never lasts long. It soon wastes, exhausts, and murders itself. There never was a democracy yet that did not commit suicide.
We are fascinated, all of us, by the implacable otherness of others. And we wish to penetrate by hypothesis, by daydream, by scientific investigation those leaden walls that encase the human spirit, that define it and guard it and hold it forever inaccessible.
Living in a society, instead of on a desert island, does not relieve a man of the responsibility of supporting his own life.
Pots can show malice, the patterns of linoleum can leer up at you, treachery is the other side of dailiness.
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