11-29-23

ECCLESIOLOGICAL ETCHINGS
November 29, 2023
Today is the feast day of St. Illuminata, a 4th-century woman who was executed after taking the name of Christ. It is interesting that we know very little about her, though there is a church with her name in Todi, Italy, the presumed site of her burial plot. As I think of all the churches named after someone, I realize how almost all of these individuals were killed because of their faith. I don’t know of an example of some average Joe whose name is now etched on the stone sign out front of a church simply because he had pretty good attendance on Sunday morning (well, unless he had a lot of money and paid for the church building). Is it shallow to hope that I never have a church named after me? With that said, I doubt St. Illuminata set out to have a church named after her. Since we know very little about her, I’m only guessing—but I’d guess she was only loving her God as best she knew how. In the Season of Advent, as we remember God humbling the divine nature and choosing to take on flesh, we realize God wasn’t looking for naming rights. Instead, God was seeking to make the unconditional love of God real in hopes of changing the world.

Continue to undergird my faith, O Lord, so I might find new ways of showing your love through humility and mercy. Amen.

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