The Feast of St Ignatius of Antioch | Monday 17 October 2022

Today is Monday the 17th of October, the feast of St Ignatius of Antioch, in the Twenty-ninth week of Ordinary Time.


David Thomas with the Taverner Players, sings Ich Habe Genug from Bach’s Cantata number 82, echoing the words of Simeon:

‘I have enough. I have taken the Saviour, the hope of the Gentiles, into my arms. I have enough.’


Often when we pray, we ask God for this and for that. And fair enough, we have needs and it is right to bring them before God. But there is something rather beautiful – there is something very beautiful – about this prayer, which just says, ‘I have you, Lord. I have enough.’

Ich habe genug,
Ich habe den Heiland, das Hoffen der Frommen,
Auf meine begierigen Arme genommen:
Ich habe genug!
Ich hab’ ihn erblickt,
Mein Glaube hat Jesum ans Herze gedrückt,
Nun wünsch ich, noch heute mit Freuden
Von hinnen zu scheiden.
Ich habe genug!


It is enough.
I have taken the Saviour, the hope of the devout,
Into my longing arms;
It is enough!
I have gazed on Him,
My faith has pressed Jesus to my heart;
I would now, even today,
Gladly wish to leave this world.
It is enough!

Today’s reading is from the Gospel of Luke.

Luke 12:13-21

Someone in the crowd said to Jesus, "Teacher, tell my brother to divide the family inheritance with me." But he said to him, "Friend, who set me to be a judge or arbitrator over you?" And he said to them, "Take care! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; for one’s life does not consist in the abundance of possessions." Then he told them a parable: "The land of a rich man produced abundantly. And he thought to himself, ‘What should I do, for I have no place to store my crops?’ Then he said, ‘I will do this: I will pull down my barns and build larger ones, and there I will store all my grain and my goods. And I will say to my soul, ‘Soul, you have ample goods laid up for many years; relax, eat, drink, be merry.’ But God said to him, ‘You fool! This very night your life is being demanded of you. And the things you have prepared, whose will they be?’ So it is with those who store up treasures for themselves but are not rich towards God."

Listen to the tone of voice of Jesus who says to us ‘Take care!’ Perhaps it is a tone of warning. Perhaps ‘Take care’ really means take good care of yourself. You are precious in God’s eyes and God loves you. With what tone of voice would you read that phrase, and this Gospel passage?

Taking care may mean taking a good look at your life. Taking care may mean honouring all the best qualities that you have. Taking care may mean allowing your life to get into better balance. What does it mean to you?

Listen again to the parable. What might Jesus’s voice sound like if he were telling you this story again? Can you hear it as the voice of someone you love telling you a story? Don’t concentrate too hard: just hear what you need to hear and carry it with you throughout the day.

If you have a sense of how the day to come might go, why not look forward to it for a few moments. You may like to talk with God, as a friend about what this day or this week might bring. You might like to think with God, as a friend, about how you can take good care of yourself and of others in this coming week.


Glory be to the Father and to the Son and to the Holy Spirit. As it was in the beginning, is now and ever shall be, world without end. Amen.