Tomorrow is the feast of St. Polycarp. You may or may not have ever heard of him, but he played an incredibly important role in Church history and continues to influence us today. Polycarp was born in the year 80ad, as a young man he actually met and became a student of John the Apostle. John at that time was living in western Turkey, probably in Ephesus where the Blessed Virgin Mary lived. John always stayed close to Mary, and you may remember the words of Jesus to him at the Cross; “Behold your mother.” Mary literally becomes his adopted mother and he takes care of her. You and I, when we read that, also apply those words of Our Lord to ourselves and Mary becomes our Mother, not in the flesh but by grace.

Polycarp becomes the bishop of a town just north of Ephesus called Smyrna. This town is directly addressed by St. John in his Apocalypse as one of the 7 Churches. To Smyrna is given a prophecy from God, “Do not fear what you are about to suffer. Behold, the devil is about to cast some of you into prison… Be faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life.” Polycarp is just the man to lead this Church. In the year 160, when he is an 80 year old man, persecution descends upon the Church. There is a book written about the events of his death called the “Martyrdom of Polycarp.” It is uncanny how similar it is to the way in which Our Lord died. Polycarp was betrayed by his own household, he offered food and drink to the men who arrested him, amazed them all by his calmness, refused to deny Christ and be freed, and eventually was led to the arena to be fed to wild animals. With death approaching, he hears a voice from heaven, “Be strong, Polycarp, and play the man!” The wild beast threat switches to being burned alive, upon learning which, Polycarp simply thanks God for the opportunity to be a martyr. The fire was lit but would not burn him, so eventually a soldier was forced to run him through with a spear.

So, what we have here is a very early martyr bishop, and he becomes a model for all other bishops to emulate. At this early period of Church, the office of bishop was still in development. Modern historians like to look back and, because they dislike all male Bishops and think that they have too much power over us, they assert that these men formed an early patriarchy that essentially hijacked the Church through political power and wealth. One look at the life of St. Polycarp disproves this notion and gives us a great insight into the development of the office of Bishop and the role that these men continue to play in the Church today.

Polycarp had no political power, quite the opposite. He had Godly authority over his diocese, yes, but he exercised his authority as a servant and he earned it by his way of life. The Second Vatican Council recently re-confirmed the role of our Bishops and Priests as servants of the Church. They exercise responsibility in the manner ordained by Christ; with the total gift of their lives. Polycarp shows clearly how the power of a Bishop is exercised: by imitating Christ, sacrifice, personal loss, and publicly witnessing to the truth of the Gospel at great expense. The bishop is not powerful because of who he is, but who he serves. He adores Our Lord and he serves the Body of Christ here on earth.

In the Scriptures, Our Lord anoints and ordains the apostles as his first Bishops. We need these men because the Church is a visible communion and so we need governance and order so as to have peace amongst ourselves. Trust me, this arrangement is true freedom. When I was a protestant and we rejected bishops, every person became his own bishop, and theologian, and pope, and everyone disagreed, and new protestant communities were constantly formed as churches split over disagreements. I never knew which Church I would like until I visited. It was exhausting. As Catholics, with our Bishops, we know that any Catholic Church in the world is visibly unified, every Church offers the one Sacrifice of the Mass, we are welcome and comfortable in any one of them! This ordered unity in Christ is freedom, and it is guaranteed by the great blessing of having bishops. These men are successors of St. Polycarp. We can trust them, and they need our prayers to live up to that trust.

A friend of Polycarp, St. Ignatius of Antioch, writes, “Take care to do all things in harmony with God, with the bishop presiding in the place of God.” He also writes, “Wherever the bishop appears, there let the people be; as wherever Jesus Christ is, there is the Catholic Church.”

St. Polycarp, pray for the Church, give our Bishops courage and us humility so that together we might fully participate in the Body of Christ here on earth.