Meditation: St. Irenaeus is the most recently declared Doctor of the Church. He was a student of St. Polycarp, who was a student of the Apostle John himself. Much of St. Irenaeus’s teaching had to do with the doctrine of creation. He offers us two important points:
In response to the errors of the Gnostics, St. Irenaeus emphasized how God created matter. This world is not evil, but was made by a good God, even if it is fallen. In the end, God will not only save our souls, but will raise up our bodies and we will live in a new heavens and new earth, not a disembodied world of spirits.
St. Irenaeus also emphasized the Christocentric meaning of creation. Creation was made for the sake of Christ and his Virgin Mother. Adam and Eve were spiritual infants, but creation has now grown into maturity and found its full meaning in the incarnation.
Irenaeus also emphasized many other important Catholic teachings, like apostolic succession and the primacy of the bishop of Rome.
Reading: St. Irenaeus – Against Heresies 4.39
If, then, you are God’s workmanship, await the hand of your Maker which creates everything in due time; in due time as far as you are concerned, whose creation is being carried out. Offer to Him your heart in a soft and tractable state, and preserve the form in which the Creator has fashioned you, having moisture in yourself, lest, by becoming hardened, you lose the impressions of His fingers. But by preserving the framework you shall ascend to that which is perfect, for the moist clay which is in you is hidden [there] by the workmanship of God. His hand fashioned your substance; He will cover you over [too] within and without with pure gold and silver, and He will adorn you to such a degree, that even “the King Himself shall have pleasure in your beauty.”
Prayer:
Almighty God, who strengthened your servant Irenaeus to defend thy truth against every blast of vain doctrine: Keep us, we pray, steadfast in your true religion, that in constancy and peace we may walk in the way that leads to eternal life; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.
