By Jacob Schneider, Special to The Message
Home parish: Corpus Christi Parish, Evansville
Education: St. Meinrad Seminary and School of Theology; Class of 2028
Saint: St. Polycarp of Smyrna
Editor’s Note: This year, Diocesan seminarians focused their annual seminarian profiles on a saint or someone on the road to sainthood who gives them hope in honor of the Jubilee Year of Hope.
In the history of the Church, St. Polycarp remains widely unknown in today’s world, yet greatly respected by more magnanimous figures of the early Church. While not much is known about his early life, he was famous for being one of the closest disciples of St. John, one of the Twelve Apostles. After his service as a priest in Ephesus, he was appointed bishop of the Christian community in Smyrna (in modern-day Turkey). One letter to the Church in Phillipi (Greece), is attributed to him, and he died a martyr around 155 A.D.
In my own life, St. Polycarp’s life and service to the Church gave me hope for the priest’s life of fidelity to the Body of Christ. Up until the very end, he stays faithful to the community he was entrusted to and kept the faith that was handed on to him by St. John, which he in turn handed on to great men who came after him. And for me, as I learn from great mentors and engage with ministry in the Diocese of Evansville, St. Polycarp has become a powerful intercessor and companion.
By his words and preaching, St. Polycarp also gives hope to the Church as a model for courage and perseverance in times of strife. St. John’s death brought about a time of immense confusion and persecutions, leading to many falling away from the faith. But figures like St. Polycarp stood strong and led his people, reminding them of how God’s grace empowers the faithful even in hard times. I believe that St. Polycarp’s example still offers the Church today much to hope for as we go through our own trials as a Church in the modern era.