Tag: <span>Martyrdom</span>

May 10, 2021April 23, 2021

Against the Grain

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

It would be so nice if we could follow Jesus, and also get along peacefully with the world.

And yet, He reminds us, over and over again, that this will not be the case. People will want to kill us because of Him.

Within the hour following your reading of this reflection, in fact, a Christian will be put to death because of his or her faith.

Of course, not every faithful Christian in the world is in imminent danger of death or persecution. But even in the most benign of circumstances, our faith teaches us that we must prioritize love, and this means–in one way or another–that we do not fully progress in the world as it sees progress, or benefit from everything it has to offer. Those “advantages” belong to those who set them as their first priority.

And we need to be ready for real persecution, for people to hate us viscerally for what we stand for. We cannot do else but live for eternity, rather than for peace and happiness in this world, if we want to be Jesus’ followers. He tells us as much Himself in today’s Gospel. And let us remember too, that as gloriously as the faith progresses in the first reading and indeed in all of the Acts of the Apostles, that book’s chief protagonists all died a martyr’s death at the hands of men who were too low-minded to accept the beautiful demands of the Christian faith.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Jesus doesn’t hide the trials that come with our faith. Ask Him for courage and conviction, to be willing to sacrifice all the goods of this life and this world for the goods of eternity.

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April 19, 2021March 31, 2021

Face like an Angel

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

“I do not want to be a martyr,” you may very reasonably think.

As our world becomes increasing militant in its secularization, what was once unthinkable begins to emerge as a possibility on the horizon: martyrdom again rising in the Western world, the world that we call free.

When considering the martyrs, we may think of bloody tragedy; of frightened Christians thrown to the lions and ripped to shreds, or of St. Sebastian’s entire body pierced with arrows before he finally succumbed. We may think of the loss of life, and of all that we hold dear in this life. And all of this we may interpret as failure, disgrace, chaos, destruction.

In today’s first reading, we are presented with the scenes leading up to the first Christian martyrdom, and the picture drawn is very different from what we might imagine. St. Stephen is strong, filled with the Holy Spirit, confident, and victorious. Even his enemies see his face as like to that of an angel.

Sometimes we forget that, as cruel and chaotic as their perpetrators may be, martyrdoms don’t occur at random, or casually. Because the persons in question are God’s chosen ones, the events are hand-choreographed with the greatest tenderness and attention to detail by the Creator of the Universe Himself. The martyrs themselves sense it, and they are filled with joy, even at the hour of their death.

And so, if we have nothing to fear in martyrdom, what can be said of the other, smaller tragedies that befall us? If we belong wholly to God, will He not choreograph the more minor occurrences of our lives with similar tender care? And if He is with us, who can be against us? (cf. Rm. 8:31)

As such we must heed the words of Jesus in today’s gospel: “Do not work for food that perishes but for the food that endures for eternal life, which the Son of Man will give you.”

Along with the grace of their martyrdom itself, the martyrs received a profound consciousness of the value of earthly life vs. eternal life, and had their hearts set on the latter. Whether or not we become martyrs, they provide a relevant message for our earth-centered age.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: Ask Jesus to plant your heart firmly in heaven. Ask Him to teach you to spend your life and your love on offering every moment to Him, seconding His Cross, that more persons may arrive there.

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December 26, 2020December 22, 2020

The Reason for the Season

This is a reflection on the Mass readings of the day.

It may seem very puzzling that the day after we celebrate the beautiful, peaceful, consoling reality of God’s initiative to come into our world and become a human being to save us, we have the feast of the first martyr. We have a reading with a scene of violence, and a Gospel passage with a prediction of persecution–albeit together with a promise of the guiding company of the Holy Spirit.

But really, if we look beyond the moment of violence at St. Stephen’s martyrdom, what we find is the ultimate fulfillment of the entire purpose and inspiration behind God’s decision to take on flesh.

As Stephen suffered at the hands of his persecutors, he saw heaven open up before him, and saw Jesus standing at God’s right hand. As he was attacked, here lay his focus.

Stephen was reaching that exalted destiny God had won for him by taking on flesh at the Incarnation and taking that flesh to the cross.

We celebrate in this Christmas octave how Jesus has come to earth for us. But as today’s gospel points out to us, our brief life here on earth is still to be one of difficult travails. We’ve got a difficult journey ahead of us, as St. Stephen did, if we wish to reach the prize that Jesus’ Incarnation won for us. But won it for us He has; our destiny it is; and this octave of Christmas can be one of unmitigated joy as we celebrate not only the Incarnation of God that won for us this destiny, but also the anticipation of the destiny itself.

Ideas for conversation with the Lord: In your Christmas meditation, look beyond the tenderness of the Nativity scene. Ask Jesus why He underwent the immense humiliation and unpleasant path of taking on human flesh. Ask Him His hopes for your destiny, against the backdrop of this feast day, wherein we celebrate St. Stephen’s attainment of his.

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