They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed.
By your perseverance you will secure your lives.” [Luke 21:12-19]
Today’s gospel at Mass reminds us that following Christ is not always easy. The word “martyr” means to be a “witness” to the faith. In the early church, especially during times of persecution, to acknowledge one’s Christian faith also meant one’s death. For instance, today we celebrate Saint Catherine of Alexandria a fourth century saint:
When Catherine of Alexandria refused the emperor’s proposal for marriage, he ordered the imprisonment of Catherine of Alexandria. During her imprisonment, she was scourged so brutally that her whole body bled frequently, with steams of blood flowing. However, she didn’t show any signs of fear or suffering. She was not given food so that she would starve to death. According to Orthodox churches, angles from heaven would come to feed her and heal her wounds. It is also said that Jesus visited her as well. Catherine of Alexandria was visited by hundreds of people during her imprisonment, including Maxentius' wife, Valeria Maximilla, who converted to Christianity. After the failure of frequent torture attempts, the emperor again decided to win her over by proposing marriage. She declined, citing that Jesus Christ was her spouse. Maxentius then ordered her execution on a spiked breaking wheel. When the wheel was presented before her, it shattered after Catherine touched it. She was ordered to be beheaded at once. Her death is recorded to have occurred in c. 305.
On Monday my blog had an article about the persecution of Christians in our modern world. We might not think much about this reality but we should. Many of our brothers and sisters are suffering grievously for their faith. Cardinal Dolan is now the chairman of the bishop’s committee for religious freedom. Here is an excerpt from Monday’s blog:
But even our problems as towering as they can be at times and as ominous as the future might now seem, they pale in comparison, don’t they, to the ‘via crucis’ that is currently being walked by so many of our Christian brothers and sisters in other parts of the world who are experiencing lethal persecution.” “If our common membership in the mystical body of Christ is to mean anything, then their suffering must become ours as well,” he said. Dolan cited Pope John Paul II’s description of the present times as the “new age of martyrs.” Half of all Christian martyrs in the 2,000 year history of Christianity were killed in the 20th century alone. [Catholic News Agency article about religious freedom, 11/22/20]
Today’s gospel reading concludes by saying that “by your perseverance you will secure your lives.” By patient endurance we will win the crown of eternal life with God in heaven. What are some of the challenges? I recall reading in one book a chapter which dealt with an unconditional readiness to change our lives. It is easy to be satisfied with where we are in our spiritual lives. Or maybe as we get older we just accept who we are without a desire to grow more in holiness. Yet Jesus becomes the model for each person. Each of us is to uniquely imitate Christ the perfect role model of humanity without sin. For instance, he teaches us to love one another as he has loved us, even to the point of offering our lives for others as did Saint Catherine of Alexandria. Regarding the unconditional readiness to change, in the Second Letter of Saint Peter, we read:
he has bestowed on us the precious and very great promises, so that through them you may come to share in the divine nature, after escaping from the corruption that is in the world because of evil desire. For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, virtue with knowledge, knowledge with self-control, self-control with endurance, endurance with devotion, devotion with mutual affection, mutual affection with love. [2 Peter 1:3-7]
Another challenge for us is to not simply base our religious life on our feelings. Feelings are important but we cannot forget what our minds say to us. Sometimes we might say that we feel in our hearts that God is asking us to ….. Ok. But what do our heads tell us? For instance, sometimes in confessions a penitent might confess that he or she did not feel like going to Mass on Sunday. Fine. But what does one’s head say about the feelings? Or “I did not feel like praying today.” OK But what does one’s head say about the feelings? If holiness is our destination, we must also include our minds in the decisions that we make. Saint in his Letter to the Romans wrote:
we even boast of our afflictions, knowing that affliction produces endurance, and endurance, proven character, and proven character, hope, and hope does not disappoint, because the love of God has been poured out into our hearts through the holy Spirit that has been given to us. [Romans 5:3-5]
Another challenge for us is the realization that the word “martyr” is also the word “witness.” If we want to be witnesses to our faith, we might also become martyrs. For us, in this country, we will probably not offer our lives for the faith as Saint Catherine did. Or as many Christians in other parts of the world are doing. But we will experience the cross: rejection by friends; made fun of by others; have limits to what we do and how we act which is not understood by friends or family members; etc. But as Jesus, the Light of the World, reminds us that we too are called to be lights in the world. We don’t hide the light under a basket but put it in places where it can illuminate those who walk in the darkness of error and sin.