Lessons from the Liturgy: Martyrdom

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During the past week of the liturgical year, three memorial celebrations of martyred Christians have taken place.  Tuesday marked the memorial of St. Blase; Thursday, that of St. Agatha; and Friday, the memorial of St. Paul Miki and his companions.  Although each of these saints were greatly distanced from each other by time and space, there certainly was a common theme in their lives.  That theme was their love of Jesus Christ and His Church, as well as their willingness to die for the truth contained therein.

 

(Representation of the crucifixion of St. Paul Miki and his companions in Japan, 1597.  Borrowed from website of The Living Water Community)

The word "martyr" is a Greek word that is easily translated into English as "witness."  Further,  the Merriam-Webster Online Dictionary defines a martyr (in its modern, English usage) as "a person who voluntarily suffers death as the penalty of witnessing to and refusing to renounce a religion" (emphasis added).  Thus, we can conclude that the word "witness," in its original context, meant something much more radical than our modern brains contrive.  Martyrdom was something that required a total commitment of life, a total renunciation of everything but Truth.

St. Luke, who wrote in Greek, surely did not misquote Jesus Christ in the Acts of the Apostles: "you shall be my witnesses in Jerusalem and in all Judea and Samaria and to the end of the earth" (1:8).  Even before His Ascension, Jesus clearly stated that His followers would suffer the most heinous treatment in the name of the Gospel.  See Matthew 5:10-11; Matthew 10:16; Luke 10:3; Acts 7:58-60; Acts 9:1; Acts 21:30-31; 1 Peter 5:8.  So, Jesus' message was unequivocal.  To follow Jesus meant that a person would surely risk life and limb.

The three martyrs whose memorials were celebrated understood the potential for danger; and they experienced the most severe consequence of their choice to live as Christians.  Yet, the Church acknowledges that they have received that most blessed reward, which came from their refusal to renounce Christ.  Blessed and holy were they because they trusted in the Lord's promise: "Rejoice and be glad, for your reward is great in heaven, for so men persecuted the prophets who were before you" (Matthew 5:12).

The Liturgy to be celebrated on the Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time echoes a similar theme.  The problems and trials of this life have been compensated for by the hope of Eternal Life.  It matters not whether those tribulations are illness, poverty, retribution from others without just cause, or persecution for faith.  God remains faithful to those who put their trust in Him.

One of the Opening Prayers that may be heard requests, in God's "mercy and loving kindness," that "no thought of ours is left unguarded, no tear unheeded, no joy unnoticed."  The First Reading (from the Book of Job) raises a cry of misery and hopelessness to God's ear.  That hopelessness, however, seems to be undone by the claims of the Psalmist: "He [the Lord] heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds;" and "The Lord sustains the lowly..." (Psalm 147:3, 6).

Although the Sunday readings do not deal directly with a person's death, they reveal that trust in God's goodness will bring something better than earthly existence.  Indeed, He can cure us from physical disease and, more importantly, from the sins that prevent us from giving our entire life to Him, body and soul.  Let us learn that from our celebration of martyrs' memorials and from Jesus' revelation during His public ministry on earth.

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