Thursday, July 18, 2019

Jesus and Martyrdom


Today, I'm thinking about holy martyrdom.  Recently, my family played a little game while traveling in the car.  We were to take turns naming a saint who is also a martyr and see if we could get to fifty.  My first thought was that it will be nearly impossible.  Fifty saints who were martyred?  But then I immediately thought of the apostles.  All the apostles were martyred except for Judas and St. John, right?  So I thought I could use most of my turns just naming the apostles.  Piece of cake!  But other family members, I found out, could name quite a few!  St. John the Baptist, Saints Agatha, Lucy, Agnes, Cecelia, and others named in the first Eucharist prayer at Mass.  Then there were more obscure saints that some family members knew about.  St. Tarcisius, St. Maria Goretti, St. Isaac Jogues and his companions, St. Maximillian Kolbe, etc.  Surprisingly, we got to fifty in very short order.

A short while later, I learned about another martyr, one, who, like Maximillian Kolbe, died in a Nazi concentration camp.  His name was Blessed Franz Jagerstatter.  Talk about obscure!  I recently had the privilege of attending a play about his life produced by old friends back in Nebraska.  I drove seven hours to see it and it did not disappoint.  The stories of the martyrs can be really fascinating!

What did Jesus have to say about martyrdom?  The closest I have come to answering that can be found in the gospel of Matthew, Chapter 10.  Jesus seemed to address that very topic when he said "And do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gahenna."  (Matthew 10:28).  In other words, do not be afraid of being murdered for the Christian faith.  Other human beings can kill the body but not the soul.  The one who can kill both the body and soul is in Gahenna.  In other words, the Devil.  Yes, be afraid of the Devil, but not another human being.  Give in to the death of the body for your faith, but do not give in to temptation to sin.  Sinning results in the death of the soul and without repentance and forgiveness, it is eternal.  Fear the Devil and don't give in to his temptations.

What else did Jesus say?  A few lines later in Matthew, we read this:  "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father.  But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father."  (Matthew 10:32-33).  Here is the scenario:  One, like a Nazi, points a gun at you and says "Deny your Christian faith!"  If you interpret Sacred Scripture like I do, we must say "no" and let him kill you.  Your body will be gone, but your soul will be in heaven.  If you feel that you would not have the courage, pray for strength and an increase in faith.  I recommend praying to  St. Maximillan Kolbe and Blessed Franz Jagerstatter for their intercession.  Two amazing saints!  Amen!


No comments:

Post a Comment