Martyr (n.): A person who is put to death or endures great suffering on behalf of any belief, principle or cause. This is one of the many definitions I found on dictionary.com.
Today’s first reading tells us the story of the martyrdom of St. Stephen, who is widely recognized as the first Christian martyr. A deacon in the early Church, his teachings angered many people and so they desired to put him to death. Rather than renounce his beliefs and teachings, Stephen instead faced the cruelty of stoning.
Unfortunately, martyrdom is not some ancient, out-of-touch practice but something that has been present in modern times. Take the recent attack in Sri Lanka on Easter morning, for example. Or back in 2015, the Egyptian Coptic martyrs killed by ISIS.
The cold, hard reality is this – just how far are we willing to go for our faith? Are we ready, willing and able to follow behind Jesus with our crosses on the road to Calvary? Or are we lukewarm? Catholic when it’s convenient to us?
Martyrdom aside, we often face many difficulties and persecutions when it comes to sharing or even simply practicing our faith. Those persecutions can take many different forms – a child who says the words “under God” in the Pledge of Allegiance in a public school gets reprimanded, an employee forced to work on a Sunday to cover a shift, among others.
The fear of persecution, however, can almost do more harm as we choose to stay silent instead, choose to follow the cultural norms. Wishing someone a “Happy Holidays” instead of a “Merry Christmas,” just to name one. We’re fearful of offending someone and being labeled as insensitive or worse – being labeled a Christian.
Christianity isn’t easy, friends! Remember earlier when I asked, “Are we ready, willing and able to follow behind Jesus with our crosses on the road to Calvary?” It’s literally an invitation, an exhortation, from Jesus himself (Matthew 16:24). Persecution comes with the territory.
And sometimes we might not enjoy what is being told to us. We might even hate it. It might make us angry, infuriate us. But it is important that the message doesn’t fall on dead ears, like the elders and the scribes in the first reading. Otherwise, we’ll find ourselves, stone in hand, ready to throw. This time, who will we be aiming at
Erin is a Parma Heights, Ohio, native and a 2016 graduate of the Franciscan University of Steubenville. She uses her communication arts degree in a couple of different ways: first, as an Athletic Communications Assistant at Baldwin Wallace University and, secondly, as a youth minister at her home parish of Holy Family Church. Although both of her jobs are on complete opposite spectrums, she truly enjoys being able to span the realm of communications. You can follow her on multiple Twitter accounts – @erinmadden2016 (personal), @bwathletics (work) and @HFVision (youth ministry).
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