Modern Martyrs



Image source: YouTube/TheRemnantvideoIn January 2015, 21 poor migrant workers clad in orange jumpsuits were abducted and beheaded by Daesh in Libya. All were Christian: 20 Coptic Christians from Egypt and one Christian from Ghana. They died with the words "Jesus" or "Lord Jesus Christ" on their lips. Within a week after the crime, they were acclaimed martyrs by the Coptic pope with their names listed in their martyrology with a feast day on February 15. Their remains were taken to Egypt and a church was built in their honor.

I wondered how many more  martyrs have given their lives for their faith in our lifetime. It is hard to believe such cruel treatment still persists in our modern times. This sounds more like the 1st century when the Roman kings sent Christians into an arena to be slaughtered by soldiers or torn apart by lions.

I am reminded of Sister Dorothy Stang who was murdered in Brazil in 2005 for helping poor farmers keep their land and preserve the Amazon rain forest. When ranchers, loggers, land speculators and
agribusiness became aware of the rich natural resources of the Amazon rain forest, they began to take over the land. Sister Dorothy fought for the  rights of the farmers and she was put on a death list. She was shot down while reading the Beatitudes from her bible.

I also remember the five Sister Adorers of the Blood of Christ who worked in a medical clinic and mission in Liberia in the 1980's and 1990's. They died at the hands of soldiers during the civil war started by Charles Taylor and his supporters.

Another modern martyr is Father Stanley Rother who served in Guatemala in the 1980's. He served the Indians in Santiago Atitlan and was caught in the conflict between the military government and the guerillas. He was killed at his home by some men in July 1981; his killers remain unknown.

And in El Salvador, the beloved Archbishop Oscar Romero was shot down while offering Mass in March 1980, and four church women were murdered a few months later on their way home from the airport by death squads during the civil war in that country.

There are many more that remain unknown. Their crime is being poor or working with the poor and standing up for human rights. They follow in Jesus' footsteps.




Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Image
  Limping to God I come to you, God, weather-beaten and limping, asking for forgiveness for all the times I have failed to be faithful and attentive to all those around me, especially the elderly who have run the race, the poor, the lonely and abandoned, who need my care and concern.     Is there any hope for these old bones? What will it take to change my limp into a surge of energy and a ready step? Teach me to become more caring, more responsive, more aware. Give me eyes to see and the will to act on my good intentions.   Water my dried up spirit and shriveled body, expand my shrunken heart. Give me eyes to see what you are leading me to do even as my bones creak and my legs become unsteady. Make me remember that I am here to serve, to listen, to be ready to be your hands and feet today.   Barbara Mayer, OSB    
Read more
Image
    “Wonderfully Made” When I took a college English course, our first assignment was to write an essay about whether we would rather lose our sight or lose our legs. It was a thought-provoking choice. If we became blind, we would miss seeing our loved ones and all the beauty of our world. If we could not walk, we would be hindered from traveling and moving around without help. I chose to keep my eyesight since I love to read and write and enjoy the variety and beauty that surrounds us.   Of course, I’m glad I didn’t have to make that choice in real life, but it was a thought-provoking assignment. It made me think about how much we take our bodies for granted. I began to think about all the organs, veins, arteries, canals, nerves, and bones we have in our bodies and how they all work together to keep us alive and healthy. It is not until we lose one of them that we realize how magnificent we are, created in the “image and likeness of God.” God loves each and every one of us as if
Read more
Image
  Overcoming Discouragement Sometimes discouragement and failure take over our lives, and we cannot seem to crawl out of our hole. Even if in reality they are not a true picture, we can be blinded by the seeming darkness.  It often takes another person to uncover what is hidden from us and to see through the cloudy picture.  I am reminded of a story about Bill Wilson, the founder of Alcoholics Anonymous. He tells of how he felt his dream of starting a group for people with drinking problems was not going anywhere. Then unexpectedly Father Dowling, a disheveled priest, came to his door in the middle of a snowstorm. Bill’s caretaker told him that a “damn bum” was at the door. Bill was tired but agreed to see him and in doing so had his “second conversion experience.” Bil and Father Dowling talked way into the night, and Bill told of his “high hopes and plans, and spoke about his anger, despair and mounting frustrations.”  It turned out that the elderly priest had had similar feel
Read more