This past Sunday the Holy Father beatified nearly 500 Spanish martyrs. Politics aside, the message of the Holy Father was quite clear: Martyrdom can come to anyone.
Adding such a great number of martyrs to the list of beatified persons shows that the supreme witness of giving blood is not an exception reserved only to some individuals, but a realistic possibility for all Christian people. It includes men and women of different ages, vocations and social conditions, who pay with their lives in fidelity to Christ and his Church.
But what do we make of martyrdom today? Most times we think of martyrdom as something that happens to other people at other times and places. Not for our world, and certainly not in our country, nor in our time.
However, the Gospel tells another story. To follow Christ is to follow him unto death usque ad mortem, mortem autem crucis. To shed one’s blood for Christ is an incalculable gift of God, not only for the disciple in question, but also as a witness to the world, that Jesus Christ is worth dying for.
Lastly, the Holy Father made reference to the so-called “white martyrdom” that the rest of us are called to live out. This bloodless martyrdom is nonetheless filled with just as many sufferings and persecutions. May we be faithful to our call to follow the cross diariamente.
This martyrdom of ordinary life is a particularly important witness in the secularized societies of our time. It is the peaceful battle of love that all Christians, like Paul, have to fight tirelessly; the race to spread the Gospel that commits us until death. May Mary, Queen of Martyrs and Star of Evangelization, help us and assist us in our daily witness.
