Reflections in Ordinary Time

Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time - June 19, 2005

Nothing is concealed that will not be revealed, nothing is hidden that will not be made known. What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light. What you hear whispered, proclaim on the housetops. Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul.

Matthew 10: 26-28

Martyrs

We tend to think of a martyr as someone who suffers for a cause. Every religion, every nation, every social movement has its martyrs, heroic figures who gave their all for what they believed in. Christian tradition too is filled with such figures who were courageous enough to lay down their lives for their faith. But these heroic figures were not what was originally meant by the term martyr.

Martyr is one of those keywords in the Gospels that has a special meaning. It comes from a Greek word meaning witness. Every Christian who heard the proclamation of the good news and professed faith in Jesus Christ was called upon to be a witness, or martyr. So martyr originally meant not someone who died for the faith, but someone who lived for it. In this sense all of us who profess to be Christian are called upon to be martyrs.

But authentic witness of faith to the world often leads to trouble, because the core message of the Gospel is something the world does not want to hear. Jesus introduced a radical new vision of human life in his preaching. He taught that every person is a child of God to be treated with unconditional love and respect. No one is to be excluded. All human conduct is to be guided by the principle that we must love others as God loves them. Many of Jesus' hearers found this message intolerable. The world still finds it intolerable today.

If we were to give clear public witness to the core message of the Gospel today, we would probably face some form of persecution. The reason most of us are never dragged into court and thrown in jail for our faith is that there is not enough evidence to convict us. Most of us never do anything heroic. But sometimes we see things in our community or in our world that cry out for justice. Then silence is not much different from acquiescence and complicity. If we believe in the Gospel we must speak out at times.

How long will I acquiesce to neglecting the health and welfare of the poor in my community? How long will I go along with those who would exclude immigrants from the community, or deny opportunity to minorities? How long will I go along with those who would exploit women and children in poor countries for economic gain? How long will I stand by while military aggression, detention, and torture go on?

For each of us who believes deeply in the Gospel a time comes when what we have heard whispered and have pondered in our hearts must be shouted courageously from the housetops. Then we can take our place among the martyrs for the faith.

God of the universe, we worship you as Lord. God, ever close to us, we rejoice to call you Father. From this world's uncertainty we look to your covenant. Keep us one in your peace, secure in your love. We ask this through Christ our Lord. Amen.

- from the mass for the Twelfth Sunday in Ordinary Time

Read another reflection on witness.