Christian Martyrs: Our Inspiration 

St. Stephen, the first martyr

   Fr. John Hardon, S.J., once said, “Unless we recover the zeal and the spirit of the first century Christians-- unless we are willing to do what they did and to pay the price that they paid, the future of our country, the days of America, are numbered.” Now one may ask, could it have been that Fr. Hardon had a sense of where the world was going to be in the year 2012? Perhaps. Or maybe he could see that history was repeating itself in many ways. In any case, Fr. Hardon’s words are those of inspiration and wisdom, advice to the young and old alike in our world. 

   Let us take a step back and think for a moment of how the Catholic Church was greatly influenced by the early Christian martyrs. Due to the early Christians who were persecuted and fought to the point of death for their faith, the Church underwent significant development what with an increase in conversions, theological issues coming into view, and fundamental questions arising with regards to Christianity. Do we take what they did for granted? Has our world forgotten what the first century Christians as well as later saints and holy people (such as St. Joan of Arc, those who fought in the Crusades to restore Christianity to Jerusalem, St. Thomas Becket--who was murdered because he fought for rights and liberty of the Church rather than let England overtake it--, those who fought in the Cristeros war, the North American martyrs, and so many more) did to fight for their Faith or their country's freedom? Have we taken for granted the strength and integrity it took to show God that they were ready to do anything to defend His Church, to defend Him?

   To illustrate this point, we see in the first century the early Christians who , for which they were greatly persecuted. The Christians were given a mission to expand the Church for Jesus Christ, to spread the Gospel to all nations, to bring all peoples to the true faith. They were, however, as Alan Shreck writes in his book The Compact History of the Catholic Church, considered to be a secret society, enemies of the state, atheists who refused to worship the gods of Rome. The defense of the Faith was the real “crime” though, and the early Christian martyrs became inspirational witnesses in defending the Church Church, dying out of love for Christ.

   Tertullian wrote that “the blood of martyrs is the seed of the Church,” and rather than the demise of the Christians, what was seen was growth and development because of the courageous men and women defending their Faith. The growth continued; faithfulness, courageousness in times of hardship and terror-- it did not die with the death of many Christians. Grace abounded and more Christians wanted to defend and eventually died for the Faith. Polycarp, Ignatius of Antioch, Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, and so many more gave their lives for Christ. Persecution did end for the most part with Constantine, under whom Christianity was supported, considered to be a unifying force, and protected, but Christianity still needed to be and, in fact, still needs to be, defended. Because of its early defense, though, Christianity did grow all the more. The Church never failed. From the early Christian martyrs we see that because of their willingness to fight for and defend their faith, because of what they accomplished, good was brought out. Christians fought with all of their strength and something in which they believed was able to be protected, even by the government. 

  In the year 2012, we need to stand up for our beliefs and rights given to us by God. In recent times, there has been a devastating attack on the basic tenets of our religion. I am sure we would all love to see the answer to our prayers be a positive and immediate one and see our government allow Christians to have religious freedom, to witness the HHS Mandate be overthrown, for people to recognize the utter horror and complete destructiveness of abortions, for abortion to be made illegal and to be ended once and for all, for birth control to be eliminated entirely, for so many more things to be put to an end. 

St. Joan of Arc

   Our answer lies in the example of the early Christian martyrs and the martyrs throughout history: we need to keep fighting, no matter what. We can't accept or give in to doing things against our faith. There were growing pains for the early Church, and there is no denying there will be growing pains for us. As we are readying ourselves and preparing for the upcoming elections, we have as Americans the duty to vote and make our voices heard. We have the obligation to defend the unborn, to stand up for our inalienable rights endowed by God. We have the duty to fight for and defend our faith and beliefs. Let us be unafraid to evangelize and attempt to bring others to a closer union with Christ and Our Lady (especially in this Year of Faith), even if it means more persecution. Let us always remain as the apostles of Jesus Christ we are called to be, spreading the Gospel and defending our Faith with all that we have. Let us be inspired by the Word of God, by the wisdom of the Holy Spirit, and let us take a step back and be the “living stones... being built up as a spiritual house... to offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.” (Peter 2:5) Let us go forward with the ministry we are called to; let us go forward following the conscious of our call. Let the witness and inspiration of the martyrs in the history of the Church penetrate our souls and embolden our hearts. 

Works Cited

Shreck, Alan. The compact History of the Catholic Church, Ohio: Servant Books, an imprint of St. Anthony Messenger Press, 2009. Print. 

Vidmar, O.P., John. The Catholic Church Through the Ages: A History. New Jersey: Paulist Press, 2005. Print.