FEBRUARY 6 ST. PAUL MIKI AND COMPANIONS, martyrs
The paranoid egotism of Herod who wished to "save face" after making a public drunken promise to his stepdaughter when she pleased him with a dance performance led to the immediate death of John the Baptist. The lurid account is most extensively described in the Gospel According to Mark. The whole episode is re-enacted in Richard Strauss' opera, SALOME', the name that tradition has given the girl - head on the platter included!
The Japanese martyrs, whose feast day we celebrate today, were victims of a kind of cultural paranoia. Christianity was seen as a foreign element that threatened Japanese religious practices (Shinto) which include, even today, ancestor worship. Martyrs can seem to be distant heroes. The term, "martyr," is being applied nowadays to anyone who dies for a particular cause or belief. The original Greek word means "witness." At one time, it could be dangerous to be a Catholic in the USA, or a Protestant in certain "Catholic" countries. Religious riots are still events in certain parts of Asia! The 20th century saw the deaths of Archbishop Oscar Romero and the Jesuits and Maryknoll sisters in El Salvador!
Faith can be dangerous. We are not all in danger of martyrdom, thank goodness, but we cannot lose awareness of our brothers and sisters who are in such danger and keep them in our prayers as well as work for religious peace through missionary efforts. The feast of Sts. Paul Miki SJ and companions can serve as a reminder. AMEN