Word to the Wise
Wednesday, June 2, 2010 - Wednesday in the Ninth Week in Ordinary Time
[2 Timothy 1:1-3, 6-12 and Mark 12:18-27]I am grateful to God, whom I worship with a clear conscience as my ancestors did, as I remember you constantly in my prayers, night and day. For this reason, I remind you to stir into flame the gift of God that you have through the imposition of my hands. For God did not give us a spirit of cowardice but rather of power and love and self-control. [2 Timothy]
If one were to look at the various feast days being celebrated this week, one would see a crowd of martyrs! Yesterday we celebrated St. Justin. Today we could celebrate the optional memorials of Sts. Marcellinus and Peter (not THE St. Peter). Tomorrow, Sts. Charles Lwanga and companions; Friday, St. Peter of Verona, the first Dominican martyr. Saturday, the bloodbath comes to an end with St. Boniface, the Apostle to Germany! The period of time represented in these events runs from the earliest days of the church to the 19th century. They are reminders to us of just how far a spirit of "power and love and self-control" could take us! Gulp!!! Martyrdom is serious business! Most of us don't think about it often. But the ultimate result of martyrdom is not the issue. It is the question of courage of our convictions! The very word, "martyr," means "witness." We can easily dismiss (unintentionally?) the possibility of dying for our faith, given our cultural circumstances, but that still leaves us with the question of what our courage WILL allow us to do as a matter of faith? Are we willing to go door to door and invite people to come to Mass at our parish? (My parishioners once told me, "Oh no! Father! That's what the Protestants do!") Are we willing to write a letter to a governing body protesting legislation that clearly violates the dictates of God's law? The gap between dying for the faith and knocking on a door or putting pen to paper (or fingers to computer keyboard) is considerable, but they all take courage inspired by faith. Bearing witness to faith is part of our baptismal commitment. The Letter to Timothy reminds us that we have received a spirit of "power and love and self-control." How would anyone else know it if we don't show it? AMEN
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