The month of November began with the great feast of All
Saints. There are many types of saints canonized over the centuries. Saints who
were Holy Popes, priests, and deacons; saints who were married or widowed; saints
who were religious brothers and sisters who remained unmarried and consecrated
themselves to Jesus for their whole of life; saints whose names and stories we
know, and saints whose names we will only learn in heaven.
A very special group of saints is known as the martyrs. The
word martyr comes from the Greek word for witness. The martyrs witness, they
testify, they tell the world about Jesus, not only through their preaching and
teaching, but to the point of death.
Today, the Church honors the martyr St. Josephat, a Catholic
bishop who was killed by a mob of people who hated the Pope. St. Josephat
witnessed to the truth that Jesus created the Church and organized it to have a
spiritual leader, the pope, who governs the Church in faithfulness to Jesus. Not
everyone believes this, but this was the will of Jesus. For defending this
truth, Josephat was killed.
Christians like Josephat are worthy of our praise and
imitation: Christians who are willing to stand up for the truth, even when it
brings them the hatred of the world.
In his most famous sermon, the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus
said, “Blessed are they who are persecuted for the sake of righteousness for
theirs is the kingdom of heaven” Here Jesus makes a promise. If you are willing
to suffer for preaching and seeking the truth that comes from God, your reward
will be heaven.
The martyrs, like St. Josephat are counted among the blessed
ones of heaven because they were willing to be persecuted, hated, mocked,
arrested, tortured, and killed for the sake of what was right—the truth
proclaimed by Jesus and His Catholic Church.
Josephat didn’t water down the truth. He taught it with
clarity. He didn’t hide the truth. He taught it boldly. And he did so because
He loved the Truth—He loved Jesus and His Church and wanted to gather everyone
into the unity of the Church, as Jesus prayed for, as we heard in the Gospel
today, “I pray that they may be one”.
Through the intercession of St. Josephat and all of the holy
martyrs, may each of us have the wisdom to seek the highest truth, the truth
revealed by the Most High God, and the courage to witness to it, for the glory
of God and the salvation of souls.
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