In the third century, the Roman Emperor Valerian ordered
that Christians take part in the state religious ceremonies and forbade them to
assemble for Christian worship, threatening with death anyone who was found to
disobey the order. Today’s saint, Sixtus,
was Pope during this terrible time. For
nearly a year, Sixtus managed to perform his functions as chief Pastor of the
Church without being arrested. However,
in August of 258, Valerian issued a far crueler edict. It simply and coldly ordered bishops,
priests, and deacons to be put to death. .
On August 6, 258, Pope Sixtus II and his companions, four
deacons, were seized while celebrating Mass in the Catacomb of Callistus in
Rome. They were beheaded that same day.
“Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up
his cross, and follow me,” Our Lord says in the Gospel today. Pope Sixtus, those four deacons, thousands of
martyrs over the centuries could have saved their lives by denying Jesus. The Christians during the Reign of Valerian
could have gone along with the Emperor’s edict, offered the pagan sacrifice,
gone along with the state sponsored religious persecution. Had they done so, done only would they have
saved their lives, but it may have also meant promotions in the business world,
it may have meant getting ahead in the world of politics, it may have meant
less religious arguments with their family.
The edict of Valerian has been issued over and over
throughout the centuries: deny Jesus to save your life, deny your faith, to get
ahead. Skip Sunday Mass, so the kids can
get in their sports practice in order to become world famous athletes.
But Jesus reminds us what is at stake here: “What profit
would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life?” Christianity is not a social club, it’s about
regaining our souls which were lost to sin, that we may come to eternal life.
In the Opening prayer we asked God to make us “courageous in
confessing the faith, just as you granted Saint Sixtus and his companions that
they might lay down their lives for the sake of your word and in witness to
Jesus.”
Confession of the Christian faith in the midst of all of the
worldly temptations, all of the earthly pressures, requires courage. And we need to keep the martyrs, like Sixtus,
always in mind. For they are our true
teachers: they show us what Christian courage looks like, what courageously
living the faith really means—how to draw close to the Lord, to hold fast to
the faith, and to witness with our lives for the Glory of God and Salvation of
Souls.
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