July 12, 2025 – Saturday of the 14th week – odd year
Genesis 49:29-33; 50:15-24; Matthew 10:24-33
Homily
In the last of the Beatitudes (Matthew 5:10-12) Jesus declared blessed those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake. ‘Blessed are you,’ he said, ‘when people insult you, persecute you and falsely say all kinds of evil against you because of me.’ And he added, ‘This is how they persecuted the prophets who came before you.’ " The Gospel passage we have just read comments on and explains this beatitude in a way.
In the passage immediately preceding the text we read today, Jesus sent his disciples on a mission, telling them that he was sending them out like lambs among wolves. Even though he advised them to be as innocent as doves but as cautious as serpents, he predicted that they would be betrayed by their loved ones, persecuted, thrown into prison, and hated as he himself was hated.
Despite all this, he told them, ‘Do not be afraid!’ -- an expression that recurs like a refrain throughout this short text. Do not be afraid of those who can destroy your body but cannot reach your soul, your person. Fear only God, who can send you to hell. But he hastens to add that God is a father who cares about every detail of our lives, including, he adds, no doubt with humor, the number of hairs on our heads.
During his interrogation by Pilate, Jesus told him that he had come into the world to bear witness to the Truth (John 18:37). He calls on all his disciples never to compromise with the message of the Gospel, to call things by their name, to say ‘yes’ when it is ‘yes’ and “no” when it is ‘no’. Those who are faithful to the truth, in whatever field, pay dearly for it, sometimes with their lives.
When Christianity spread during the first Christian generations, the Roman Empire, which still dominated much of the world, had its own state religion, for which any other religion appeared to be a threat. This is why the first Christian martyrs were often put to death simply because they professed their faith in Jesus and his message, and could have saved their lives by renouncing that faith. And so it was that those who were put to death ‘in odio fidei’ (in hatred of the faith) came to be considered ‘martyrs’.
The many martyrs of the 20th century and now those of the 21st century are rarely put to death explicitly out of hatred for the faith. Those who kill them do not care about the faith at all, not even enough to hate it. These martyrs die because of their fidelity to the Gospel message and its truth. They are usually killed by the powerful of this world, whom they disturb because they side with the little ones, the poor, the oppressed. They disturb either because they proclaim, or simply because they live in truth, the Gospel message of sharing goods, respect for human dignity, and forgiveness of offences.
In our prayer today, let us remember all those who, under various types of totalitarian regimes, continue to expose themselves to persecution and even risk their lives in defense of the oppressed and in fidelity to the Gospel values of sharing, forgiveness and love.