The Age of the Martyrs and the Twenty-First Century Man

By Michael J. Spoula

W
e live in a modern world where at least in America we are free to believe
in what we want to believe and to worship how we would like to, or not. In
the early years of the Church this was not the case. In the Roman Empire
people were expected to worship the national gods, such as Jupiter, Apollo and
others. Most of the empire realized that these gods were nonsense, but they
followed the law and offered sacrifice, usually in the form of a pinch of incense
thrown on a hot coal before a statue. When the empire began to crumble and
barbarians appeared to be getting the upper hand on all sides the various emperors
would demand a return to the national religion. He would also then punish those
who would not sacrifice to the gods. The most serious malcontents were the
Christians. They proved themselves to be the most obstinate in refusing to honor
idols. For this they were tortured and executed. Those with Roman citizenship
received the mercy of the axe while those who were not citizens were sent to the
arena to amuse the blood thirsty crowds. In spite of this they went to their deaths
encouraging their fellow Christians as they claimed the martyr’s crown of glory. It
was their blood that contributed to the growth of the church. Their example of
enduring pain and suffering for their beliefs converted others. There are stories
where the guards bringing the saints to the point of execution were so impressed by
the courage and love these people expressed that they converted and underwent
the same fate. The martyrs were counter culture. They taught more through their
actions then a hundred preachers could.

T
oday in the twenty-first century the Church is once again under fire. The
persecutions that are ongoing in America are not of the bloody kind. We are
too civilized for that. The persecution of the Catholic Church comes at the
hands of the public press. It should be noted that I am the first person to say that
those priests that abused others should be ousted from their office and when
appropriate be sent off to jail. This is NOT the persecution I am speaking of. All of
us, Catholic, protestant, atheistic types, should be outraged at outrageous conduct.
The conduct of the few is allowing the liberal press, television and radio to paint
with broad strokes where fine lines would be more appropriate. Television, when it
portrays a priest or a religious Catholic, portrays him or her as some kind of ninny or
oddball. The true fact is that the vast majority of Roman Catholics are neither
ninnies nor oddballs. The vast majority of Roman Catholic lay people are ordinary
Americans who have many of the same values that are shared with their protestant
brothers and sisters. Yet persecution of the Church remains the last allowable
prejudice. There is a reason for this. It is because the Church is counter culture.
She remains steadfastly true to the doctrine handed down from Christ and the
Apostles. Up until the 1930’s, the Catholic Church and every other Christian
denomination had one thing in common. Respect for life, abhorrence of birth control
and the destruction of human babies through abortion. This respect for life
stretched all the way back through time to people such as Luther and Calvin. In the
1930’s some protestant denominations began to accept artificial birth control.
These very same denominations today are on the side of pro-death to unborn
babies which they couch in terms such as “right to choose.”

S
o it would make sense then for the devil to skip over the denominations and
people who are already on his side by virtue of abandoning the side of God
and for him to concentrate on those that still hold to the old ways, to the old
truths, to the principles passed down from Jesus and the Apostles. And you can bet
that he is working overtime in these final days as time closes in on itself. He needs
to claim souls while he can, for soon, no matter if tomorrow or a million tomorrows
from today Jesus will return and claim his righteous victory.

T
oday in twenty-first century then we have martyrs that remain alive and who
endure much for the Faith of the Apostles. Yet they fight on. There are
amazing parallels that can be drawn between the Roman Empire and America
today. Abortion was rampant in the empire and morals were loose. The birth rate
was not keeping up with the death rate and the young were in increasingly short
supply. As America is being attacked from barbarians from the east, so to wasthe
empire. Eventually, darkness swept over Europe as the barbarians triumphed over
Rome. Pray that God moves his hand to stop the darkness of the mid east from
sweeping over Europe and America.

W
hat can we do? We can repent and return to God. We can be less selfish
and more loving by accepting the children he sends to us. We can stem
the tide, it is not too late, but it is getting close. Let us pray that the
Catholic Church remains strongly committed to the Gospel. The Church stands as a
bulwark against the approaching darkness that is almost upon us. Praise beto God
that he said that the power of hell will not prevail against it.