On Wednesday’s Audience (June 28): Martyrdom is not “the supreme ideal of Christian life, for there is charity above it,” but a witness and a lifestyle that “is part” of the Gospel.
“The idea that suicide bombers may be called “martyr” is repulsive to Christians: they are not martyrs.” The Pope said in a passage of the catechesis during today’s general audience in St. Peter’s Square, a meditation on martyrdom and its connection to hope. Francis emphasized that the early Christians had a range of “many words to define their “fidelity to Jesus’s style of life” until death: “heroism, self-denial, and self-sacrifice”, yet they chose to use the word martyrdom, “which means witness”. However, martyrdom entailed not as “the supreme ideal of Christian life” for there is charity above it”, but as a “lifestyle” intrinsic to Christianity since “persecution is not in contradiction with the Gospel but part of it”. Jesus immediately warned his disciples, “Christians love, but they are not always loved.” But they must not lose hope because “God sees and protects” and is “ stronger than evil, stronger than the mafias, the hidden plots, those who enrich themselves on the backs of the desperate, those who crush others with arrogance”.
“When, in the Gospel, Jesus sends his disciples on mission, He does not fill them with illusions about easy success. On the contrary, he warns them, “the proclamation of the Kingdom of God always involves opposition”. He even goes to the extent of saying “You will be hated by all because of My Name.” Christians love, but they are not always loved. Right from the beginning, Jesus puts us in front of this reality: to a greater or lesser degree, Christian faith occurs in an atmosphere of hostility. Christians are therefore always “going against the tide”. It is normal: because in a world marked by sin, which manifests itself in various forms of egoism and injustice, those who follow Christ walk in the opposite direction. This is not because of a polemical or argumentative spirit, he explained, but because of the “Gospel logic,” which is a logic of hope, and which leads to a way of life marked out by the teachings of Jesus.
When Jesus sends them out on mission, He seems to care more about “stripping them” rather than “dressing them up”. In fact, Christians who are not humble and poor, detached from wealth and power and above all detached from themselves, do not resemble Jesus. Christians travel down the path of this world carrying only the essentials for the journey, and with a heart full of love. Christians are defeated only when they fall into the temptation of revenge and violence, responding to evil with evil. Jesus tells us, “I send you as sheep among wolves.” Therefore, with no claws, no sharp teeth, no weapons. Christians must be prudent, “and even at times cunning, these are virtues accepted by the evangelical logic. But they must never resort to violence. “To overcome evil, one cannot share the methods of evil.”
Pope Francis went on to say, “The unique strength of the Christian is the Gospel” “Persecution is not in contradiction with the gospel, but part of it: if they have persecuted our Master, how can we hope to be spared from struggling? But in the midst of the whirlwind, Christians must not lose hope, or think they have been abandoned. “God sees and surely protects; and grants redemption. Among us, there is someone who is stronger than evil, stronger than the mafias, the hidden plots, those who enrich themselves on the backs of the desperate, those who crush others with arrogance “. And so Christians always find themselves “on the other side” with regard to the world. They find themselves on the side chosen by God: “not persecutors, but persecuted, not arrogant but meek; not ‘sellers of smoke,’ but submissive to the truth; not imposters, but honest men.”
“This fidelity to Jesus’ style - which is a style of hope - until death, will be called by the early Christians with a beautiful name:” martyrdom” which means “witness” the Pope said.” “The martyrs do not live for themselves, they do not fight to affirm their own ideas; they accept the duty to die solely on account of fidelity to the Gospel.” But even giving up one’s life, he said, echoing Saint Paul, is of no value without charity.
Pope Francis finally pointed out: “The idea that suicide bombers may be called “martyr” is repulsive to Christians”: they are not martyrs, there is nothing in their death that is anywhere close to the attitudes of the children of God. Sometimes, Reading the stories of so many martyrs of yesterday and today - of whom there are more in our day then there were in the past - we are amazed by the strength with which they faced the challenges. This strength is a sign of the “great hope that animated them: the certain hope that nothing and no one could separate them from the love of God given them in Christ Jesus.” May God always grant us the strength to be His witnesses. May he give us the opportunity to live Christian hope especially in the hidden martyrdom of doing our daily duties well and with love.”
“Martyrs - the Pope said while greetings in the Arabic language - teach us that with the power of love and with meekness, we can fight against bullying, violence, war and that peace can be achieved with patience”.
Francis greeted among others an Argentine group who worked “on the encyclical Laudato Si’ and interreligious dialogue” wishing a Happy Birthday to the Muslim members of this group.
