The Sixth Sunday of Easter (A)
Dear brothers and sisters,
If you think back to February 15, 2015, you may recall a horrific sight: twenty-one men dressed in orange jumpsuits marched in a single-file line along the shore of Libya. Soldiers of the Islamic State made the men kneel on the beach because they were known to be “the people of the Cross.” The Islamic State militants, dressed and masked in black, held knives to the men’s throats, using them to sever their heads. As they were beheaded, “no one screams, only a jumble of soft voices [were] audible: Ya Rabbi Yasou!—'Oh my Lord Jesus!’—the quick prayer of the dying.”[1] We saw the waters colored with their blood lap up on the shore because they sanctified “Christ as Lord in their hearts” (I Peter 3:15). Their adherence to Cruficied Love cost them their earthly lives, but they knew, as the Lord himself said, that “whoever would save his life will lose it, and whoever loses his life for my sake will find it” (Matthew 16:25). This is what faith looks like.
The Islamic State filmed the martyrdom of those twenty-one men hoping to incite terror in the hearts of Christians. The videos and pictures of their martyrdoms did indeed shock the world; most people seemed unaware such killings still take place in the modern world, erroneously thinking the age of martyrs ended centuries ago. But as shocking as their deaths were, they also inspired others to take up the Cross and receive Baptism into the Death and Resurrection of Christ Jesus or to live their faith more intentionally because “those who defame your good conduct may themselves be put to shame” (I Peter 3:16). This is as it has always been. In the year 197, in modern-day Tunisia, the north African Christian Tertullian said semen est sanguinis Christianorum: “the blood [of martyrs] is the seed of Christians.”[2] The witness of the martyrs has always strengthened the faith of their brothers and sisters and brought new members into the fold of the Good Shepherd.
At the time of their deaths, Pope Francis said, “the blood of our Christian brothers and sisters is a testimony which cries out to be heard. It makes no difference whether they be Catholics, Orthodox, Copts or Protestants. They are Christians! Their blood is one and the same. Their blood confesses Christ.”[3]
These men were not Catholics; they were members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, whose members are not currently in union with the Bishop of Rome, but progress is being made in this regard. This past week the Coptic Orthodox Pope, Tawadros II, met with Pope Francis, who on Thursday made a surprising announcement:
I have no words to express my gratitude for the precious gift of a relic of the Coptic martyrs killed in Libya on 15 February 2015. These martyrs were baptized not only in water and the Spirit, but also in blood, with a blood that is a seed of unity for all followers of Christ. I am pleased to announce today that, with Your Holiness' consent, these twenty-one martyrs will be included in the Roman Martyrology as a sign of the spiritual communion uniting our two Churches.[4]
This exercise of the power of the keys entrusted to Saint Peter and his successors is a clear recognition of the “ecumenism of blood” Pope Francis has regularly spoken of and a great hope for the full union of the Coptic Orthodox Church – and all of the Orthodox Churches - with the Catholic Church.
Of these twenty-one men, twenty of them were from Egypt and were members of the Coptic Orthodox Church, many of them from the same village. They had gone to Libya searching for work to support their families back in Egypt. The other of the twenty-one, Matthew Ayariga – was from Ghana. The soldiers of the Islamic State did not think he was a Christian and were ready to release him if he would profess faith in Allah. He refused, knowing what his decision would mean, and simply said, “Their God is my God.”[5]
These martyrs of Libya give witness to what the Lord Jesus says today: “Whoever has my commandments and observes them is the one who loves me. And whoever loves me will be loved by my Father, and I will love him and reveal myself to him” (John 14:21). Their love for Jesus led those martyrs to give their lives in love of him who first loved them (cf. I John 4:10). In doing so, they proved what Saint Augustine once said, namely, “By works is love made manifest as no fruitless application of a name.”[6]
Those martyrs now call out to us, “Hear now, all you who fear God, while I declare what he has done for me” (Psalm 66:16). What is it God did for them? Because God did not save them from the cruelty of the Islamic State, some today might say God did little for them, but these do not understand the ways of God. First, God gave them a share in his divine life when they were incorporated into Jesus Christ through Baptism, either through a Baptism or water or through a Baptism of blood. Second, God allowed them to be so closely united to Jesus that they willingly shared in his death; he gave them a share in the glory of the Cross. Third, God said to them, “Do not be afraid of anything that you are going to suffer. Indeed, the devil will throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and you will face an ordeal for ten days. Remain faithful until death, and I will give you the crown of life” (Revelation 2:10). This is why a brother of one of those men said just after they were martyred that their families were “congratulating one another” and said, “We are proud to have this number of people from our village who have become martyrs.”[7] This is what faith looks like and now, from heaven, the martyrs of Libya proclaim all of this to us and urge us also to be faithful until death.
The witness of these Twenty-One poses a stark challenge to us: Are we also known to be “the people of the Cross?” Do we live the faith in such a way that others know us to belong to Christ? As we go about our daily tasks, do others know us to be Christians, or simply nice people? What do we do to proclaim the Christ to those around us (cf. Acts 8:5)?
Our heads, too, dear brothers and sisters, have also been carrying the cross for a long time. When our parents and godparents brought us to the church to receive the grace of Baptism, the priest or deacon said to us, “I claim you for Christ our Savior by the sign of his cross” as he traced it upon our foreheads. When we were sealed with the seven-fold gift of the Holy Spirit, the Bishop anointed our foreheads with the sacred chrism in the form of the Cross, as he said to us, “Receive the gift of the Holy Spirit.” On Ash Wednesday the blessed ashes are placed on our heads in the sign of the Cross when the minister said to us, “Remember you are dust and to dust you shall return,” or, perhaps, “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Gospel.” Each time the Cross is traced upon our foreheads we received a summons to a total adherence to Christ. Have we been faithful to this call?
Most of us will not be called upon to shed our blood for Jesus, but each of us must be witnesses of Jesus in the world. Each of us must love him by loving our neighbors. Each of us must keep his commandments and speak of what he has done for us. Our faith cannot simply be a private affair; of its very nature, it must be public, it must evangelistic, it must be shared or else it is simply the fruitless application of a name. May these holy Twenty-One teach us to sanctify Christ as Lord in our hearts that, we, too, might be witnesses of Jesus in the world. Amen.
[1] Martin Mosebach, “Baptism of Blood: Honoring the Coptic Martyrs,” First Things, March 2019. Accessed 11 May 2023. Available at https://www.firstthings.com/article/2019/03/baptism-of-blood.
[2] Tertullian, Apologeticus, 50.13.
[3] Pope Francis, in “Pope Francis: The blood of martyred Copts a ‘witness that cries out,’” Radio Vaticana, 16 February 2015. Accessed 11 May 2023. Available at http://www.archivioradiovaticana.va/storico/2015/02/16/pope_francis_the_blood_of_murdered_copts_a_witness/en-1123688.
[4] Pope Francis, Meeting with Pope Tawadros II, 11 May 2023. Accessed 11 May 2023. Available at https://press.vatican.va/content/salastampa/en/bollettino/pubblico/2023/05/11/230511a.html.
[5] In Luke Coppen, “The mysterious saint: Who is the 21st Coptic martyr now recognized by the Vatican?”, The Pillar, 11 May 2023. Accessed 11 May 2023. Available at https://www.pillarcatholic.com/p/the-mysterious-saint-who-is-the-21st.
[6] Saint Augustine of Hippo, Tractates on the Gospel of John, 75.5.
[7] Beshir Kamel, in Mark Woods, “Brother of slain Coptic Christians thanks ISIS for including their words of faith in murder video,” Christianity Today, 18 February 2015. Accessed 12 May 2023. Available at https://www.christiantoday.com/article/brother.of.slain.coptic.christians.thanks.isis.for.including.their.words.of.faith.in.murder.video/48412.htm?email=1.
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