The witness of the martyrs

In today’s reflection on the daily mass readings, Fr Richard considers how the martyrs from church history can inspire and encourage us today.

Readings for the Feast of the Six Welsh Martyrs and their Companions: Hebrews 11.32-40; John 12.24-26

It is either deeply ironic or very appropriate that, two days after the head of the Catholic Church and the Supreme Governor of the Church of England prayed together in the Sistine Chapel, we celebrate the feast of the Six Welsh Martyrs and their Companions. These were a group of Roman Catholics – six Welsh, and 34 English – who lost their lives during the religious upheaval in England and Wales in the years following Henry VIII’s split with Rome. Happily relations between the two churches have improved somewhat since then!

The feast of any saint, and especially a martyr or group of martyrs, encourages us to think about the nature of Christian discipleship, and our readings today help us to do this. The reading from Hebrews comes at the end of a section of that letter in which the author reflects on the faith of various characters from the Old Testament. He starts with Abel and talks about Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, the people of Israel and Rahab the prostitute. By the time he gets to today’s passage he has run out of time to mention another series of heroes. His point is that they all endured much, but remained faithful to God, even though they did not have the promise of resurrection in Christ.

This promise is spelled out in today’s Gospel. Losing one’s life, as Jesus puts it, can be interpreted in two days. We can see it literally, as was the case with the martyrs; or we can see it as losing our identity when we allow our life to become totally united with Jesus. Either way, Jesus says, once we let go of worldly things we will never be far from the Lord. On this feast of the Six Welsh Martyrs and their Companions, let us be inspired by their faithfulness and also be ready to sacrifice everything for the sake of the Gospel.