St. Ignatius Delgado, Friar and Bishop
St. Vincent Liam, Friar and Priest
St. Dominic An-Kham, Lay Dominican and Husband
And Companions
Martyrs for the faith

November 24

“Blest are those persecuted for holiness sake; the reign of God is theirs?”

In June 1988 Pope John Paul II declared 117 martyrs of the 18th and 19th centuries who we honor today as saints of the church. They were bishops, priests, priest’s fraternity of St. Dominic, Dominican laity and the faithful from Dominican missions.

Are we among the martyrs of today in the 21st century suffering recognizing the power of God’s name in us to extend God’s healing and preaching of the Risen Jesus? Are we among the people seeing abuse of power, unaccountability, and deception in the hierarchal church calling for a change of heart, a call to conversion? Are we a community of faith in transition ministering with people of all walks of life?

In the Gospel of Matthew, his community experienced religious upheaval, conflict of authority, interpretation of the law and cultural clashes. His community was a community in transition experiencing persecution. Michael Crosby in his book, Spirituality of the Beatitudes writes that Matthew wrote the last beatitude because he wanted to reassure his community about two things. “First, if their lives incarnated the previous beatitudes, they would become a scandal to the world’s authorities (as well as to some of the church leaders:; consequently, they could expect rejection and persecution. Second, if they were persecuted, it would be a concrete sign that they had been faithful.”

Blest are those persecuted for holiness sake: the reign of God is theirs. Blest are you when they insult you and persecute you and utter every kind of slander against you because of me. Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is great in heaven; they persecuted the prophets before you in the very same way. (Matt. 5:10-12)

Are we among the people unlike Matthew’s community experiencing religious upheaval, conflict of authority, interpretation of the law, cultural clashes and other abuses? Are we among the people unlike Matthew’s community in transition implementing the beatitudes experiencing persecution? Are we practicing what we preach?

Are we among the people of today’s martyrs in the Name of the Risen Jesus? “Blest are those persecuted for holiness sake; the reign of God is theirs?”