CHRISTIANS DO NOT
BELONG TO THE WORLD
Fr. Francis Nguyen, O.P.
Dear Sisters
and Brothers in Christ,
Today we
celebrate the solemnity of the holy martyrs in Viet Nam. Who are the holy martyrs in Viet Nam?
They are thousand
and thousand men and women died for their faith in Christ Jesus during the
early days of Christian mission in Viet Nam, from the XVI through the XIX
centuries. Of those victims of persecution and oppression against religious
freedom, 118 were canonized as heroes of the Catholic Church by the great Saint
John Paul II in 1988.
The
suffering and death of the holy martyrs remind us of this reality that we,
Christians, do not belong to the world.
Christ told His disciples of this truth in order that they should not
try in vain to compromise their faith as though they were able to serve God and
Caesar on the same ground and at the same time.
We are
living in the world and we, as citizens of the world, have rights and
obligations toward the world. But, in
dealing with this double responsibility, we get the guidance from the Lord’s crystal-clear
teaching: “Repay to Caesar what belongs to Caesar, and to God what is God’s.” This means without any confusion that the
only choice which Christians must make, sometimes at so high a cost, even that
of their own lives, is faithfulness to God.
It is pretty
ironic, as Christ taught us this in the Gospel Reading which we have just
listened to, that the more violent the world hate campaign turns, the prouder
the believers in Christ feel, for this is the very convincing proof that they
belong to Christ. ““If the world hates
you, realize that it hates me first. If
you belonged to the world, the world would love its own; but because you do not
belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates
you.”
Pope Francis
also taught something similar saying that there would be no problem with others
with whom you work for the poor, the sick, the victims of of forms of social
illness. But when you tell them the
reason for your unconditional commitment, they no longer show you the same
welcoming reaction as they did a while ago.
The examples
of bravery left us by the holy martyrs send us this message that in any of the
unfavorable circumstances occurring in today’s society where we, Christians,
are doing our job as light of the world, salt of the earth, leaven in the dough,
we should not lose our hearts or give up our living witness to the saving and
liberating Good News of Christ.
We are
called to speak out—sometimes not necessarily by word of mouth—the truth
against all forms of injustice, violation of human dignity and rights, no
matter who the criminals may be.
Only by
living up to the spirit of fearless service of Christ’s just cause with which
the holy martyrs inspire us can we be held worthy of their heroic sacrifices,
and thus our celebration of their victory meaningful.
