Ruminations of an Irascible Hermit.: Martyrdom, Holiness and Reform

Tuesday, October 10, 2023

Martyrdom, Holiness and Reform - the keys of Catholicism

The other day in the Office of Readings I saw these two wonderful quotes from the 2nd Reading for each of the optional memorials. They are very timely reminders for us all.

St Ambrose excellently explains how as Christians, our everyday life is a form of martyrdom - it is a witness of yess to Christ and no to the world. Etymological the word is from Anxient Greek μάρτυς (mártus = “witness”). So a martyr and witness in Biblical Greek are synonymous and the same word can mean both someone who dies for their faith, or someone who is a witness of their faith through their way of life (Rev 12:11)

Then there is the passage from St John Leonardi who started a religious congregation of Clerks Regular (priests who live together but not with solemn vows, Oratorians and Somascans are examples of this) who would promote religious instruction to young children. This was part of his contribution to Counter-Reformation Catholicism after the Council of Trent addressed the accusations of the Protestants and dogmatically addressed the Catholic doctrines on grace, free will, the sacraments, canon of scripture, the sacrifice of the Mass, salvation, merit, justification, Church reform against corruption and it established seminaries for the training of priests to address the issues of immorality and lack of doctrine among the clergy. So teasing his remarks on Church reform from that era after the Council of Trent, and then seeing them today with the issues of never ending discussion of Church reform and the Synod on Synodality - helps to refocus us on what Pope Benedict and all the saints have taught. Reform must be begin and end in the personal holiness of us all, each and every member of the Chur ch. Holiness needs to be the norm for us all, not the exception of a few saints raised to the glory of the altars and proclaimed saints. This was one of the best insights and emphasis of Vatican II - the universal call to holiness, rooted in common baptismal consecration. All of us must become holy in loving God and neighbour, the more we live in God’s Will and the more we love God, then the more grace can perfect us and the Holy Spirit can guide us and the Church into all truth (John 16:13-15).

Holiness, Reform and the witness of martyrdom are all linked. Each of us must be witnesses of Christ, who deny our sinful desires out of love for Christ and this martyrdom of self denial is our witness to the world of our “Fiat” - our YES to Jesus. The more we say yes to Jesus, the more we can love him and our neighbour, the more we reform ourselves in holiness, the more that each member of the Church benefits from it personally through the Communion of Saints and the Mystical Body of the Church. Then after personal holiness and reform, that’s where structural and institutional change can occur within the hierarchy, and then our shepherds can feed us better and protect us better once they have been uplifted and strengthened by our prayers and intercession. In the Church everything is interconnected in love and the unity of the Holy Spirit who is the bond uniting us all (Ephesians 4:3), vivifying us and sanctifying us through the Sacraments that Jesus handed onto the Church to continue effecting his power and victory to his sheep he loves.

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Disclaimer

Please note. I am a Catholic layman, not a qualified theologian or philosopher. What I say and write here are my own personal thoughts and ideas, although I always try to conform my writings to the Magisterium of the Church.

I- with firm faith believe and profess everything that is contained in the symbol of faith: namely,

I believe in one God, the Father, the Almighty, maker of heaven and earth, of all that is seen and unseen. I believe in one Lord, Jesus Christ, the only Son of God, eternally begotten of the Father, God from God, Light from Light, true God from true God, begotten, not made, one in Being with the Father. Through him all things were made. For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven: By the power of the Holy Spirit, he was born of the Virgin Mary, and became man. For our sake he was crucified under Pontius Pilate; he suffered, died and was buried. On the third day he rose again in fulfillment of the Scriptures; he ascended into heaven and is seated at the right hand of the Father. He will come again in glory to judge the living and the dead, and his kingdom will have no end. I believe in the Holy Spirit, the Lord, the giver of life, who proceeds from the Father and the Son. With the Father and the Son he is worshipped and glorified. He has spoken through the Prophets. I believe in the one holy catholic and apostolic church. I acknowledge one baptism for the forgiveness of sins. I look for the resurrection of the dead, and the life of the world to come. Amen.

With firm faith I believe as well everything contained in God's word, written or handed down in tradition and proposed by the church--whether in solemn judgment or in the ordinary and universal Magisterium--as divinely revealed and called for faith.

I also firmly accept and hold each and every thing that is proposed by that same church definitively with regard to teaching concerning faith or morals.

What is more, I adhere with religious submission of will and intellect to the teachings which either the Roman pontiff or the college of bishops enunciate when they exercise the authentic Magisterium even if they proclaim those teachings in an act that is not definitive.