YOUCAT Lesson 454
YOUCAT the catechism
for Catholic youth
454 How strongly obligatory is the truth of the
faith?
Every Christian must give testimony to the truth and thereby
follow after Christ, who before Pilate said, “For this I was born, and for this
I have come into the world, to bear witness to the truth” (John 18:37) . [2472-2474]
The Stoning Saint
Stephen by Jacopo & Domenico Tintoretto . …..454
This can even mean that a Christian lays down his life out
of fidelity to the truth and love for God and mankind. This ultimate form of commitment to the truth
is called martyrdom.
“Live in such a way that you can die tomorrow as a
martyr.” Charles de Foucauld (he himself
suffered martyrdom in 1916)
Martyr (from Greek martyria=witness, testimony): A Christian
martyr is a person who is ready to suffer violence or even to be killed for
Christ, who is the truth, or for a conscientious decision made on the basis of
faith. This is precisely the opposite of
Islamist suicide assassins. They do
violence to themselves and others out of misinterpreted faith convictions and
are therefore honored by radical Islamists as “martyrs”.
The deacon Stephen was the first Christian martyr. On account of his commitment to the truth of
the Gospel, he was stoned to death outside the gates of the city of Jerusalem
between the years A.S. 36 and 40.
[2472-2474]
II. TO BEAR WITNESS TO THE TRUTH
2472 The
duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act
as witnesses of the Gospel and
of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the
faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the
truth or makes it known.( Compare Matthew 18:16.)269 –Catechism of the
Catholic Church, Second Edition
All
Christians by the example of their lives and the witness of their word,
wherever they live, have an obligation to manifest the new man which they have
put on in Baptism and to reveal the power of the Holy Spirit by whom they were
strengthened at Confirmation.( Ad
Gentes 11) 270 –CCC
2473 Martyrdom is the
supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even
unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is
united by charity. He bears witness to the truth of the faith and of Christian
doctrine. He endures death through an act of fortitude. "Let me become the
food of the beasts, through whom it will be given me to reach God."( St. Ignatius of
Antioch, Ad Rom. 4,1:Sources Chretiennes 10,110.)271 –CCC
2474 The
Church has painstakingly collected the records of those who persevered to the
end in witnessing to their faith. These are the acts of the Martyrs. They form
the archives of truth written in letters of blood: --CCC
Neither
the pleasures of the world nor the kingdoms of this age will be of any use to
me. It is better for me to die [in order to unite myself] to Christ Jesus than
to reign over the ends of the earth. I seek him who died for us; I desire him
who rose for us. My birth is approaching. . .( St. Ignatius of Antioch, Ad
Rom. 6,1-2:SCh 10,114.)272 –CCC
I bless you for having judged me worthy from this day and this
hour to be counted among your martyrs. . . . You have kept your
promise, God of faithfulness and truth. For this reason and for everything, I
praise you, I bless you, I glorify you through the eternal and heavenly High
Priest, Jesus Christ, your beloved Son. Through him, who is with you and the Holy
Spirit, may glory be given to you, now and in the ages to come. Amen.( Martyrium Polycarpi 14,2-3:Patrologia
Graeca 5,1040; SCh 10,228)273 --CCC
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