Let us get ready to become martyr.

Let us get ready to become martyrs.
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Being a Christian has never been easy.

It is more so in this present world,

where antichristian values are predominant.

Christ Himself has told us that we will be persecuted and hated because we follow Him.

Silence isn’t easy when people yell vile insults at us,

but it is not anymore than what Our Lord endured for us.

"If the world hates you, be sure that it hated me before it learned to hate you." (John.15:18)

When we are tormented we will feel like fighting back,  but that itself will be unchristian.

Just think about the passion of our Lord.

How patiently He underwent the suffering till the very last!

42 "He saved others, they said, he cannot save himself. If he is the king of Israel, he has but to come down from the cross, here and now, and we will believe in him.

 43 He trusted in God; let God, if he favours him, succour him now; he told us, I am the Son of God." (Matthew.27:42,43)

How insulting and painful would these words have been to Jesus!

But He bore them patiently without even a single word back.

In the present situation too,  when we are taunted
all we can do is silently endure the hatred the same way Our Lord did.

We can offer it up to Him and unite it to His suffering.

Our suffering is never go wasted.

Some people may even misinterpret or misrepresent our silence.

Here I recall the silence of a
Kerala Catholic priest, Rev.Fr. Benedict Onamkulam.

He kept absolute silence all his life at  the expense of his  precious good name and in spite of the death penalty inflicted on him.

He was tortured for his refusal to divulge a confessional secret, for keeping which he was ready to sacrifice his life.

He had been accused of murdering Mariakutty, a Catholic woman, after impregnating her.

She was found dead with stab wounds June 16, 1966.

The police arrested Father Onamkulam.

The trial court condemned the priest to death for rape and murder.

Though the high court acquitted him for lack of evidence,  the bad name earned by his silence persisted.

After 34 years, 

an old lady, aged 93, revealed the fact that the murder was done by her husband, a doctor,

at the insistence of an estate owner, who had impregnated her.

After murdering the woman he had made  confession to the priest, the secret of which he kept all his life at the expense of his good name .

If the murderer's wife had not revealed the truth, he would have died with the bad name.

but, thank God, he has died as a saintly priest. 

Catholics in Kerala state,  expressed joy over the vindication of the  priest,

34 years after he was sentenced to death.

Now he is in heaven.

The political atmosphere of the present time predicts

that we must be ready for   a religious persecution,

when we will have to prove our Faith at the cost of our life.

Let us get ready to become martyrs, with Jesus by our side.

Lourdu Selvam.