Martyrdom

Oh, the things you can find that suddenly seem so obvious when you had been completely oblivious to it previously. The Saint of the Day books I use for meditation purposes carry a lot of information. For obvious reasons, there are a fair number of people who have been martyred for their beliefs who have become saints. Considering I am an American who has never gone farther away than Canada, the likelihood of being martyred for being Catholic are slim to none.

Not to minimize loss of life, but the book today mentioned how we can be "martyred" as we defend our Catholic beliefs in regards to abortion, embryonic stem cell research, and other controversial religion based belief conflicts. I cannot, by any stretch of the imagination, claim to be martyred because of my beliefs. However, I can understand the trepidation one feels and the courage it takes to express your beliefs in the face of those who disagree. It is food for thought in how I treat the opinions and beliefs of others.