Fr. Richard OMOLADE

Martyrdom is defined as the act of suffering intense agony or bearing voluntarily the sufferings that comes to one because of one’s faith or relationship with God. The word itself comes from the Greek martus which means witness. A martyr then is someone who endures persecution and ultimately death. In most cases the martyrs prefer to die rather than renounce the faith or worship false gods. It is thus clear that a martyr is a witness, a witness to the transformative power of God in his or her life.

Martyrs remind us of the power of faith and the role of God in human affairs. This value is so great and important that the martyr would rather suffer death than abandon faith or deny the role of God in their life. Martyrdom is now a close reality not a distant event. With the happenings all around us, Christians must daily prepare for martyrdom, which is witnessing. Jesus the Lord had told us that we are not of the world even if we live in the world. Our lives must reflect kingdom values, not the values of this world. Hence, He warned us not to conform to the pattern of this world, but to be transformed by the renewing of our mind (Rom 12:2).

 Christians are called to transform the world in the likeness of Christ.  We must bring the values of Jesus to shape not just our lives, but the lives of everyone around us. A Christian does not go on leave from kingdom values. We must be shaped and radiate the values of Jesus at all times and let this win souls to God and for God. Christians must bear witness to Christ at all times. They must show that their allegiance is to no one other than Christ himself. Being a Christian means being like Christ, it means not being afraid to suffer the same fate as our master. It means not being afraid of dying. Hence every Christian, young and old must have the spirit of martyrdom even if only some of us will have the grace of dying a martyr’s death. In the martyr’s death, a new seed is sown, the seed of eternal life, the seed of new faith. That’s why the martyrs were not afraid of dying, it is not the end, but the beginning of new life.

The beauty of the martyr’s death does not mean we should foolishly throw ourselves away to be killed. We must still treasure our life, because it is God’s good gift to us, but we must show death and tyrant and despots that we are not afraid of death. This was beautifully said a long time ago when Mahatma Gandhi said, “Let us all be brave enough to die the death of a martyr but let no one lust for martyrdom.”  This is so because it is not the death that makes a martyr, but the cause that made one embrace such death.  Death is a naturally occurring event and it will come for all mortals, but martyrdom is a divinely inspired response to suffering and pain, hence when death comes in the process, it’s not a punishment for the martyr, but a period of awakening, a period of realization, a period of union with the one who holds all life in his hand. The faith that leads one to embracing pain and suffering and ultimately death is no ordinary faith. While faith remains a gift of God to man, Miguel de Unamuno opines that “It is truer to say that martyrs create faith more than faith creates martyrs”   I believe the reverse is also true because it is incredible faith, faith that only God makes possible that leads to martyrdom. Without such faith, martyrdom is not possible. Do you have such faith?

In our climate of pain and torture, in this era of banditry and kidnapping, the cause of faith is not lost. And once again, we remember the martyrs who paid the ultimate price. The list is endless for an article like this, but we remember with affection, Pastora Lawan Andimi (2020) the Chairman of Christian Association of Nigeria in Chibok who was abducted and gruesomely executed by Boko |Haran after he refused to renounce his faith.  We recall the martyrs of Owo, precisely at St. Francis Xavier Catholic Church, Owo, who were killed after attending Pentecost day celebration. There is also Deborah Samuel Yakubu, a 200 level Home Economics student at a College of Education in Sokoto, brutally stoned and burned to death by a fellow student on May 12, 2022, following accusation of blasphemy against Islam. Seminarian Michael Nnadi, an 18-year-old seminarian of Sokoto Diocese killed because after being kidnapped, he dared to preach to his kidnappers to be converted.

The world thirsts for witnesses, but many of us love life more than immortal values and so we continue to live in pain and fear and in shackles.  To be set free, to live freely and truly even the best of us must be available to sacrifice themselves for the good of all, that’s what the martyrs did. Are you ready to do the same?