On being martyrs...sacrifice

Our Christian life is an interplay of suffering and joys. We often hear our friends remind us that being a martyr is no longer fashionable. We mouth the same advise, when we encounter problems at work. Rather than suffer, we are told to make other people suffer. . Rather than suffer pain in our neck, we are told to be the pain in the neck of other people. The rule of thumb in this modern life, it seems, if you don't get ahead, someone else will.

We need martyrs....

We see what happened to the church that forgot it's martyrs. We see what happened to a country that has forgotten what it is to sacrifice. We see what happened to the Church which has forgotten the meaning of sufferings. We see what happened to us because we would rather cause suffering than what have other people bring us suffering.

The time of our saint was grace for the Church. There were martyrs left and right. It was a period of great blessing for the church.

Now, we have lost it. To be martyrs is no longer fashionable. What a great loss it has become for us, because we have also lost the meaning of sacrifice.