"The Catholic Faith is not about myths or legends, symbols or literary devices. It’s about an encounter so overwhelming that you want to tell the whole world. It is an encounter with Jesus Christ." We're thrilled about the Fall 2013 release of "Catholicism: The New Evangelization." Watch some clips and share with friends today!
The Catholic Faith is not about myths or legends, symbols or literary devices. It’s about an encounter so overwhelming that you want to tell the whole world.
It is an encounter with Jesus Christ.
Throughout history, the call of Christ has sent people to the corners of the earth with a message of great joy — a message that has built civilizations, inspired cultures, and even sent some to prisons and others to their graves.
We have the same call. That is evangelization...
We're no strangers to the lore of the martyrs: their sacrifice, their bravery, their unshakable beliefs. But why do it? What is the incentive, the allure? Word on Fire contributor Jared Zimmerer examines the appeal of martyrdom and why it's not only something we crave but something we can do.
Throughout history, men and women have given the ultimate sacrifice for what they believe. Whether that cause is for the good nature of faith, freedom and family or the ever promising yet always short-lived notions of money, grandeur and worldly honor, people tend to find the sacrifice worth the fatal end. The history of the Catholic Faith is riddled with servants of Christ who have endured and glorified some of the worst physical pains known to man. Without knowledge of the good they died for, their sacrifice seems not only vain, but idiotic. However, the transcendent characteristic of their deaths, which can only make sense to those willing to search for it, brands the gruesome scenes worthy of celebration.
One of my favorite paintings, the Last Judgment fresco by Michelangelo seen in the Sistine Chapel, depicts a few of the more popular saints in the way in which they were martyred. There is St. Lawrence with his grate and St. Bartholomew with his knife and flayed skin, St. Andrew with his cross, St. Sebastian holding up the arrows with which he was shot, St. Blaise with his wool combs and St. Catherine with her wheel. These martyrs are put upon pedestals through Church history because mankind recognizes their sacrifice. But could that recognition go further than just human admiration? Could it be perhaps that we were made to “die with our boots on” so to speak?...