Homily at Eucharist prior to “The Reception of the Body”

Memorial of the Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist – Tuesday, August 29, 2006

Today's memorial of the martyrdom for John the Baptist prompts reflection on the reality of Christians today being persecuted for practicing their faith. We know that in the first three centuries of Christianity that Christians were martyred for their faith under the Roman Emperors. We also know that martyrdom happens today as well, as with the Cistercian martyrs of Atlas. But most of us Christians often assume, naively, that faithfully following Jesus will spare us from persecution and suffering. This is not what Jesus teaches. He does not promise that we will be delivered from suffering but that we will be blessed in the midst of it.

We do not have to dig very deep into the history of monastic spirituality to see what happened when martyrdom ceased to be the ordinary possibility fo r m ost Christians. The “white” martyrdom of the monks replaced “red” martyrdom. Thus continuity with Christ was preserved at a time when the Church became acceptable in the Roman world. That continuity might have, otherwise, been imperiled. Andrew Louth says: “The monk, then like the martyr, is in the front line of the battle against the powers of evil.”

Last Sunday evening at 5:35 PM when Father Francis breathed his last breath in his monastic habit, most of us were there. We witnessed God through Fr. Francis meeting the evil powers of suffering and death on their own ground and defeating them. Monday in the State and local paper we began to read of the witness of Fr. Francis to Gospel values, often in conflict with dominant cultural values of materialism and individualism.

I was particularly moved by our governor's words, “He was able to have the incredible deep well of spirituality.” We he spoke from that place, he was truly “a different voice.”

Others said, “He taught us his way.” Others spoke of how he brought people together and reconciled differences. They spoke of his legacy to the environment as evidence of one who was as preoccupied with the material worlds as much as with the realm of God.

“He was one of those special people who come along and make the Earth a better place.”

At this Eucharist we prepare to receive his body, his poor body, or what is left of it not taken by the ravages of cancer. All that is left now is his spirit. At this Eucharist we give thanks for the witness his spirit was to this monastic community and the world around him.

John the Baptist boldly called the people of his day to repentance and conversion. His message was disturbing. May the witness of John the Baptist and Fr. Francis give us the strength to bear witness to the Lord Jesus in new ways.