Now that both our nation and our Church are going through a shocking confrontation with such horrifying atrocities that left 21 Egyptian nationals brutally slaughtered at the hands of terrorists, words of His Holiness the late Pope Shenouda are swift to surface in my mind: “At all times keep it to heart that you are but a stranger on this very earth, and that you are designated to arrive back at your heavenly homeland”. With such awareness of the fact that man is some “stranger” who is destined to return to his real homeland in time due, s/he would accordingly set their pace in life. As death to a human is but a bridge to be passed from existence to existence.
Here and now I am inclined to write about those who afforded their lives for their country and indeed for their faith; they altogether managed to show fortitude and let go, intuitively removed of all things even from the very prospect of existing themselves. Martyrdom is not an impulsive act of bravery adopted by man, neither is it lesser care about life’s interests, nor it is escaping life’s dilemmas; martyrdom is ascending to the heights of thinking and acting revolving around the hereafter, rendering it possible to give up all what is in this existing life. That is exactly what the martyrs went through in their lives, both in personal perception and/or in their thinking patterns.
In martyrdom, there is a sacrifice amounting to giving oneself for what one believes in, to the point of giving up one’s own personal existence. For a human to reach such a dizzying level of sacrifice, s/he must go through the very practice of sacrifice all along their lives, affording others whatever support they can of funds and/or efforts, and yes indeed, those who cannot love others, cannot love God: “Whoever does not practice righteousness is not of God, nor is he who does not love his brother.” “For he who does not love his brother whom he has seen, how can he love God whom he has not seen?” In so doing man exercises love, practices sacrifice and remains other-oriented until s/he ascends to heaven with all these virtues already initiated on earth, martyrdom then becomes the way by which man approaches the God s/he earnestly loves.
Martyrdom means a belief that runs deep and strong, that never wavers within the human, this exact belief s/he embarks on consolidating throughout life, though, in earnest leading an existence with God only to be reflected in dealings with others as with amity, forgiveness and clemency. This belief is what equips humans with patience, strength and tolerance confronting life’s dilemmas, upon encountering hardships and enduring life’s agonies, in anticipation putting before them the ultimate hope and placing in God their infinite trust.
Christians are true blue-blooded Egyptians, of a nation that’s never been intimidated by the notion of death, all the more rejecting living in humiliation, in word and deed inscribing their bravery and long-suffering on the brightest of all history’s chapters during that persecution era executed by Diocletian, in earnest they abided by their faith, rooted in their history they remained, championing death over living in frailty or denial of what they believe in, even if they pay the ultimate price: their own lives! Their existence they rendered into an offering to God, solemnly confronting death with not the slightest sign of faltering.
Martyrdom is the very arrival at the homeland – I mean the heavenly homeland. Recite I here the words uttered by one of the fathers upon his exile. Asked the father: “To where are you leading me? To what destination am I going?” Answered they, “To a destination afar, most distant, to some deserted place you shall go.” He then elaborated: “I couldn’t care less, my question remains: Is God present there?” To that they responded: “God is Omnipresent.” The father proclaimed: “Then all places are equal to me. I am most happy to have God in that particular place, as I am in any other place, indeed happy I be with Him, this poses no threat to me, this is not an issue to me at all as long as God would be with me and I with God, and yes, happily I pay no attention to the place in which I dwell!”
Blessed are the sacred martyrs of our nation and our faith, we plead for condolences to be bestowed upon their families and all their loved ones.
