The Feast of St. Justin Martyr
June 1st Readings Reflection: Memorial of Saint Justin, Martyr
Today is the feast of St. Justin, a second century martyr who spent much of his life defending the true Faith against prevalent heresies of the time. Like many of the early Christians, St. Justin was a convert to the Faith; his conversion occurred around the year 130 A.D. For the next thirty-five years, he spent his life teaching and defending Christianity from heresies, particularly those taught by the pagan Romans and Greeks.
Among his many defenses of Christianity, St. Justin defended Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity, Who shares His divine nature with the Father yet is “numerically distinct from the Father.” In the early days of the Church, several heresies existed that attacked the doctrine of the Trinity, and St. Justin’s defense of Jesus Christ as the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity remains important even in the 21st century. We can never fully understand the supernatural mystery of the Trinity, but St. Justin’s treatises help us reach a deeper level of finite understanding of this mystery.
Today’s Gospel fittingly recounts an exchange between Jesus and the Jewish leaders at the Temple. The Jews asked Jesus by whose authority He taught and performed His miracles. Jesus replied by asking whether they believed St. John the Baptist’s Baptisms to be “of heavenly or of human origin.” The Jewish leaders refused to answer out of fear, and Jesus in turn refused to tell them of the divine authority by which He carried out His earthly mission.
The Jewish leaders in today’s Gospel refused to accept the truth that was presented to them, like the Roman prefect who ordered St. Justin and his companions to sacrifice to pagan gods. Before St. Justin’s martyrdom by scourging and beheading, the saint declared that he desired “to be tortured for Our Lord Jesus Christ, and so to be saved.” Rather than weakening in fear, St. Justin’s faith remained unwavering throughout his sufferings and martyrdom.
Unlike the Jewish leaders in today’s Gospel, St. Justin had the courage to boldly profess his faith in Jesus Christ as the divine Son of God. May he pray for us that we, too, may possess the same courage to boldly proclaim our faith, even in the midst of persecution.
AMEN!!!!!!!!