Catholic Radio Dramas

Be a Faithful and Courageous Witness

From a commentary on Psalm 118 by Saint Ambrose, bishop (340-397) (340-397) (Sermo 20, 47-50: CSEL 62, 467-469)

Be a Faithful and Courageous Witness

Narrated by Frank Dugan, Huntington Beach, California

As there are many kinds of persecution, so there are many kinds of martyrdom. Every day you are a witness to Christ. You were tempted by the spirit of fornication, but feared the coming judgment of Christ and did no want your purity of mind and body to be defiled: you are a martyr for Christ. You were tempted by the spirit of avarice to seize the property of a child and violate the rights of a defenseless widow, but remembered God’s law and saw your duty to give help, not act unjustly: you are a witness to Christ. Christ wants witnesses like this to stand ready, as Scripture says: Do justice for the orphan and defend the widow. You were tempted by the spirit of pride but saw the poor and the needy and looked with loving compassion on them, and loved humility rather than arrogance: you are a witness to Christ. What is more, your witness was not in word only but also in deed.

Who can give greater witness than one who acknowledges that the Lord Jesus has come in the flesh and keeps the commandments of the Gospel? One who hears but does not act, denies Christ. Even if he acknowledges him by his words, he denies him by his deeds. How many will say to Christ: Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy and cast out devils and work many miracles, all in your name? On that day he will say to them: Depart from me, all you evildoers. The true witness is one who bears witness to the commandments of the Lord Jesus and supports that witness by deeds.

How many hidden martyrs there are, bearing witness to Christ each day and acknowledging Jesus as the Lord! The Apostle knew this kind of martyrdom, this faithful witness to Christ. This is our boast, he said, the witness of our conscience. How many have borne witness in public but denied it in private! Do not believe every spirit, he said, but know from their fruits whom you should believe. Be faithful and courageous when you are persecuted within, so that you may win approval when you are persecuted in public. Even in those unseen persecutions there are kings and governors, judges with terrible power. You have an example in the temptation endured by the Lord.

In another place we read: Do not let sin be king in your mortal body. You see the kings before whom you are made to stand, those who sit in judgment over sinners, where sin is in control. There are as many kings as there are sins and vices; it is before these kings that we are led and before these we stand. These kings have their thrones in many hearts. But if anyone acknowledges Christ, he immediately makes a prisoner of this kind of king and casts him down from the throne of his own heart. How shall the devil maintain his throne in one who builds a throne for Christ in his heart?

Source: The Liturgy of the Hours – Office of Readings

Saint Ambrose – Bishop of Milan

Saint Ambrose (340-397) was born in Trier, Germany, the son of the praetorian prefect of Gaul. He was taken back to Rome at the death of his father and became a lawyer. He was known for his compelling oratory and learning. He was appointed assessor to Probus, the praetorian prefect of Italy, and appointed governor of Liguria by Emperor Valentinian in 372 at age 32. Two years later, he went to Milan to quiet the turmoil between the Arians and Catholics at the death of the presiding bishop. When Ambrose appeared there he was baptized and immediately consecrated bishop of Milan. He gave away all his possessions and began a serious study of Sacred Scripture, theology and the great Christian writers. He began to live a life of great austerity and soon became the most eloquent preacher of his day. He was acclaimed as the most formidable Catholic opponent of Arianism in the West.

He became advisor to Emperor Gratian and in 379 and persuaded him to outlaw Arianism in the West. Ambrose denounced a massacre of some seven thousand people in Thessalonica by Emperor Theodosius I, refusing him the sacraments until he performed a severe public penance – which Theodosius did. Ambrose died in Milan on April 4, 397 at the age of 57. He was one of the great figures of early Christianity and was responsible for the rise of Christianity in the West as the Roman Empire was dying. He wrote profusely on the Bible, theology, asceticism and wrote numerous homilies, psalms and hymns. It was Ambrose who brought St. Augustine, who revered him, back to his Catholic faith and baptized him in 397. He was declared a Doctor of the Church and is considered the exemplar of what a bishop should be; holy, learned, courageous, patient, and immovable when necessary for the faith.

SAINT DENIS, BISHOP AND MARTYR, AND COMPANIONS, MARTYRS (d. c. 258)

Saint Denis (d. c. 258) was born in Italy and was one of six bishops sent to Gaul in 250 as missionaries. Saint Gregory of Tours relates that he came to France from Rome in the middle of the third century. He became the first bishop of Paris and was so effective in converting the inhabitants around Paris that he was arrested with his priest, Saint Rusticus and deacon, Saint Elutherius. All three were imprisoned and beheaded for their faith on October 9 near Paris under Decius’ persecution of Christians. Their bodies were rescued from the Seine River, and a chapel was built over their tomb. This chapel later became the Benedictine abbey of Saint-Denis. Denis is the apostle and patron saint of France and is also known as Dionysius of Paris.