Caracas, Venezuela, Jan 23, 2006 / 22:00 pm
During the celebration of the feast of St. Sebastian this week, Bishop Mario Moronta of San Cristobal, Venezuela, said the country was in urgent need of Catholics who bear public witness to their faith in the midst of the country’s current difficulties.
“The word martyr,” the bishop recalled, “comes from Greek and means witness. Thus, every martyr is considered a witness of faith in Jesus Christ, someone who has been able to give up his entire life for Him and for the Church and for his brothers and sisters in the faith.”
Nevertheless, Bishop Moronta noted, St. Sebastian and the other martyrs “did not become so overnight. When the difficult hour of martyrdom arrived they were already prepared, because throughout their own lives they had been courageous witnesses of the Gospel of Christ.”
Bishop Moronta explained that being a witness “does not mean doing spectacular or miraculous works. It is above all showing forth faithfulness to God in the little things, following the teachings of the Master in the Gospel.”