California Reopens (kinda) Green Martyrdom Begins

 The Catechism of the Catholic Faith defines martydom as: "...the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death. The martyr bears witness to Christ who died and rose, to whom he is united by charity. He bears witness to the truth of the faith and of Christian doctrine. He endures death through an act of fortitude. ‘Let me become the food of the beasts, through whom it will be given me to reach God.'” (CCC 2473).

The word martyr comes from the Greek word 'martus', the definition of which is a person who testify to something because they actually saw it.  They were there.  An example would be those who fought in combat in WW2 and those of us who walked the rows of white crosses marking their graves.  Both experiences are important but only one group was there and actually experienced what happened.  

Because so many of us were condemned to death during the first 300 years of The Church's existence, we applied the word that evolved from the Greek to those brave souls.  They endured much to never lose Truth.  Much of our liturgy today evokes their memories.  Names of Catholics from the first century, like Felicity or Cecilia, are spoken today as we pray the highest form of prayer on earth.

However, there are other forms of martyrdom.  There are ways a Catholic can give faithful witness to the Truth without losing their lives, though it still may make their lives difficult. An ancient homily written sometime in the year 800 or so by an Irish priest defines three types of martyrdom by color: red, white and green.

It states:

 Now there are three kinds of martyrdom, which are accounted as a cross to a man, to wit: white martyrdom, green and red martyrdom. White martyrdom consists in a man’s abandoning everything he loves for God’s sake, though he suffer fasting or labor thereat. Green martyrdom consists in this, that by means of fasting and labor he frees himself from his evil desires, or suffers toil in penance and repentance.

At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, a man in my parish posted something on Facebook about how he was going to view wearing a mask. I cannot remember exactly what he wrote but it essentially he spoke about viewing the inconvenience of wearing the mask as penance for all the times he misspoke, or used foul language, or took the Name of God in vain. His viewpoint struck me as more than just profound. I felt at the time that I was being introduced to a really wonderful way to handle another aspect of government interference in my life with grace and dignity. Not only could I follow the rules but I could do so beyond just thinking that I am magnanimously doing so out of my amazing love for my fellow man.

Because, let's face it, I don't have an amazing love for my fellow humans. Most of the time I can barely tolerate myself let alone others. I can be too cranky, too judgmental and way too dismissive.

However, give me a chance to view what I have to do as a form of personal penance and you have my attention. And Green Martyrdom, the focus on penance and fasting often associated with the Desert Fathers and Mothers of Egypt, allows me to look at my own failings before I focus on everyone else's sins. It's a good idea for someone like me who, unfortunately, has a highly developed sense of justice and knows when she has been wronged or disrespected.

All of this leads me to the reopening of the State of California and the information we are being given about who should wear a mask and when. Because the government wants at least 70% of the population to receive the vaccine, there are suggestions for those who will not be vaccinated to continue to wear their masks indoors. This is going to be suggested at my parish for Mass attendance. Everyone will know - if you have not been vaccinated the Bishop would want you to wear your mask indoors. If you have been vaccinated, you do not have to wear a mask. If you cannot, for some reason wear a mask then you don't wear one but here is the thing - this is all going to be on the Honor System.

And frankly, I am going to be watching all the super Catholics who have politicized religion for the past 5 years, make choices as to whether or not they are going to witness to the truth. In other words, will they accept the Green Martyrdom of their horrific government persecution (oh the horror) and, because they choose not to be vaccinated, wear their masks during 90 minutes of prayer or will they lie.

The interesting thing about this is that they have been quite vocal. They have been in other people's faces about not being vaccinated and hating to wear a mask and blah blah blah. So now, with the new suggestions being made, let's watch and see.

Do they have the stuff necessary for martyrdom? Will they be willing to do penance for the souls in purgatory -especially the ones without family to pray for them?

I am glad we are not going to be asking anyone at the door if they are vaccinated or not - it is just too dangerous to do so - but it will be another layer to the social experiment that has been going on the past year and a half.

Meanwhile, as someone who does not do well with suffering, I am just going to have my vaccination card ready. And, man, am I glad to ditch the mask!