The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about bearing witness to the truth: “The Christian is not to ‘be ashamed then of testifying to our Lord’ [2 Timothy 1:8]. In situations that require witness to the faith, the Christian must profess it without equivocation, after the example of St. Paul before his judges…The duty of Christians to take part in the life of the Church impels them to act as witnesses of the Gospel and of the obligations that flow from it. This witness is a transmission of the faith in words and deeds. Witness is an act of justice that establishes the truth or makes it known” (CCC 2471-2472). If we understand “conversion” and “recovery” to be synonyms of the same spiritual process, then we can read these paragraphs from the Catechism as descriptive of the very program of recovery to which we commit the entirety of our lives.

Today we celebrate the martyrdom of Saint Paul Miki and his Companions who were killed in late 16th century Japan for spreading their faith in Jesus Christ. On a hill outside of the city of Nagasaki, as he was hung on a cross to die in mockery of Christ’s own crucifixion, Saint Paul Miki unwaveringly preached the truth of Christ to his very last breath. He is recorded to have said, “I believe that I am telling only the truth before I die…Ask Christ to help you to become happy. I obey Christ. After Christ’s example, I forgive my persecutors. I do not hate them. I ask God to have pity on all, and I hope my blood will fall on my fellow men as a fruitful rain.” 

“Martyrdom is the supreme witness given to the truth of the faith: it means bearing witness even unto death” (CCC 2473). While we may not be called to literal martyrdom in our lives, we are called to bear witness to the truth as baptized and confirmed Catholics “unto death.” We are in a certain sense called in recovery to “die” to the old self with its disordered ways of thinking and behaving, a process in the Twelve Steps that can be, in a manner of speaking, “bloody and violent.” Such is a real test of our faith, but it is also the crucible in which God reforges us into His new creation, and from which he then sends us out to love others.

Saint Paul Miki and Companions, pray for us!

Reflection Questions

• Do you conceive of your journey in recovery as the very means by which you bear witness to the saving truth of Christ? Can you truly “boast in the Lord” (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:31, 2 Corinthians 10:17) in your recovery and share how Christ’s power is made perfect in your weakness (cf. 2 Corinthians 12:9)?
• What do martyrs like Saint Paul Miki and his companions teach you about conversion in recovery? How has the “blood and violence” of your recovery fallen like “a fruitful rain” on the lives of others, whether in your family, your recovery fellowships, or in other relationships?

Daily Mass Readings

First Reading: Hebrews 12:18-19, 21-24
Responsorial Psalm: Psalm 48:2-3ab, 3cd-4, 9, 10-11
Gospel: Mark 6:7-13

Reflection by Pete S.