31ST MARCH 2003 ST BENJAMIN
MARTYAR (---424) LIFE: It was the fifth century and Yezdegerd, son of Sapor III, was ruling Persia. There was little persecution of Christians during this time, however, a Christian Bishop named Abdas changed that. Abdas, in his zeal and out of righteous anger toward idolatry, burned the Temple of Fire, the sacred sanctuary of the Persians. This act infuriated King Yezdegerd and he declared that Bishop Abdas would either rebuild the Persian Temple or the king would burn all the Christian churches. When Abdas refused to obey the Kings command, he carried out his order and had all the Christian churches utterly destroyed. Abdas was put to death and a great persecution of Christians in Persia began which lasted for the next forty years. Even though Yezdegerd died in 421, his son, Varanes continued the persecution. Under the reign of this ruler, Christians were subject to heinous and cruel torture. One Christian who was living during this time was Benjamin. Benjamin was a Deacon who was serving time in prison for openly declaring his Christian faith. He had been in prison for a year when an ambassador of the Emperor of Constantinople was able to secure his release. The condition of his release, however, was that he would not speak about his faith. Apparently the ambassador consented to this condition on Benjamins behalf in order to obtain his release, but Benjamin was not about to be silenced. He said it was his duty to evangelize and tell others about Christ and there was no way he would be quiet. Therefore, he continued his preaching and was again arrested and brought before King Varanes. This evil King ordered that reeds be pushed under his fingernails and in other areas of his body to inflict great pain and then pulled out. This cruel procedure was repeated many times. He was then impaled by thrusting a long stake into his bowels up through his body, ripping throu! gh vital organs. Thus, Benjamin became a martyr for his Christian faith in the year 424. REFLECTION: **When the Church keeps the memorials of martyrs and other saints during the annual cycle, she proclaims the Paschal mystery in those "who have suffered and have been glorified with Christ. She proposes them to the faithful as examples who draw all men to the Father through Christ, and through their merits she begs for God's favors." (1173-catechism of catholic church) **O Jesus ! Who for love of me, Didst bear Thy Cross to Calvary ; In Thy sweet mercy grant to me To suffer & die with Thee...** S.THOMAS NOTTINGHAM ENGLAND --------------------------------- Yahoo! Mail - For a better Internet experience =============================================================================== This mail is generated from JOYnet, a Jesus Youth mailing list. For more info on the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet To unsubscribe from the list send a mail to [EMAIL PROTECTED] To subscribe to the list visit http://www.jesusyouth.org/joynet/join In case of any issue related to the mailing list contact [EMAIL PROTECTED] ===============================================================================