On today's and yesterday's martyrs....

Yesterday was the memorial day of Gregory Grassi and his companions, 29 people, bishops, priests, religious sisters, and laity, who were going about missions work in China when the Opium Wars and the Boxer Rebellion broke out around them. Today is the memorial day of Nicholas Pick and his companions, mostly Friars Minor with some diocesan priests and other religious, who were ministering to the faithful in Holland when the Gueux [Urchins, Ragamuffins], a Calvinist revolutionary group, began an uprising to separate Holland from Catholic Spain. Trapped by the uprisings, they were arrested, abused, and when they would not renounce their faith, executed.

We do not always get to choose when and how we get called to bear witness to our faith and to sanctify the Lord's name.

If somebody looked at my life, would there be much sign that my heart was a dwelling place for God?
If Catholic orthopraxy were to become against the law, could the powers find enough evidence, right now, to get a conviction? Or would there be reasonable doubt?
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