roman pep talk

ROME NOTES, ZENIT - The World Seen From Rome
November 03, 2007

ROME, NOV. 2, 2007 - Last Sunday Benedict XVI read my mind. After a week of being trapped alone among very secular intellectuals smugly parroting anti-Catholic dogma, I passed St. Peter's Square to see an image of the newly beatified Spanish martyrs proudly emblazoned on the broad stone facade of the basilica.

"The martyrs had it easy," I thought, as I stood in the back of the square, just out of reach of Bernini's colonnade.

Laden with books and papers to prepare arguments against the mindless mudslinging of hate speech toward the Church, I envied a few short hours of witness in the arena with the lions. An afternoon of being mauled and chewed seemed preferable to a lifetime of inconclusive arguments.

Faced with the modern hypocrisy of false tolerance, where all beliefs are accepted except the "arcane and rigid" morality of Catholics, I longed for the intellectual honesty of Diocletian. The Roman emperor simply hated Christians and wanted them dead.

Stressed by the difficulty of bearing witness out in the world, and struggling to understand the best way of testifying to the truth without compromise or aggressiveness, I dreamed of the straightforward choice between the pagan idols and the executioner's sword. The martyrs always knew they had done the right thing.

A roar echoing through the piazza interrupted my moment of self-pity as Benedict XVI came to his window for the Sunday Angelus. Moving a few steps forward, I could see the tiny dot of the Pope at the window. I hoped that his blessing would fire me up to return to the fray, but Benedict XVI gave me much more.

As if privy to my inner musings, the Pope started to speak of "white martyrdom," no blood and guts, but the glory of earning one's way to heaven through "daily witness."

With terms like "heroic testimony," and "bold participation," the Holy Father presented the vocation of Christians in a different light from just attending Mass and being nice to others. He reminded us that we are called to be better than we are, to greatness.

The beauty of Christianity is that one can achieve greatness without fame or far-flung adventure. The Church recognizes the valiant endurance of men and women who bear witness to the Gospel in a world growing more overtly hostile to Christians every day.

Benedict XVI then observed that "this martyrdom of ordinary life is a particularly important witness in the secularized societies of our time." I thought he was speaking to me, but indeed, all of us have experienced these moments.

The Sunday Angelus had always seemed like a wonderful treat to see the Pope and get rosaries blessed; never before had I seen that short Sunday interval like a boxer's few moments in the corner between rounds when his trainer tends his wounds and preps him for next bout.

Standing in the embrace of St. Peter's Square, and looking up at the statues of the saints while Benedict XVI, from his window, urged me to join the cloud of witnesses, my books seemed less heavy, my battles less frightening and my path less unsure.

I started out this week feeling like Rocky, ready to fight "the peaceful battle of love."

Thank you, Holy Father.

Elizabeth Lev teaches Christian Art and Architecture at Duquesne University's Italian campus. She can be reached at lizlev@zenit.org