Young Christians in the Middle East march in protest against persecution by ISIS. (Credit: AP.)
ishtartv.com - cruxnow.com
Kathryn
Jean Lopez, March 3, 2017
On
Saturday night in St. Augustine, Florida, the shrine of the Florida martyrs
will be the backdrop for a Mass, rally, and celebration of religious freedom. A
festival which includes popular Christian artist Audrey Assad, the event raises
money for persecuted Christians, all proceeds going to the Knights of
Columbus’s Christians
Relief fund.
The
fund has no overhead, and proceeds go directly to Christians in Iraq, Syria and
surrounding areas targeted by so-called Islamic State genocide.
(Among
many other Catholic activities they sponsor, the Knights of Columbus are Crux’s principal
partner.)
The No Greater Love Festival -
which I’ll be speaking at - is organized by Floridian Mary Catherine Damon,
whose day job is Respect Life Coordinator in the archdiocese there. This was a
project she put together as a participant in last year’s GIVEN forum, run by the Council of Major
Superiors of Women Religious at the Catholic University of America in D.C,
encouraging women in their love and leadership in the Catholic Church.
Damon
talks about the festival, the location, and the motivations.
Lopez:
What was Given and how has it impacted your life?
Damon:
The GIVEN Forum is a fully endowed Catholic young women’s leadership conference
where 300 women from across the U.S. were selected to come together and receive
extensive leadership formation in order to activate the feminine gifts they
have been given into the life of the Church.
How
did you hatch this religious freedom event, and why?
Part
of attending the GIVEN Forum was submitting a project plan. As I was praying
about the project that the Lord was calling me to present, three things were on
my heart.
Firstly, the
Servants of God of La Florida who’s cause for canonization recently opened and
the heroic courage they had in witnessing to the faith. Secondly, the intense
persecution that the Church in the Middle East is facing and the heroic courage
that many of them are displaying in witnessing to their faith.
And,
finally, how the reality of beauty’s ability to lead the heart of the created
to the Creator points to the potential of a great source of healing for our
culture. I prayed about it, got confirmation it was the right road, and moved
forward, knowing that God would see this through if it were His will. And,
well, here we are!
Why
is the site of the event important?
The
site of this event is so connected to the mission of this festival because it
was on this “holy acre” where the first Mass of the United States was said and
where seven Servants of God of La Florida were martyred for their faith.
Also,
the Shrine to Our Lady of La Leche at Mission Nombre de Dios is where the first
Marian shrine in the U.S. was founded and this devotion to Our Lady is one of
comfort, healing, and restoration.
What
a perfect place to pray for the persecuted Church and their aggressors!
What
should the country know about the Florida martyrs?
From
1549 to 1761 many priests and natives were killed in evangelizing and
defending the faith in our nation’s colonial land known as La Florida. There
are 43 martyrdom events under review. Some events have one martyr and some have
many.
It
is a seamless story that began in 1549 with the courageous landing of the
Dominicans in Tampa Bay - and ended in 1761 in Pensacola as three Apalachee
Indians were killed trying to protect the Eucharist.
Many
of the stories are available on the cause for canonization website: www.MartyrsofLaFloridaMissions.org.
Why
do you think they are not more well known?
The
Holy Spirit’s timing is always perfect in these things. There are previous
instances since the time of the last martyrdom where the cause for canonization
has attempted to be opened, but for some reason Oct. 12, 2015 turned out to be
the opening day for the canonization cause for these martyrs.
It
wasn’t until recently that a discovery and transcription of over 2,000
manuscript pages of supporting historic documents was made, which played a big
role in opening the cause at present.
How
might the memories of the martyrs help Christians this Lent?
The
website “Martyrs of La
Florida Missions” reveals so many stories of Christians in our own land who
were set ablaze for their faith and convicted of their belief in our
Eucharistic Lord that they fearlessly defended the Eucharist, even unto death.
The intensity with which they loved the Lord and offered their lives for His
sake gives us a great example and inspiration to the same radical love.
I
pray the lives of Servants of God of La Florida inspire us to defend the
Eucharist, defend the Word become flesh, defend the mystery of the Incarnation
which is truly alive in each and every human person: the unborn, the refugee,
the homeless, the marginalized, the struggling family.
The
image of Christ in the Eucharist is present in every person as we are all made
in the image and likeness of God - let us take up the banner of upholding the
dignity of all human life even more intentionally this Lent. I pray No Greater
Love this weekend plays some roll in grace moving this forward!
Why
is it so important not to forget persecuted Christians today?
As
Americans it’s really easy for us to forget about persecuted Christians
throughout the world because we are fairly geographically removed and the media
coverage on this issue is rather limited. But we must do what we can to be in
solidarity with them and help them know that they are not alone in their
suffering and pain. We must do what we can to accompany them through this and
uphold their own rights and dignity.
Is
this cultural? Political? Spiritual?
This
festival is more cultural and spiritual in that we are trying to raise
awareness in our culture of the great persecution that our Christian brothers
and sisters are facing so we can offer them humanitarian relief as well as
offer our own little sufferings in union with what they are facing at the
present.
Also,
we want to ask for the intercession of the Servants of God for all of those who
are facing religious persecution because these holy people knew perfectly what
it was like to live in a land of religious persecution and their intercession
can be tremendously powerful.
Why
are music and arts so important to you?
While
I was in high school I was in a magnet program for visual and performing arts
as a vocal student, but wasn’t able to set time aside to cultivate that further
in college. As I came to know St. John Paul II more and more I saw how
magnificently he used the arts to express important messages, as well as
allowed the beauty of the art to draw the hearts of the viewers into a deeper
relationship with God.
It
is my hope that we can help this culture of death to be permeated by light and
love through the natural expression of beauty!
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