Advent Martyrs and the persecuted

Advent is a time to refocus, to anticipate more than just presents, but the opportunity to better know the Babe who offers so much with such perfect simplicity. As a family we will begin this journey solemnly, remembering those who have given everything for their unyielding love of Christ just as He gave everything out of His unwavering love for us.

"A prison cell in which one waits, hopes...and is completely dependant upon the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

Bonhoeffer was an evangelist, a forward thinking Christian, a spy and member of the German resistance against the Nazi regime. He studied In Rome, Berlin and New York. He believed in a break from traditional religion which he called the "garment" of faith to a more personal relationship with Christ. That Heaven and Earth had been reconciled in the person or Christ and that revelation, through the Spirit, superseded religion. He was the sole voice for the church that was raised against the persecution of the Jew's stating that the church must not simply "bandage the victims under the wheel, but jam the spoke in the wheel itself."

Bonhoeffer was eventually arrested. He was imprisoned from April 6th 1943 - April 4th 1945. During that time he continued his work as an evangelist and secretly ministered to his fellow prisoners and guards as well as, through the favor his character and faith had garnered him, was able to send letters of Christian support and encouragement from the prison to those on the outside still fighting the good fight.

On April 8th he was condemned to death at Flossenburg concentration camp. He was executed on April 9th 1945, just 2 weeks before U.S. soldiers from the 90th and 97th Infantry divisions liberated the camp. His life is a testimony to the kind of life Christ desires for us all; one that is ever reaching towards Him, ever waiting on Him, ever ready to be with Him. When Bonhoeffer was taken for trial, directly after he preached his last Sunday service at the camp he was heard to say "This is the end — for me the beginning of life."

On our Advent journey, let us remember that this Gospel, this Truth, this Christ which we serve in faith, for some have died, and in so dying have claimed their gift of eternal life. Tonight we honor their completed race, their life, their faith as we look with anticipation towards the glorious future that God has planned for us through the opening of the prison doors of death and the grave and the freedom of our souls to dwell eternally with Him.

"A prison cell in which one waits, hopes...and is completely dependant upon the fact that the door of freedom has to be opened from the outside, is not a bad picture of Advent." Dietrich Bonhoeffer

"Not to anticipate is already to moan" Leonardo DiVinci

In the Spirit by which Bonhoeffer submitted his life, let us become compassionately involved in the lives of those who still suffer religious persecution as the Jews of his time. Torture, imprisonment and death are still common in many places. Even if you cannot do everything, everyone can do something.

People may excite in themselves a glow of compassion, not by toasting their feet at the fire, and saying: “Lord, teach me compassion,” but by going and seeking an object that requires compassion. – Henry Ward Beecher

At the Voice of the Martyrs there are many ideas and opportunities for all of us to do SOMETHING to help those who still suffer for their faith. As we anticipate the coming Christ child lets participate in His ministry of great compassion.

http://www.persecution.com/