While we live our own lives in different parts of the world—facing daily struggles and work—religious persecution continues, along with unrest in many places, often unnoticed or taken for granted. This raises an important question: What can we do about these persecutions happening far away? Should we care about them, or should we think they do not affect us?
In one way or another, what happens in other parts of the world affects us—whether we are conscious of it or not. This is especially true of Christian persecution, knowing that we are one Body as members of the Mystical Body of Christ. The suffering of our brothers and sisters, wherever they may be, is our suffering too. We are all bound together, and it is only right to feel the pain of those who are afflicted as if it were our own. Because we are one, the sorrows of others wound us all.
A recent example of this is the killing of a 42-year-old man named Afzal Masih in Lahore, Pakistan. His death, rooted in religious hatred, is a wound that we should all bear. Afzal Masih was part of that one Body, and his brutal death leaves a deep wound that calls for our collective sorrow and support for healing.
Every year, many Catholics in Pakistan make a pilgrimage to the National Shrine of the Blessed Virgin Mary in Mariamabad, a village in the Archdiocese of Lahore. On September 7, while on his way to this shrine, Afzal Masih was tragically shot by a group of young men identified as extremists. He was targeted simply because he was identified as a Christian with his crucifix around his neck.
As members of one Body, we are called to enter more deeply into the suffering of our brothers and sisters wherever they may be, so that we may be healed together as one. In this way, we are transformed and inspired to bear witness to our faith—even if that witness entails martyrdom.
