Pope Francis has said that there are more martyrs today than ever. Why don't we hear about it? Where is the media coverage on the persecution? Yes, we all have heard about ISIS and its murderous ways, but they are viewed as just a group of isolated fanatics. We foolishly think that they are not a menace to us. We feel secure with our worldly power.

The media is to busy keeping people in the fantasy world of consumerism and selfishness. It is incapable of seeing that the threat is first against Christians but also against the entire secularized culture of the West. Governments are blinded by the same arrogance, thinking they are in control with their scientific and military power and can destroy any threat anytime. They are wrong. The terrorists can be hit hard by military might, just as Sadam Hussein and Hitler were, but worldly weapons cannot get to the root of the problem. Evil can only be conquered by the power of God using spiritual weapons. Things are quickly unraveling.

Our government even denies that there is a persecution of Christians. When 21 men where murdered in Libya this week, the US President referred to them only as "Egyptian citizens", even though all were killed for their faith, not their nationality. At the end of the killing, the main executioner, addressed, in English, the "Countries of the Cross", sending a "message in blood" and threatening to "conquer Rome". The message is simple and clear and yet we are still in denial: their objective is to conquer the world and annihilate Christians. The pope and the Vatican have been threatened. But the terrorists need not go far for their next victims. There remain about one hundred thousand Christians in danger in Libya.  

We fail to understand both the source and the magnitude of the evil being unleashed upon the world because it is of a spiritual nature. Evil grows when God is rejected. Christian countries are in a great apostasy. Christ has been mocked and abandoned. Many have abandoned God gradually and do not ever realize it. The world mentality has taken over their hearts and minds. Few remain faithful. As the Light of Christ is extinguished we have darkness. We have lost the discipline and the will to love and to serve Christ. Now we are witnessing radicals exercising extraordinary discipline and will to hate and kill. 

Christians are now persecuted in fifty countries. Persecution may be directly against the Christian faith or against moral values which Christians cannot abandon, such as the right to life. China is a major offender. Its population control policy systematically enforces coerced abortion (at a rate of a million per month), sterilization and child abandonment. In addition,  Christians are often imprisonment and churches destroyed.

Christians are not yet being rounded up in United States, but we do have to suffer a culture and system of law which is increasingly anti-Christian. Christians are being coerced to cooperate with abortion and with same sex marriage laws. Catholic institutions are being denied the right to have a moral code of conduct.

We must repent and turn to the Lord
Who cares about the persecution? Who has eyes to see? The darkness of the world today is not only found in the terrorists but also in the multitudes who remain indifferent, consuming the fantasy world fed to them by the media. As we begin lent, we cannot be satisfied doing "some" penance. We need an honest examination of conscience; we need to take stock of  reality and seek the Lord with undivided hearts. "Repent and turn to the Gospel" needs to be a message that goes to the core of our being. Our culture is no longer Christian. Are we?  Can the Lord truly count on us to be His witnesses in a world that no longer knows Him?

The Lord of History teaches us the way
In the 16th century, Muslim were preparing the final assault to conquer Europe and destroy Christianity. Pope Pius V called for everyone to pray the Rosary. When, in  October 7, 1571, the naval battle of Lepanto was about to begin, the Christian troops joined in prayer of the Rosary. An image of Our Lady of Guadalupe had been sent by the Archbishop of Mexico and was in the Christian fleet’s flagship. The battle was miraculously won and Europe was saved. October 7 became the Feast of Our Lady of the Rosary.

What Our Lady of Guadalupe had told St. Juan Diego proved to be true for all times, “Listen and let it penetrate your heart, my dear little son, let nothing discourage you, nothing depress you. Let nothing alter your heart or your countenance. Am I not here who am your Mother? Are you not under my shadow and protection? Am I not your fountain of life? Are you not in the folds of my mantle? In the crossing of my arms? What else do you need?”

Our Lady has been exhorting us with tears to turn to Jesus. Will we respond with the necessary resolution to remain faithful under persecution? Not all Christians die martyrs in persecutions. Actually the majority adapt to the world and do not stand for their faith. If we want to remain faithful we must live stand for Christ NOW.

    Fr. Francisco Vera, elderly priest shot in Jalisco, Mexico for celebrating Holy Mass, 1927

Fr. Pro executed by firing squad for ministering as priest. 1926

This is a small sampling of the persecution
One wonders: Where is the concern?  Where is the response?

In Kenya, bands of terrorists stop busses and selectively murder Christian passengers; In Pakistan, 700 Christian women a year are kidnapped and forced to marry Muslims; In Nigeria the bishops had to cancel the celebration of the Mass in an entire region due to repeated attacks where the faithful have been burned alive inside the churches.

Iraqi Christians persecuted -Given choice: convert to Islam, flee, die, or live as a serve. No more Christian Churches
China You MUST abort    Testimony
Voice of The Persecuted
Christian women kidnapped and forced to marry Muslims 700/year only in Pakistan. This also happens in other countries.

United Nations accuses Church of "Promoting Torture" because she opposes abortion. Also UN took Church to task for its teaching on contraception and homosexuality. Lifenews.com   NY Times 

China: You MUST abort

IN USA

Couple fined $30,000 for refusing to rent their hall to two lesbians for their wedding party.

Sterilization of 15 year old girls, free, without parental consent, in USA