In the first few decades after the death and resurrection of Jesus in 30 AD, Christianity began spreading throughout the Roman Empire, and before long reached the city of Rome itself. Because Christians were at first considered by the Romans to be merely a sect of Judaism, they were tolerated, but the mysterious nature of the Christians’ beliefs and practices made them a target for prejudice and suspicion.
In 64 AD a major fire devastated the city of Rome, and the rumor quickly spread that the Emperor Nero had himself ordered it so as to make room for the expansions of his palace. To divert attention from himself, Nero accused the Christians. According to the contemporary historian Tacitus, few Romans actually believed the Christians to be guilty of arson; nevertheless, large numbers of them were arrested, mocked, and cruelly tortured before being executed. Some were dressed as animals and then thrown to wild dogs for the entertainment of the crowd in the amphitheater; others were covered with flammable material, impaled on stakes, and set afire to provide light for the evening feasts Nero held in the imperial gardens; still others were crucified.
[The above text is from Today’s Saint]
The fact that there are people in the world who could do things like what Nero did to the first Christians in Rome simply shows the reality of evil in the world. Evil is real and we don’t need to bring a possessed person in our midst in order to believe in the presence of evil spirits.
Today’s feast of the first martyrs of Rome should convince us that Jesus is more powerful than all evil spirits in the world. Nero, like a wild animal, savagely ordered the massacre of the first Christians of Rome but he failed to stop the life and growth of the Christian Church. Nero was long gone but the power of Christ is very much alive not only in Rome but in the whole world.
The names of the first martyrs of Rome are known only to God but we honor them today for witnessing the power of God in the presence of evil. The martyrs speak to us of the power and presence of Jesus in the Church. We must pray that in the midst of our daily struggles in the practice of our faith “we find strength from their courage and rejoice in their triumphs” [From the opening prayer of the Mass].
In 64 AD a major fire devastated the city of Rome, and the rumor quickly spread that the Emperor Nero had himself ordered it so as to make room for the expansions of his palace. To divert attention from himself, Nero accused the Christians. According to the contemporary historian Tacitus, few Romans actually believed the Christians to be guilty of arson; nevertheless, large numbers of them were arrested, mocked, and cruelly tortured before being executed. Some were dressed as animals and then thrown to wild dogs for the entertainment of the crowd in the amphitheater; others were covered with flammable material, impaled on stakes, and set afire to provide light for the evening feasts Nero held in the imperial gardens; still others were crucified.
[The above text is from Today’s Saint]
The fact that there are people in the world who could do things like what Nero did to the first Christians in Rome simply shows the reality of evil in the world. Evil is real and we don’t need to bring a possessed person in our midst in order to believe in the presence of evil spirits.
Today’s feast of the first martyrs of Rome should convince us that Jesus is more powerful than all evil spirits in the world. Nero, like a wild animal, savagely ordered the massacre of the first Christians of Rome but he failed to stop the life and growth of the Christian Church. Nero was long gone but the power of Christ is very much alive not only in Rome but in the whole world.
The names of the first martyrs of Rome are known only to God but we honor them today for witnessing the power of God in the presence of evil. The martyrs speak to us of the power and presence of Jesus in the Church. We must pray that in the midst of our daily struggles in the practice of our faith “we find strength from their courage and rejoice in their triumphs” [From the opening prayer of the Mass].
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