On July 26, an elderly priest prepared for a quiet morning Mass. The retired priest, Father Jaques Hamel, was helping out by substituting that day for the pastor. He was vesting in the parish of St. Thèrése in Saint-Etienne-du-Rouvray in France. According to news accounts, the faithful attending that Mass comprised three nuns and another elderly lay couple.

By now the rest of the story is well known. At the end of Mass, two young men armed with knives entered the church. They took hostage those present. Father Hamel was said to have made efforts to protect the faithful and one of the nuns escaped to sound the alarm. Father Hamel’s throat was slit. The two young men were killed by authorities as they exited the church.

As in some other recent attacks, witnesses said the perpetrators cried out “Allahu Akbar.” They thus identified themselves with Islamic radicalism.

The desecration of the church was deepened as news reports say that the young men took a video of themselves martyring Father Hamel.

The brutal killing is particularly shocking. It happened, not on the geographical front lines of whatever clash of cultures we might envision to be currently taking place between the increasingly secular west and the Middle East.

Instead, it took place in a small, out-of-the-way parish in a French suburb of an urban center smaller than Rockford near where St. Joan of Arc was martyred. The martyred man was not some earthly trained warrior. He was a priest of Jesus Christ who was ordained some 59 years ago.

What then are we to make of the death of Father Hamel? How are we to understand the other incidents of martyrdom in the Church in our day?

The early Church theologian Tertullian wrote, “The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church.” He was observing that through the centuries, martyrdom has made the faith, to the eyes of the world, seem weak and defeated, like Jesus on the cross.

But the effect of the witness of martyrdom, and the graces that it brings to the Church and to the world, have instead strengthened the faith and the life of the Church. It brings a renewal to the Church that began when Jesus came forth from the tomb.

Father Hamel’s bishop visited the parish where his murder took place. He movingly noted that Father Hamel’s death joins to the witness of other martyrs in France and in history. Of course all over the world and especially in the Middle East, we have watched an unfolding modern genocide against Christians, a judgment expressed by both Pope Francis and the State Department. We need to recognize that our Christian faith and even the Mass itself is often the object of hatred and violence.

However, the response of faith is always first to trust Christ, and then to forgive and to seek peace. Our faith does allow us to defend ourselves, others, especially the innocent, and our faith against injustice.

But it does not allow us to repay violence with hatred and vengeance that contaminates our own hearts.
In our increasingly secular world we need to have the courage and the clarity to live and articulate our faith, especially when it is threatened. But we need to do so with true love for all men and women. We need to recall the words of Jesus on the cross, “forgive them Father, for they know not what they do.”

Notably, following the killing of Father Hamel, a clear note of solidarity was sounded. The weekend after his death, some members of the Islamic faith were visibly present at Masses offered in Rouen and throughout France. Clear renunciations of violence such as that perpetrated against Father Hamel were also made publicly by some of the leaders and members of the Islamic community.

Father Hamel, in celebrating his final Mass, made present once more to the world the death and resurrection of Jesus. Minutes later, still vested for Mass, acting in the person of Jesus, he gave his life in imitation of Christ’s death.

We too are called to imitate Christ in our own lives. It may include even a sacrifice of martyrdom. It will certainly include forgiving those who trespass against us.

In Father Hamel, we have yet another example and reminder. May he pray for us!