Our place is in heaven and we have 40 young martyrs, interceding for us so we can go there
We are celebrating today, with great joy, the martyrdom of forty young people who died to bring the faith to our country. Each of these martyrs has a history and are young like you. In https://padrepauloricardo.org/ site you can go deeper into the life of each of them.
These thirty-nine were for the most part, seminarians. The youngest was 14 years old.Three or four of them were 16 to 17 years old, 25 years old and some others, more mature, were 30 years of age. The fortieth was Inácio de Azevedo, the oldest of them, yet he was young.
If today we believe in God, we owe much of it to these martyrs. Ignatius of Azevedo was born in Oporto, northern Portugal, he was a rich young man. But unlike the rich young man of the Gospel, he left everything to be Jesuit. His love for the missions made him come to Brazil. Here he met José de Anchieta and Manoel da Nobrega also priest.
At that time, the king of France ordered the French Protestants, called Huguenots, who were organized to invade the lands that were being colonized by the Spanish and Portuguese. In Rio de Janeiro, the Portuguese fought against these invaders and emerged victorious from the battle thanks to the miraculous intervention of God through the intercession of Saint Sebastian.
Ignatius of Azevedo was on Brazilian soil for several years and saw that the Brazilian population needed to know Christianity. At that time, Pope St. Pius V gave permission for the first time, to San Francisco Borja to make a copy of the image of Our Lady [Aparecida], (the image sojourned for our country in preparation for the World Youth Day in Rio in 2013.) This image was presented to the Queen of Portugal and of the four made copies: one was brought to Brazil.
At the time, were sent seventy-two Jesuits to Brazil to evangelize our country, this figure is beautiful by remembering the seventy-two disciples that Jesus called to evangelize his people.
If you are in a state of grace, if they confessed and is in friendship with God, you now have the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. And you may wonder, “So, Father Paul, why do not I see the difference” is because these seven gifts are like a satellite dish. If you have at home a plasma television, it has a beautiful picture, and a satellite that needs to be tuned to the satellite, if it is not tuned it will not do show anything on the plasma TV. Similarly, you need to be tuned in God to see them [gifts].You have the gifts but do not see them because they are not tuned to the Lord.
The martyrs are able to give love of God that is superhuman, it is above our human forces. This is a characteristic of the gifts of the Holy Spirit The seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. – Given to us in Baptism and poured into fullness in Confirmation – are granted by God for us to act divinely They are that power of God that are at our disposal. and enable us to act and to perform divine works. If we are not able to perform divine works is because we’re not tuned into God.
When Ignatius left everything, he began performing heroic virtues, and from that, the “satellite” began to tune into the “satellite” of the Holy Spirit. By the time the forty martyrs were being martyred, over 2,500 km away, St. Teresa of Avila saw the martyrdom. God gave her this grace, for one of the martyred youth was her nephew and Teresa had a very great love for the missionaries.
Brazil began to venerate these martyrs even before they are beatified. São José de Anchieta was one of the greatest devotees of the forty martyrs. They showered with his blood the first seeds of the Gospel planted in our country. Imagine São José de Anchieta praying and asking the intercession of these martyrs to know that they had powerful intercessors with God. When you are evangelizing, ask the intercession of the martyrs. It’s nice to know that their blood was not shed in vain!
What about us? Do we also defend the faith? Do we pay the price for believing in Jesus? We are in this world of passage, we do not where to lay our head, but in heaven, our Father awaits us with “lined bed.” He expects to give us eternal happiness. And that sadness when we shore up our minds on this earth and we forget God! Our place is in heaven and we have 40 young people interceding for us so we can go there.
You say, “My hope is heaven! I want to go to heaven. “ This is our faith. For we do so, we need the help of the Holy Spirit of God. Let us ask the Lord that the gifts of the Holy Spirit begin to sprout in us to be holy. You were made to fly, stop crawling like a snake! You were made for love, stop being selfish!
Ask for the grace to love God enough to withstand major crosses. As Inacio de Azevedo, let us ask Our Lady that we may stand firm in our faith and that one day we can celebrate a beautiful liturgy in heaven.
Fr. Paulo Ricardo Azevedo, Jr.