Personal Narrative: My Modern Day Martyr

Stephen was selected to be part of an “expansion” project of the Church. The Church continued to get more and more converts and the Apostles needed more help. The apostles asked the disciples to choose seven of them amongst themselves to continue the works of the Apostles. Stephen was selected along with six others. Stephen started committing great works and signs for the people and this upset the Jews. Jews began to argue with Stephen, but Stephen had the Holy Spirit on his side so they couldn’t win a talking battle against him. Therefore, the angered Jews went and convinced people to say “We have heard Stephen speak blasphemous words against Moses and against God. Stephen was then brought to the Sanhedrin. He gave his speech to the Jews, but at the end he called the Jews “stiffnecked” people and rightfully accused them of persecuting many prophets. This angered the Sanhedrin and they sentenced him to death. They dragged Stephen out of the city and stoned him. Right before he died, Stephen said “Lord do not hold this sin against them”, he then died. Stephen was very significant because he was considered to be the first martyr. My “modern day” martyr is Father Ragheed Ganni. This priest was born in Iraq in 1972 in Iraq. Father Ganni studied and Rome and
after that he wanted to be sent back to his home country to become a Catholic priest. He had a major impact in the Catholic church worldwide. This priest spoke four languages! As a result, of being able to speak many languages he worked with “Asia News” as the Pontifical Institute for Foreign Missions Correspondent. He made a major impact throughout the world because of his work with “Asia News” and he continued to do so throughout his life. He was considered a threat in Islamic culture so they were waiting to kill. Father Ganni was doing a Pentecost mass at a church, on June 3, 2007, where his cousins were deacons and they left the church. The four men exited the building and they were confronted by a man who asked them to shut down the church. Father Ganni said “How can I close the House of God?” The four men were told by the man to convert to Islam or die. All four of them said no and they were shot and killed. The man placed them in a car full of explosives so if anyone attempted to go and get them, then they would explode with them. Eventually, the police disabled the bombs and the men were taken out and given a proper funeral ceremony. In conclusion, Father Ganni had a very inspirational story about dying for the faith and is a great example of a “modern day martyr.” Stephen, the first Christian martyr, and Father Ragheed Ganni were similar in many ways.
The two of them were great embodiments of the Christian faith. The two of them were similar in the fact that they stood up for their faith when death was staring them in the eyes. Father Ganni and Stephen both answered to the people that had their fate in their hands by fighting with the power of God and Jesus for the ultimate reward. The two men were also very active members in the faith and weren’t just worshippers. Stephen was chosen by the Apostles to carry on the works of Jesus and Father Ganni was a very decorated priest. In conclusion, the two were similar in the way that they stood up for the faith before they
died. I’ve learned a lot about our tradition through this research because I’ve grown to appreciate my faith more. I used to take going to Church for granted, but now I feel guilty for that since people have literally died for the Church. This essay has also taught me that this tradition was built on the right people. What I mean by this is that people such as Stephen were the foundation of the Church and he was very courageous. This has also taught me the strength of our Catholic tradition. Despite, all of the martyrs that we’ve had in the history of our Church the church has stayed strong and organized. This has also taught me that our tradition is very unique, because this essay got me thinking of the times when the Romans would persecute the Christians and then there would be more and more converts. This made me realize the strength that God instills in his people. In conclusion, throughout this research I learned to not take church for granted and I also discovered the strength of the Church.