He sought the truth and when he found it, in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, he was willing to defend it at the cost of his life.
Newsdesk (16/09/2024 10:50, Gaudium Press) In Shechem, three angels or personages, whom the Fathers of the Church recognized as the three Divine Persons, appeared to Abraham under the oak of Moreh, and announced to him a son in whom all the nations of the earth would be blessed. Abraham built the first altar there. Centuries later, King Jeroboam, after being acclaimed king, walled up the city of Shechem, choosing it for his residence. It was also here, in Samaria, that St. Justin was born, around the year 100 of the Christian era.
Justin received a refined education. His Greek pagan parents had great wealth, which allowed him to devote himself entirely to his studies. He became a respected philosopher, seeking to find the truth through his knowledge and making it the cornerstone of his life.
He studied Stoic doctrine, but was eventually discouraged by their silence in relation to God. Later, he met a teacher from the Peripatetic school, but was scandalized by his fixation on the vile metal called money. Then came the turn of the Pythagoreans, who proposed a course in music, geometry and astronomy that didn’t interest him. Then one day something surprising happened.
Providentially, he was approached by an unknown old man who discerned in our saint’s soul his dilemmas and perplexities about human existence. He advised him to read the writings of the Prophets who proclaimed the Truth: Our Lord Jesus Christ.
Following the advice of this mysterious personage, St. Justin found the Truth he was looking for in the Holy Scriptures and converted to Christianity at the age of thirty.
‘Even at the time when I was satisfied with Plato’s teachings, when I saw Christians facing death and torture with indomitable courage, I realized that it was impossible for them to have led the criminal life of which they were accused,’ he said after his conversion.
He went to Rome and set up a school where he taught his new doctrine, full of wisdom, free of charge. He travelled through various countries arguing with pagans, heretics and Jews.
He openly demonstrated the bad faith and ignorance of Crescentius, a hypocrite and cynical philosopher. There is no worse resentment than that of someone proudly defeated in his own intellectual arrogance. Apparently, it was through Crescentius’ influence that St. Justin was denounced to the Roman authorities and taken prisoner on his second visit to Rome.
The prefect of Rome, Rusticus, tried to dissuade him from his Christian position before his martyrdom. When the saint courageously proclaimed his faith in Jesus Christ and refused to pay reverence to idols, his condemnation was already sealed.
He was beheaded along with six other Christians. The exact date of his martyrdom is uncertain, but it took place around the year 165. He sought the truth and when he found it, in the person of Our Lord Jesus Christ, he was willing to defend it at the cost of his life. May St. Justin Martyr intercede for us that we too may always be willing to defend the Truth, whatever the cost
Compiled by Roberta MacEwan
