A present day martyr

Sometimes it can be difficult to relate to the Saints. We think of a saint as a person who lived during Jesus' time or centuries before we were even born. While reading the list of daily saints for August 13, the name of Blessed Father Jakob Gapp came across my screen. The name had me intrigued, but more importantly, as I read the blog I could relate to someone on the path to Sainthood.

Father Jakob Gapp came from a large family and lived in the Austro-Hungarian Empire during World War I and II. Father Gapp faced a lot of adversity, especially as he professed his Catholic faith as a prisoner of war during World War I. During his struggles with his faith, Father Jakob Gapp developed a passion for the poor and unemployed people. However, the most important thing that Father Gapp taught was that the Jewish people needed to be treated with love and compassion. Eventually, Father Gapp was forced to flee to France and Spain where he would preach that the Catholic Church was being persecuted by the Nazis. Father Gapp was betrayed by two men pretending to want to learn about the Catholic faith. While in prison and waiting to be killed, Father Gapp continued to defend the Catholic Church and hold an unwavering faith. The Nazis would condemn Father Gapp to death and behead him in Berlin on August 13, 1943. Pope John Paul II beatified Father Jakob Gapp on November 24, 1996.

Fast forward fifty years later, the teaching of Father Gapp seems to be the focus of Pope Francis. Pope Francis has been preaching that we need to treat people with love or, from the words of Pope John Paul II, "speak the truth with love." Yet, Catholics continue to be persecuted. The difference is the world is not fighting the Nazis, but we are fighting ISIS. Catholics and anyone not believing in the ISIS' radical ideology are being beheaded for defending their faith. We, as Catholics, need to hold strong to our faith. We need to defend the Catholic Church. We need to realize that Catholics are still being martyred every day. Although, it is not covered every day on the national or worldly news, does not mean that it is not happening. We cannot pretend that people are not being killed for their faith. It is a present issue that we need to address especially as Catholics.

At times, we are going to face a lot of adversity about our own faith. Are we going to defend our faith if we are placed in the same position as Father Gapp, or are we going to turn a blind eye to the atrocities happening in the world? Father Gapp gives Catholics a lot to think about as we only need to change the fact that he was living during World War I and II. If Father Gapp was living during our time and was placed in the situation with ISIS, he would still be beheaded for defending the Catholic faith. We struggle with our Catholic faith and at times find it easier to turn the blind eye. As Catholics, we can look to Father Gapp as a person who not only was martyred for defending his faith, but also was a person who held strong to making sure people were treated with love.

We forget to treat people with love at times. We forget to defend our faith. We do not want to be the ones to rock the boat. Yet, throughout the Bible, Jesus rocked the boat. If we cannot relate to Jesus rocking the boat, we have Blessed Father Jakob Gapp that we can relate to at rocking the boat. The two most important lessons learned today were "make sure to treat people with love" and "even the saints struggled with their faith at times."