This past weekend, I came upon a soccer game on the field behind the Father Peyton Center. From a distance, I couldn’t tell who was playing, whether they were high school or college players, so I walked closer and asked a man standing behind the net intently watching the game. Often, we see or hear things that we’re not sure about, then seek answers. Today’s saint, Justin, the martyr, was searching for how a human being could come to know God. For to love and serve God, first must know Him.
Justin, a philosopher and well-read, had explored the writings of the greats of his time: the Stoics, Pythagoreans, and Platonists, and yet still was searching when he came upon an older man while walking along the sea in Greece.
As they spoke, the kind man told him about the Hebrew prophets and Christianity, and Justin’s heart and mind were touched. Later, he’d decide that this man had “the only sure and useful philosophy.”
Justin’s conversion to becoming a follower of Christ would lead him to teach and write as a Christian philosopher. His mission focused on winning the hearts and minds of the pagan and Jewish people.
He believed this was possible because God draws all human beings to himself by planting universal truths within us. (Think about that, that God places universal truths within our minds.)
As I spoke to the man watching the soccer game, he shared that his hope for his family, students, and community is that we would return to a kinder and more caring way of relating to one another.
Given all that is going on and people’s reactions, I said that I believe that the way to unity, peace, and love is found in knowing and loving God first.
For when we are in communion with the love of God, it’s then that we find the truth about ourselves, our families, and our neighbors.
This is what Jesus reminds us of in today’s gospel: though we struggle with evil in the world, we are united in the truth and love of God through his Son.
St. Justin wished to share this message with people of his time and would come to give his for this saving message of Jesus.
The world was a dangerous place in the early 2nd century, and the government leaders didn’t want people to place their faith in God over man.
When given a chance to deny his faith and keep his life on earth, Justin was resolute. He had searched, listened, and come to believe in the Word of God.
What answers are you searching for today?
Today’s saint reminds us that the answers are found in knowing and loving God, the One who created us to know the truth about Him and ourselves. The One who wishes us to be united in His love.
St. Justin, pray for us!
