Voice: Mylene
Today is Monday, 25th of May. The Ordinary time resumes today. We give thanks for the start of another week and season.
Psalm 123
1 To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
2 Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.
3 Have mercy upon us, O Lord , have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
4 Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud.
Glory to the Father, and to the Son,
and to the Holy Spirit:
as It was in the beginning, is
now, and shall be forever. Amen.
Luke 9
23And he said to all, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.
24For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.
25For what does it profit a man if he gains the whole world and loses or forfeits himself?
26For whoever is ashamed of me and of my words, of him will the Son of Man be ashamed when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.
27But I tell you truly, there are some standing here who will not taste death until they see the kingdom of God.”
This is the Word of the Lord
Thanks be to God
Martyrdom
Jesus said, “Whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.” Throughout the centuries, many Christians have been martyred for their faith. This continues in some parts of the world even today.
Some of us were privileged to visit Isle of Iona recently. Iona is one of the great centres of Celtic Christianity. According to historical accounts, in AD 806, about 68 monks were massacred by Viking raiders at a place now known as Martyrs’ Bay.
The monks did not seek martyrdom. Yet when violence came, they remained where they were rooted in prayer, bound to their calling, and faithful in witness. Their deaths remind us that the Christian faith has often been lived at the edge — between safety and vulnerability, hope and fear, life and loss. They bore witness not through resistance or escape, but through steadfast presence. In this way, their lives reflect what the Celtic tradition later called red martyrdom — the shedding of blood for Christ.
Yet Celtic Christianity understood that martyrdom was not limited to bloodshed alone.
White martyrdom described the quiet renunciation of deep attachments to home, security, and familiarity for the sake of Christ, as seen in saints like Saint Columba, who embraced exile and pilgrimage. Many missionaries today embody this same spirit.
Green martyrdom referred to the long and hidden work of daily conversion — self-denial expressed through prayer, discipline, patience, repentance, and love.
Most of us are called not to dramatic sacrifice, but to this steady path of “green martyrdom.” We are called to take up the cross daily and follow Christ. To take up the cross is itself a form of dying.
Thankfully, as the writer of Epistle to the Hebrews reminds us:
“In your struggle against sin you have not yet resisted to the point of shedding your blood.”
— Hebrews 12:4
May we therefore pray for God’s grace and strength, that each day we may learn to deny ourselves for the sake of Christ, and to follow Him faithfully wherever He leads.
We pray this Celtic prayer. It expresses a life surrounded, sustained, and saturated by the presence of Christ.
Christ with me,
Christ before me,
Christ behind me,
Christ in me,
Christ beneath me,
Christ above me,
Christ on my right,
Christ on my left,
Christ when I lie down,
Christ when I sit down,
Christ when I arise,
Christ in the heart of everyone who thinks of me,
Christ in the mouth of everyone who speaks of me,
Christ in every eye that sees me,
Christ in every ear that hears me.
Be blessed by The Summons by John Bell. This is a song written by the Iona Community and release in 1987.
Will you come and follow me
If I but call your name?
Will you go where you don’t know
And never be the same?
Will you let my love be shown,
Will you let my name be known,
Will you let my life be grown
In you and you in me?
Will you leave yourself behind
If I but call your name?
Will you care for cruel and kind
And never be the same?
Will you risk the hostile stare
Should your life attract or scare?
Will you let me answer prayer
In you and you in me?
Will you let the blinded see
If I but call your name?
Will you set the prisoners free
And never be the same?
Will you kiss the leper clean,
And do such as this unseen,
And admit to what I mean
In you and you in me?
Will you love the ‘you’ you hide
If I but call your name?
Will you quell the fear inside
And never be the same?
Will you use the faith you’ve found
To reshape the world around,
Through my sight and touch and sound
In you and you in me?
Lord, your summons echoes true
When you but call my name.
Let me turn and follow you
And never be the same.
In your company I’ll go
Where your love and footsteps show.
Thus I’ll move and live and grow
In you and you in me.
Copyright:
Words: 1987 WGRG, Iona Community, Glasgow, Scotland, G2 3DH (Admin. by Wild Goose Resource Group), Music: David Peacock – The Jubilate Group (Admin. by Hope Publishing Company)
Daily Devotion 
Leave a comment