Take Courage

Homily for Thursday of the Seventh Week in Easter

The memorial of St. Christopher Magallanes Jara and Companions invites us to stand within the same divine confidence that sustained them: the certainty that Christ prays for us, remains with us, and draws us into the unity of His own life.

In the first reading, Paul stands before a divided Sanhedrin, surrounded by hostility, misunderstanding, and the threat of violence. Yet the Lord comes to him in the night with a quiet, steadying word: “Take courage.” It is not a command to be brave on his own strength; it is a reminder that Christ Himself is the source of Paul’s endurance. The mission continues because the Lord remains present.

The martyrs we honor today—St. Christopher Magallanes Jara and his companions—stood in that same nighttime moment of faith. They lived in a world where the Gospel was resisted, where priestly ministry was criminalized, where fidelity to Christ could cost one’s life. Yet they carried within them the same assurance Paul received: the Lord does not abandon His witnesses. Their courage was not defiance but communion—an act of belonging to Christ even unto death.

Psalm 16 gives voice to that interior belonging: “You are my inheritance, O Lord… With Him at my right hand I shall not be disturbed.” This is the spiritual posture of the martyrs, and it is the posture of fearlessness and rootedness that Christ desires for us.

And in the Gospel, Jesus prays not only for the apostles but for all who will believe—for us. His prayer is that we may be one, drawn into the unity He shares with the Father. The martyrs lived from that unity; it was their strength, their peace, their identity. When the world fractured around them, they remained whole because they lived inside the prayer of Christ.

For us, the memorial is an invitation to return to that same center. Whatever divisions, anxieties, or pressures surround us, the Lord speaks the same word He spoke to Paul: “Take courage.” And He prays the same prayer He prayed in the Upper Room: that we may dwell in His unity, strengthened for whatever witness our day requires.

May we, like St. Christopher Magallanes Jara and his companions, live from the quiet certainty that Christ is with us, Christ prays for us, and Christ draws us into the life that conquers fear.