For God did not give us a spirit of timidity, but a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline. So do not be ashamed to testify about our Lord, or ashamed of me his prisoner. But join with me in suffering for the gospel, by the power of God, who has saved us and called us to a holy life-not because of anything we have done but because of his own purpose and grace.    (2 Timothy 1:7-9a, NIV)

Our family recently had the fortune to view the movie Bless You Prison, based on the memoirs of Nicoleta Valery-Grossu, a Romanian woman who was arrested in 1949 in Communist Romania. She was arrested on no particular charge, but rather because her family was known to be of a more democratic political persuasion. She was hauled off to prison, where she was tortured and beaten in a variety of horrible ways. She was asked to reveal the names of friends, who would obviously be rounded up by the government as she was. Nicoleta refused to save herself by naming anyone, but chose to suffer the punishment for her silence. She began to pray to God, attempting to revive her latent religious faith. It was after this that she noticed some writings scratched into the wall of her cell, words of spiritual encouragement written by some previous prisoner. She suddenly hit on the idea of continuing the writing, and saved some plum pits to use as a stylus. She hoped her written encouragements would help a future prisoner endure the horror of the prison. She also decided to "heap burning coals", as Paul would say, on her captors, by smiling, singing, and thanking them for insignificant tasks. The jailers started referring to her as the crazy woman in cell 24.

After seeing the futility of their interrogations, the authorities transferred her to another prison, where she was communally housed with other prisoners. She began to evangelize and support her fellow inmates, despite at times being ridiculed for her faith. She challenged the warden despite the incredible danger of doing so, choosing to speak truth to power. The prison was on the site of a former church and monastery, which was seized by the government. One day Nicoleta managed to conceal a Bible she found in the abandoned church and bring it back to the cell room. She separated the Bible by chapter and proceeded to pass them amongst the women in rotation so they could all read the forbidden book. The women in the cell sang hymns on Easter, and even emboldened other prisoners to join in with them.

The women were next transferred to a Soviet work camp, which was engaged in the construction of the Danube-Black Sea canal. Ridiculously hard work conditions ensued. Women committed suicide rather than continue to endure the harsh conditions. One day, a new prisoner arrived at the camp and began to tell the story of how she had been sustained by the writings inscribed on the wall of her prison cell, and how she hoped one day to find the author, in order to thank her for passing along her words of faith. She had found her! Nicoleta was there in the same barracks.

After four years of unspeakable "living" conditions, which were really more like "death" conditions, Nicoleta was finally released from prison. She later penned her memoirs of her incarceration, which became the basis for the movie. It seems like such a moot question for us living in the United States of America in 2009, just how many of us would be willing to undergo a hundredth of what this woman went through to persevere in her faith, but the sad fact is that in numerous places around the world this very minute, people are being persecuted and killed for maintaining their faith in the God we worship as the God of Abraham and the father of Jesus Christ our Lord. We should never forget the witness of those like Nicoleta, who survived her ordeal, and thousands of martyrs who did not, when we ponder the precious gift of our faith.

Lord God, we are humbled by the witness of those who have witnessed faith in you even to the point of following your Son Jesus to death. While most of us will never have to choose between life and death to keep our faith, help us to use stories such as this one to remind us to choose the uneasy path in our daily lives, witnessing to you in the face of opposition in our workplaces, schools, and society. Our lives are worth nothing except in relationship with you, our reason for being. Amen.

Contributed by David
Sunday January 4, 2009
Liturgical Year B Week 6 Sunday Gospel:
First Sunday after Christmas