At this time of year, Western culture gives temporary rein to images of the macabre. For a few rare moments around Halloween, secular people give thought to the existence of death, evil, and the demonic. Of course, the Christian is always aware of these realities: in Christ’s Crucifixion, we see the murder of the surpassingly innocent and holy Victim, the ultimate act of evil on the part of the human race. In the life of the new hieromartyr John of Chicago and Tsarkoe Selo, whom we commemorate today, we perceive a similarly violent and senseless evil: Saint John was, according to various reports, either killed by a firing squad of Red Guards or, horrifically, dragged to death along a railroad track, his head striking the railroad ties. But we do not gaze upon this wickedness and brutality with senseless horror: rather, we know that our hope, Jesus Christ, the incarnate Love of God, is stronger than death. His Passion opened the way to new life, a new life displayed in the lives of the martyrs like Saint John. Saint John was killed, but he is not dead; he lives forever through faith, by grace, in the love of God.
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