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Every generation and every culture has its martyrs. The world has never stopped hearing of people who are ready to suffer, or even die for their convictions, and hardly a week goes by without us hearing or reading about another martyr in the news. Reflecting the Greek origins of the word ‘martyr’, they are witnesses – witnesses to a cause they believe in with all their hearts and souls. While the rest of us might compromise, martyrs remain resolutely single-minded. There are the martyrs of the Bible – from Isaiah, who was “despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows”, to Stephen, who forgave his killers as stones rained down on him. There are the famous martyrs of history, such as Joan of Arc, who sought to save her country, Sir Thomas More, who chose conscience over crown, or Martin Luther King, who dreamed of justice and dignity for all citizens. And, though he went on to transform his country and die peacefully, Nelson Mandela sacrificed 27 years to imprisonment in his struggle for equality. The world knows these martyrs as heroes. But sometimes deep convictions become distorted into aspirations to martyrdom through wreaking death and destruction. Though we are horrified by their evil actions, we must still stop and think about what makes these misguided martyrs ready to die for their cause. It remains our duty to critically interrogate the principles and beliefs they claim to represent – and the implications these hold for our own lives. Even martyrs who are justly admired and celebrated have often proved controversial in some way. But not all martyrs become public figures. Some act quietly and inconspicuously. I think, for instance, of the many religious sisters I have met who risk their lives every day as, they work to save women, children and men from modern slavery and human trafficking. Martyrdom is not romantic. It is not glamorous. It is painful. It is service. It is the surrender of one’s life to something greater than oneself. At best, martyrs, through the force of their conviction, prompt the rest of us to stop, look, listen and, importantly, learn. A martyr’s energy – often imbued by their faith – radiates outward. As the Epistle to the Hebrews tells us, “We are surrounded by so great a cloud of witnesses.” Paradoxically, that cloud does not obstruct our view: it illuminates our path, powered by the energy that emanates from the martyrs among those witnesses. The legacy of the martyr is catalytic, and it should rouse us to action. It must motivate us to unify. To care more deeply for one another.