A Martyr for the Faith vs. a Victim of Circumstance
The Fr. Mike Schmitz Catholic Podcast
Ascension
4.9 • 7.7K Ratings
🗓️ 11 February 2021
⏱️ 7 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
What’s the difference between a victim and a martyr?
A victim is always described as dying “of” or “from” something. But when you describe a martyr, you talk about what they died for. While a victim is hurt by something, a martyr is suffers for something or someone. While a victim is having something happen to them, a martyr is choosing what happens to them by their will.
“...I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord.” (John 10:17-18)
The word martyr comes from the Greek word for witness. So when we see Jesus in Acts 1 telling his disciples that they are called to be witnesses of the faith, he is also calling them to martyrdom for the sake of spreading the Gospel. The apostles were not victims—they were martyrs, because they lived their lives for Christ until death. This turns their death into the fulfillment of their lives—the crowning achievement—instead of something that defeated them.
While not all of us may be asked to lay down our lives for Christ at our death, we are all called to live our lives for the faith.
Transcript
Click on a timestamp to play from that location
| 0:00.0 | I might not ever be asked to give my life for my faith in Jesus Christ, |
| 0:04.6 | but every one of us right now in this moment are being asked to live our life for our faith in Jesus Christ. |
| 0:18.9 | Hi, my name is Father Mike Schmitz and this is Ascension Presents. |
| 0:21.1 | I was reading this article by a man named Mark Barnes. |
| 0:23.7 | It was just, it was really great. |
| 0:25.0 | I don't know if I've read a ton of what he's written, |
| 0:27.4 | but this article was phenomenal. It was looking at the difference between a victim and a martyr. |
| 0:33.3 | And among the points that he made, as he said, when we talk about a victim, |
| 0:36.4 | we're talking about what they died from. |
| 0:39.1 | Like someone was or what they were hurt from. |
| 0:41.7 | So someone is a victim of a carcass, |
| 0:44.6 | a victim of cancer, they're a victim of disease, |
| 0:47.1 | they're a victim of oppression. |
| 0:48.9 | So it's what's their victim or what they died from. |
| 0:53.3 | What we were talking about a martyr, what you talk about is what they died for. |
| 0:58.3 | Like they were a martyr for the cause of social justice. |
| 1:01.6 | They died for the cause of Jesus Christ. |
| 1:04.5 | They died for the dignity of other human beings. |
| 1:06.8 | They died in the service of the fellow man. |
| 1:08.5 | Right? |
| 1:09.2 | So it's remarkable because one's a negative, one's positive. |
| 1:11.9 | Again, when we look at victimhood, |
... |
Please login to see the full transcript.
Disclaimer: The podcast and artwork embedded on this page are from Ascension, and are the property of its owner and not affiliated with or endorsed by Tapesearch.
Generated transcripts are the property of Ascension and are distributed freely under the Fair Use doctrine. Transcripts generated by Tapesearch are not guaranteed to be accurate.
Copyright © Tapesearch 2026.