Modern-Day Martyrs Essay: Redemptive Love in

Action
Learning about modern-day martyrspeople who have witnessed to the importance of their beliefs by
enduring great personal sufferingwill lead to a deeper understanding of Jesus suffering and death as
an act of redemptive love.

Purpose of the Activity

1. To learn about the life of a modern-day martyrs in depth

2. To draw connections between the lives (and, in many cases, deaths) of these people and
the life and death of Jesus

3. To explore what the witness of martyrs, from the time of Jesus to the present, might teach
us about our own lives, values, and priorities

Directions
1. You will choose one of the following people or groups to research online:
Bishop Juan Gerardi Conedera (Guatemala)
Fr. Stanley Rother (Guatemala)
Sr. Dorothy Stang (Brazil)
Sr. Alicia Domon (Argentina)
Archbishop Oscar Romero (El Salvador)
Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (USA)
Dietrich Bonhoeffer (Germany)
Saint Damien De Veuster and/or Saint Marianne Cope (Hawaii)
Nelson Mandela (South Africa)
Sr. Maura Clarke, Sr. Dorothy Kazel, Sr. Ita Ford, and Jean Donovan (combined; El Salvador)
Tenzin Gyatso (the Dalai Lama; Tibet)
Mahatma Gandhi (India)
Bishop Carlos Belo (East Timor)
The Jesuit martyrs of El Salvador, Julia Elba Ramos, and Celina Meredith Ramos (combined;
El Salvador)
Aung San Suu Kyi (Burma)
Augustine Zhao Rong and 120 companions (China)
Other (see me)

2. You will submit the following:

2016 by Saint Marys Press

Living in Christ Series Document #: TX005397
 80 points for well-written essay with quality information

Basic information about the martyr, including the place and context in which they lived,
worked, and died
20 points

The beliefs to which the martyr was faithful, despite the risk of suffering and death
(Were they religious beliefs? political beliefs? something else?)
20 points

What, specifically, the martyr suffered in order to remain faithful to those beliefs
15 points

Similarities between the story of the martyr and the story of Jesus suffering and death
15 points

Personal reflection: What can you learn from the story of the martyrs life? How does
the martyrs story move or inspire you? What is he/she a good example of?
10 points

Feel free to include any other interesting information about the martyr(s)

10 points for cover page with title in the center and partners names and class period at bottom
right hand corner
You may include a picture of the martyr on the cover page

5 points for works cited page

5 points for correct format: Times New Roman, double-spaced, 12 point font, 1 inch margins

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If you are missing a works cited page you will receive a ZERO

TYPED COPY ONLY- Emails or handwritten copies will not be accepted. If you need access to a
printer please talk to me.

Due Wednesday, December 20th (No exceptions- Even if absent)

10% off per day late
This essay will count as one test grade

Plagiarism of any kind (copying from another students paper, copying and pasting directly from the
Internet, paraphrasing from the Internet without crediting your source etc.) will not be tolerated and will
result in a grade of ZERO.

2016 by Saint Marys Press Handout Page | PAGE \* MERGEFORMAT 2

Living in Christ Series Document #: TX005397