I boast of Christ Jesus in whom I exist, the wisdom from God, my saving justice, my holiness and my redemption. The Church honors today the memory of St. Agnes, one of her youngest virgin martyrs. St. Agnes came from a noble Roman family and was martyred at age twelve (or thirteen) at the beginning of the 4^th century during the persecution of Diocletian. She is the patroness of Christian virtue.
The above opening sentence must have been the words that were being pronounced by St. Agnes as she joyfully underwent her persecution and eventual martyrdom. As young as she was, St. Agnes fully understood what discipleship entails. She did not let her noble background stand in her way of being fully assimilated in Christ. As today’s Gospel reading reminds us, St. Agnes had found the treasure which she had sought more than anything else, and indeed she sold everything in order to cling to this treasure. Threats of persecution and death did not dissuade this young soldier of Christ from her chosen path because she was already saved in Christ. At only 12, St. Agnes understood that a follower of Christ must be fully assimilated in Christ the master. She was not afraid to undergo martyrdom because she knew that as a disciple of Christ, she was living in Christ and was already one with him. Christ had become her very existence.
In union with the other martyrs, St. Agnes drew her courage and strength from the belief and understanding that since was already alive in Christ, she could not die. Christ in whom she was alive cannot die again because he had died once and for all (cf. Romans 6:10). Moreover, to her, bodily death was no longer something to be dreaded since the soul of the righteous continues to live in God. While we might not be called to physical martyrdom such as St. Agnes underwent, we are still called to let our firm faith in Christ carry us across seemingly impossible situations. Christ in whom am fully assimilated is ready to carry me through any situation, but only if I let him. May St. Agnes intercede for us so that we too may find our treasure in Jesus Christ and then hold fast to him.