Audio Message
St. Telemachus
In the fourth-century AD a monk named Telemachus, felt God calling him to Rome.
He arrived just as the whole city was heading to the amphitheater for their usual entertainment. Out of curiosity, Telemachus joined them to see what all the excitement was about.
He was sitting in the crowd with 80,000 spectators when gladiators emerged proclaiming, “Hail Caesar! We die to the glory of Caesar.”
Telemachus could not believe what he was seeing and hearing. The violence. The bloodshed. It was unconscionable, but the calloused spectators cried out of more.
Telemachus was not a Roman, but he knew that someone had to do something. He got out of his seat, he ran down the steps and climbed over the wall into the arena and ran to the center of the amphitheater. He threw himself between the gladiators and cried, “In the name of Christ, stop!”
The crowd mocked him. The gladiators abused him. But he kept getting back up and repeating, “In the name of Christ, stop.” Finally one of the gladiators, urged on by the jeering crowd, ran Telemachus through with his sword. One last time, in a pool of blood, Telemachus cried, “In the name of Christ, stop” and he died.
The crowd became silent and slowly left the amphitheater. This was to be the last gladiatorial contest in the history of the Roman Empire and history attributes the end of this blood sport to the little monk Telemachus.
My friend, history is waiting for people like you to stand up and make a difference. If not now when? If not here where? If not you who?
This is Daniel Kolenda
encouraging you to live before you die.
