Originally published at The Catholic Thing
Given the joy of the Nativity, the post-Christmas liturgical calendar may seem a bit Scrooge-like, as the child-centered, innocent joy of the birth of Christ is quickly followed by three feasts of persecution and suffering. This brings to mind two extraordinary witnesses: Catholic convert Jimmy Lai, now in his fourth year of solitary confinement in a Hong Kong prison, unjustly prosecuted for defending human rights and dignity, and the Greek Catholic patriarch of Ukraine, Archbishop Sviatoslav Shevchuk, who in the ongoing violence of the Russian invasion has been a magnificent witness to hope.
