Optional Memorial of Sts. Perpetua and Felicity, Martyrs

Brief Background:

Perpetua and Felicity were early Christian martyrs from Carthage in North Africa who were killed for their faith around the year 203 AD during the persecution under Septimius Severus. Perpetua was a young noblewoman and new mother, while Felicity was her enslaved companion who was pregnant at the time of their imprisonment. Despite pressure to renounce their faith, both remained steadfast and were ultimately martyred in the arena. Their story is one of the earliest firsthand accounts of Christian martyrdom. They are honored as patron saints of mothers, expectant mothers, and those facing persecution for their faith, and their feast day is celebrated on March 7.



REFLECTION:

They say that many parts of the vast ocean have never been discovered. There are depths of the sea so deep that no human being can reach them. Even with modern technology, there are places in the ocean that remain unexplored and untouched. Perhaps that is meant to be. Perhaps some parts of the sea were never meant for us to explore.

The prophet Micah uses this powerful image when he describes the mercy of God: “You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

Imagine that for a moment. God does not simply forgive our sins and leave them floating nearby. He throws them into the deepest part of the ocean—into places so deep that no one can retrieve them.

They are gone.

Yet the strange thing is that even after God forgives us, we often keep going back to the shore of that ocean. We keep looking into the water, trying to remember what we did, replaying old mistakes, carrying guilt from the past. Sometimes we even try to pull those sins back up again.

But Micah reminds us that God has already taken care of them. God’s mercy is deeper than the ocean. When we bring our failures to Him with a sincere heart, He does not hold on to them. He does not store them away to bring up later. Instead, He casts them into depths where they cannot be reached.

Perhaps those unexplored depths of the sea are a reminder to us: some things are not meant to be recovered.

When God forgives, the past does not have to define the future. The invitation for us is simple—trust the depth of God's mercy, and stop diving for what God has already thrown away.