St. Agatha
Feast Day: February 05
Born:(around)220 :: Died:250
A beautiful Christian girl named Agatha lived in Sicily in the third century. The governor heard of Agatha's beauty and brought her to his palace. He wanted to make her commit sins, but she was brave and would not give in. "My Lord Jesus Christ," she prayed, "you see my heart and you know my desire. I am all yours. Save me from this evil man. Make me worthy of winning out over the devil."
The governor then sent Agatha to the house of a wicked woman and hoped she would become bad too. But Agatha had great trust in God and prayed all the time. She kept herself pure. She would not listen to the evil ideas of the woman and her daughters.
After a month, she was brought back to the governor. He tried again to win her. "You are a noblewoman," he said kindly. "Why have you lowered yourself to be a humble Christian?"
"Even though I am a noble," answered Agatha, "I am a slave of Jesus Christ." "Then what does it really mean to be noble?" the governor asked. Agatha answered, "It means to serve God."
When he realized that she would not sin, the governor became angry. He had Agatha whipped and tortured. As she was being carried back to prison she whispered, "Lord, my Creator, you have protected me from the cradle. You have taken me from the love of the world and given me patience to suffer. Now receive my soul." Agatha soon died a martyr at Catania, Sicily, in the year 250.
Why do Christians address Jesus as "Lord"?
"You call me Teacher and Lord; and you are right, for so I am" (Jn 13:13).
The early Christians spoke as a matter of course about Jesus as "Lord", knowing that in the Old Testament this title was reserved as a form of addressing God. Through many signs Jesus had shown them that he had divine power over nature, demons, sin, and death. The divine origin of Jesus' mission was revealed in his Resurrection from the dead. Thomas confessed, "My Lord and my God!" (Jn 20:28). For us this means that since Jesus is "the Lord", a Christian may not bend his knee to any other power.
Why did God become man in Jesus?
"For us men and for our salvation he came down from heaven" (Nicene Creed).
In Jesus Christ, God reconciled the world to himself and redeemed mankind from the imprisonment of sin. "God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son" (Jn 3:16). In Jesus, God took on our mortal human flesh (Incarnation), shared our earthly lot, our sufferings, and our death, and became one like us in all things but sin. (YOUCAT questions 75-76)
Dig Deeper: CCC section (446-463) and other references here.