Acts 16: 1-10,
Psalm 100: 1-2.3.5,
John 15:18-21 Full Readings
The Reality of following Jesus
Brethren, today's Gospel reading presents to us the reality of following Jesus. It's Jesus Himself who speaks to us 'If the world hates you, remember that they hated me first...if they persecuted me, they will persecute you too.'
When I was young, I thought following Christ especially for the religious was the easiest thing to do, thinking that one enjoys life, travels a lot, one becomes famous, a role model, one is loved by everyone, admired by everyone and so forth. However, as I keep growing in my knowledge of Christ and as I follow Him, I find that it is not easy as I thought. Following Jesus needs to imitate him, and imitating him means what happened to Him will also happen to us.
Jesus tells us plainly, that they will hate us and persecute us because that's what they did to Him. It's important to know why Jesus was hated by the world. He was hated because He stood for the truth and justice. Through our experience, such people are mostly killed. Human beings do not want someone to be just but to appear just, the moment he becomes just, he is killed.
Jesus' words and actions were a threat and challenging to existing powers and traditions of the time which were very oppressive. Jesus would not withstand these systems and so he had to challenge them and proclaim the kingdom of God, which is justice/righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit (Romans 14:17). This was contrary to the kingdom of the world where few individuals want to take everything by themselves. He therefore became a threat to the world by challenging it and so they had to hate and persecute him even up to death. As followers of Jesus, we should be prepared to face this also.
Following Jesus means doing the same works he did and saying the same words he said. In any situation we meet we should be guided by the question "If Jesus was here, what would he have done?" If Jesus stood for truth and justice, it is also an invitation for us to do so. And if he was persecuted because of these, we too should be ready to face the persecution even to die for the truth. St Paul teaches us that we supply for what is lacking in the persecution of Jesus for the sake of His body: the church (Colossians 1:24) and so we have to participate in his persecution.
We should not be afraid of being persecuted because of Christ because our reward is in heaven, an everlasting joy in eternity as he promises us in Matthew 5:10-12. Our efforts also will bring change in society even though we die. We also have hope that if Christ endured this persecution and was victorious why not us whom He has called from the world and put us to belong to the kingdom? Therefore, let us be still and know that God will surely help us to overcome.
Brethren, there are a lot of persecutions and there are many people who hate us in our lives, the question is: how many of those who persecute or hate us do it because we follow Christ? This is a fundamental question for us. If we find it's not because of Christ that we are persecuted then, we need to avoid such persecution and examine our lives. An invitation today is that; in whatever level, place, situation, work, vocation , age and status we are, we should try to act like Christ: to stand for the truth and justice alone, and nothing should stop us even persecution or hatred, for our reward from Jesus is waiting for us. The Apostles were persecuted but that didn't stop them from spreading the Good News. Their fruits we see in first Reading as the fast growing of the Christian communities.
Reflect today on the reality of hate and persecution as a reality of following Jesus. Do people hate you because of Christ? Are you ready to bear the persecution for the sake of truth and Justice? Are you able to stand for Jesus when persecution comes or you will deny Him? Pray and ask for the Graces you need to stand for Jesus in any situations which may come in your life.
Let us pray
Lord Jesus gives me the courage and strength to always stand by you despite hate and persecution which might come in my way. May truth and justice be my motto everyday of my life and help me to stand for them. Amen
Blessed Easter season
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