We
hear Jesus’ discourse today about what will happen in the end times – a time of
persecution that many of the believers will undergo before Jesus comes again in
his glory. Jesus tells us that we will
be hated by all because of his name.
But, he also tells us that we will persevere, and thus will secure our
lives.
Recently,
in our RCIA class, we were talking about the liturgical year and the liturgical
colors that we use. We explained that
the color red often designates a martyr in our daily masses, someone who has
died for the faith. I think of the great
missionaries who died for the faith – Jean de Brebeuf and Isaac Jogues. We think of those member of the early Church
who were persecuted for their beliefs – St Lawrence, St James, St Justin
Martyr, and St Ignatius of Antioch. We
think of those who refused to deny their Catholic faith – St Thomas More and St
John Fisher. We think of two Catholics
who perished for their faith in Auschwitz – Edith Stein and Maximilian
Kolbe. We think that being a martyr is
something far off and something that is so removed from us and our world. Yet, we see how our society is turning away
from the faith and mocking it, and we wonder where all of this is going. Jesus tells us that we will persevere and
secure our lives – that is where we put our faith, not on the fleeting values
of our world.
No comments:
Post a Comment