Guest blogger: the beautiful inside and out Annie, Ave Maria University senior:
It isn’t easy to be the only person on your own side. It isn’t easy to stand up and dissent from the prevailing mentality, especially when that mentality is the popular one and yours is very much not. Don’t we all know about this from living in the battlefield that modern society presents to Christians? Especially for our younger generation, it can be a serious challenge to rebel against the status quo of our peers. Unless you live in some kind of compound, the odds are good that you know and have interacted with many members of different faiths or of no faith at all. If you have been lucky enough never to have been attacked verbally by one of these people, you are not in the majority of Christians. Once when I was away at summer camp as a teenager, an atheistic and pro-choice friend of mine began to speak mockingly and hatefully about the archaic and oppressive religious practise of not killing children before they are born. (The first half are her words, the second half are mine.) Not then practised in the fine art of delicate navigation through the waters of controversial matters, I saw her scorn and raised her my passionate opposition, until we basically had a shouting match in the middle of the common area. The fight got personal and ugly and she ended up painting with a very unflattering brush. That was not the last time I engaged in an argument regarding Church matters, but the experience was so offensive to me personally that there have been many, many times since where I have quietly sat back and said nothing, knowing that to do so would mean not only ridicule but serious persecution from my friends.
Today’s Gospel (Luke 21:1-19) reassures us that yes, we will indeed receive hostility and hatred when we enter the army of Christ, but also that we will be protected and rewarded for bearing this burden far beyond what we realize:
Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
To me the underlying message of this Gospel is that we must have courage. We must have the courage to speak up, and we must have the courage to stay calm and with Christ in our conflicts. I have failed to have both of these forms of courage in the past, (see above example!) as I’m sure many of you have. One of the things we must remember is that no matter how many people would stand against us, we are never really the only person on our own side. Apart from the huge body of the Church here on earth, we have Christ, and even if He were literally the only one in the world, that would be enough. All we need is conviction and courage – we don’t even have to have our own defense! God does all of the work for us.
In Volume Seven, St. Dymphna tells us that we are not alone in our Christian endeavours and that we need never worry about the contempt of the world:
“Do not be afraid. There is nothing that should make you be afraid. Jesus will care for your needs and you will care for His. Fear is paralyzing many on earth at this time. This brings us back to the need for the heavenly eyes. If you look at your situation and view it as heaven views it, you will understand that there is nothing on the earth that should make you fearful. You will serve for a time and then you will die in your body. This is the way it has always been. This is heaven’s plan. This is not a bad thing but a good thing. Imagine living on earth indefinitely. That would make you sad because it would take away your hope that your time of service will end and your time in heaven will begin. If souls on earth do not think well of you and they ridicule you, well, my friend, that puts you in the greatest company you could find. They did not think well of Jesus. They ridiculed Jesus. They put Him to death. He was the greatest gift of God, the gift of Himself, and they killed Him. Did this make Him any less a King? No. He is the King. So the treatment of the world does not dictate the treatment you will receive in heaven, where the first shall be last. Never fear the opinions of others on earth. Step away from the opinions of others. Confess your sins. Let Jesus fill your soul and you will then reflect Jesus in the world, even in your suffering, or shall I say, especially in your suffering.”
So another way we could look at the whole scenario? Maybe when others burn us, we should even be grateful for the opportunity they give us to persevere for God. After all, when they hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, they are really handing you over to heaven. Let’s keep in mind always what and who we are standing for here on earth, and allow the might of those motives to steady our conviction, strengthen our perseverance, and keep us calm and humble in the face of persecution.
God bless,
Annie
It isn’t easy to be the only person on your own side. It isn’t easy to stand up and dissent from the prevailing mentality, especially when that mentality is the popular one and yours is very much not. Don’t we all know about this from living in the battlefield that modern society presents to Christians? Especially for our younger generation, it can be a serious challenge to rebel against the status quo of our peers. Unless you live in some kind of compound, the odds are good that you know and have interacted with many members of different faiths or of no faith at all. If you have been lucky enough never to have been attacked verbally by one of these people, you are not in the majority of Christians. Once when I was away at summer camp as a teenager, an atheistic and pro-choice friend of mine began to speak mockingly and hatefully about the archaic and oppressive religious practise of not killing children before they are born. (The first half are her words, the second half are mine.) Not then practised in the fine art of delicate navigation through the waters of controversial matters, I saw her scorn and raised her my passionate opposition, until we basically had a shouting match in the middle of the common area. The fight got personal and ugly and she ended up painting with a very unflattering brush. That was not the last time I engaged in an argument regarding Church matters, but the experience was so offensive to me personally that there have been many, many times since where I have quietly sat back and said nothing, knowing that to do so would mean not only ridicule but serious persecution from my friends.
Today’s Gospel (Luke 21:1-19) reassures us that yes, we will indeed receive hostility and hatred when we enter the army of Christ, but also that we will be protected and rewarded for bearing this burden far beyond what we realize:
Jesus said to the crowd: “They will seize and persecute you, they will hand you over to the synagogues and to prisons, and they will have you led before kings and governors because of my name. It will lead to your giving testimony. Remember, you are not to prepare your defense beforehand, for I myself shall give you a wisdom in speaking that all your adversaries will be powerless to resist or refute. You will even be handed over by parents, brothers, relatives, and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance you will secure your lives.”
To me the underlying message of this Gospel is that we must have courage. We must have the courage to speak up, and we must have the courage to stay calm and with Christ in our conflicts. I have failed to have both of these forms of courage in the past, (see above example!) as I’m sure many of you have. One of the things we must remember is that no matter how many people would stand against us, we are never really the only person on our own side. Apart from the huge body of the Church here on earth, we have Christ, and even if He were literally the only one in the world, that would be enough. All we need is conviction and courage – we don’t even have to have our own defense! God does all of the work for us.
In Volume Seven, St. Dymphna tells us that we are not alone in our Christian endeavours and that we need never worry about the contempt of the world:
“Do not be afraid. There is nothing that should make you be afraid. Jesus will care for your needs and you will care for His. Fear is paralyzing many on earth at this time. This brings us back to the need for the heavenly eyes. If you look at your situation and view it as heaven views it, you will understand that there is nothing on the earth that should make you fearful. You will serve for a time and then you will die in your body. This is the way it has always been. This is heaven’s plan. This is not a bad thing but a good thing. Imagine living on earth indefinitely. That would make you sad because it would take away your hope that your time of service will end and your time in heaven will begin. If souls on earth do not think well of you and they ridicule you, well, my friend, that puts you in the greatest company you could find. They did not think well of Jesus. They ridiculed Jesus. They put Him to death. He was the greatest gift of God, the gift of Himself, and they killed Him. Did this make Him any less a King? No. He is the King. So the treatment of the world does not dictate the treatment you will receive in heaven, where the first shall be last. Never fear the opinions of others on earth. Step away from the opinions of others. Confess your sins. Let Jesus fill your soul and you will then reflect Jesus in the world, even in your suffering, or shall I say, especially in your suffering.”
So another way we could look at the whole scenario? Maybe when others burn us, we should even be grateful for the opportunity they give us to persevere for God. After all, when they hand you over to the synagogues and prisons, they are really handing you over to heaven. Let’s keep in mind always what and who we are standing for here on earth, and allow the might of those motives to steady our conviction, strengthen our perseverance, and keep us calm and humble in the face of persecution.
God bless,
Annie
1 comment:
This is a beautiful reminder of something that is too often easy to forget. Thanks for writing, Annie, and thanks for posting, Bonnie!
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