Posted by The WORD in other words (2009) by Fr. Bel San Luis SVD – Christ the King Seminary, Quezon City
Saturday 5th Week of Easter
There was once a despondent man who complained to his mother, “I’ve stopped going to church for two reasons: I don’t like the people, and the people don’t like me.”
The mother gazed at him and consoled him, saying: “My son, go back to church; I’ll also give you two reasons why: first, you are already 60 years old, and you are the parish priest!”
Poor padre, he must have suffered a lot from his parishioners.
In today’s Gospel, Jesus declares: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” (John 15,20) When he talked of persecutions, he was referring to the persecutions his disciples would suffer at the hands of the Jews and the Romans in proclaiming his teachings.
Today, however, except in hostile, totalitarian non-Christian countries, the persecutions referred to by the Lord take on different forms. Persecution could be a suffering from a strict and overbearing spouse of being ridiculed for actively serving the church or laughed at for being outmoded or “under the saya” just because the faithful husband is.
There are those in parish organizations and religious communities who quit or “lie low” because they had been unjustly treated or hurt by criticisms or nasty remarks. They surely have good reason to do it. However, a steadfast faith should help them recover and not isolate themselves for good.
When the late Mother Teresa of Calcutta was asked by a journalist if she didn’t feel like quitting from her difficult work ministering to the poorest of the poor, her answer was: “I was called not to be successful but to be faithful.”
What was important for the “saint of the gutters” and a good Christian is not so much to experience consolations and successes but to walk in faith no matter what happens.
Ask yourself: When there are trials and persecutions, do you think of giving up or holding on in faith? Do you believe that true discipleship entails following Christ who says: “If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you”?
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