Blessed Those Persecuted for Being Christian
(See Jer 38:4-6.8-10; Heb 12:1-4; Lk
12:49-53)
Dear
Brothers and Sisters in Christ,
The
First Reading from the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah tells us how the Prophet
was condemned to death by the king and the temple authorities for, according to
the latter, speaking bad news “against
the welfare of the people.” What did those in power mean by “against the welfare of the people”? Was it true that the Prophet did not love his
country and his people? Was it true that the
Prophet by violating the law caused disorder and harm to the society of which
the welfare he was responsible for? If
he did do so, he really deserved the capital punishment for the grave crimes
which he committed.
However,
when we read Chapter 38 of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah, from verse 1 on,
we come to know the whole story and, as a result, the false accusations of the
leaders of the country and those of the temple.
The
truth is that Jerusalem under King Zedekiah of Judah was invaded by the
powerful army of Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon.
The Lord God sent the Prophet Jeremiah to tell the king and the leaders
of the temple that Judah was ending up in the hands of the enemy for being
unfaithful to God. The only way for them
to escape the fatal destruction would be, not to look for human rescuers, but
to go back to the true God, the Lord and Savior, to repent of their sin and renew
their way of life in accordance with God’s Commandments.
No
one listened to God’s message through the mouth of the holy man of God. On the contrary, the palace authorities and
those of the temple, having found promises of military backing from foreign
allies, decided to silence the Prophet by unjustly putting him to death.
What
happened to the Prophet Jeremiah also happened to generations of
Christians. From the early times of
Christianity, Christians have been harassed, rejected, persecuted and
eliminated by the world powerful for not giving up their faith in the Lord God
and their moral principles which are strongly and profoundly established on the
Good News of Jesus Christ, the Lord and Savior.
Saint
Paul, for this reason, admonished his listeners in the Second Reading from the
Letter to the Hebrews that they have the good example and support from “so great a cloud of witnesses” who would
rather risk their lives than betray their identity as Christians, those
belonging to Christ, whether alive or dead.
Because, in the end of their pilgrimage on earth, the painful but happy
journey following in the footsteps of Christ, their Lord and Savior, they will
proudly find themselves being conformed to the image of the Son of God. We do know how obedient Christ was to God the
Father to the point of death, and death on the Cross. In fact, Christ was sent by God to tell the
truth that the sinful human race should repent of their sin, go back to God, in
order that they may be saved from the hands of the forces of evil. Not all people listened to Him because they already
put their confidence in the world’s superpowers. They did to Christ what they did to Jeremiah. Despite all forms of persecutions and
oppressions, Christ was eager to accomplish His saving mission and finally
proud to say His last word on the Cross, “Father,
into your hands, I commend my spirit!”
In
our turn, we have to suffer, too, for being faithful to our calling, to speak
the same truth about the urgent need for our peoples, our countries, our
religious and political leaders, to repent of their sins, repent of their
crimes against the Lord God and against the innocent, the poor, and the
voiceless. What we say, the truth we
speak would fall into deaf ears. What we
say, the truth we speak will hurt. What
we say, the truth we speak will cause us big troubles, even persecution, imprisonment,
and even death penalty, in one way or another.
Sometimes, all forms of suffering happen in our very families and
communities, done by our own relatives and friends. However, this is the only way for our peoples
and our countries to be saved from the hands of the forces of evil. “The
truth will set you free”, Christ our Lord and Savior taught us so.
Let
us pray hard to Christ our Lord and Savior to help us strongly cling to Him,
our powerful Guide and Master, and faithfully follow Him to the end. We are really proud of being Christians, His
disciples and witnesses to His saving truth. Amen.
