Luke 9:18-24
Once when Jesus was praying by himself,
and the disciples were with him,
he asked them, “Who do the crowds say that I am?”
They said in reply, “John the Baptist;
others, Elijah;
still others, ‘One of the ancient prophets has arisen.’”
Then he said to them, “But who do you say that I am?”
Peter said in reply, “The Christ of God.”
He scolded them
and directed them not to tell this to anyone.
He said, “The Son of Man must suffer greatly
and be rejected by the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes,
and be killed and on the third day be raised.”
Then he said to all,
“If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself
and take up his cross daily and follow me.
For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it,
but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”
One Sunday morning several months ago, as he stood outside the church greeting the few parishioners as they arrived for Mass, a visiting priest was in a chatty and candid mood. As we conversed about this and that, the topic became the current political climate in America. Father Paul then said something quite remarkable to me — that he fully expected the Church to be so persecuted that priests will be imprisoned for their faith. He even gave a timetable — the imprisonment will begin in a year, after the November 2016 elections and after Obama leaves office. I concurred but disagreed on the timetable, pointing out that, as shown in Christian bakers being fined and threatened with imprisonment for refusing to sell wedding cakes to homosexuals, the persecution of Christians had already begun, and that I expect Obama to make full use of whatever remaining time he has to do the utmost harm.
As the days darken in America, today’s Gospel reading from Luke 9 is a reminder that our Lord Jesus Christ had never promised us a rose garden. On the contrary, He warned that to be His follower will be a path of thorns — that we must stop being narcissistic and self-involved (“deny himself”), and instead take up our cross daily and follow Him.
We Americans have been sublimely fortunate in most of U.S. history, sheltered from the terrible persecution suffered by Christians in other parts of the world even today — in North Korea and China, and Muslim-dominated Middle East and North Africa. (See “9 of 10 most dangerous countries to be a Christian are Muslim”)
Whatever persecution that comes our way as the Light of Christ dims in America, know that He suffers with us. Being fully divine but also fully human, Jesus felt the sting of being abandoned and betrayed by His friends; the humiliation and injustice of being mocked by the crowd demanding His execution although He had done no wrong; the searing pain of every lash on His back and every thorn that pierced His head; the crushing burden of carrying the cross, the instrument of His execution; the unimaginable torment of nails being hammered through His wrists and feet; and the unbearable agony of gasping every breath while hanging from the cross . . . . (See “Remembering His Passion”)
No matter what suffering that may come our way, now or in the future, it can never approximate the suffering He endured.
Never.
Every one of Christ’s apostles except St. John, died a martyr’s death. Although St. Paul never met Christ in the flesh, he considered himself one of His apostles.
Paul was beaten, arrested and imprisoned on more than one occasion. Neither the Bible nor other sources say how or when he died, but according to Christian tradition, St. Paul was beheaded in Rome during the reign of Nero, on June 29, AD 67 — the same day as St. Peter was crucified upside down, at his request, because Peter felt unworthy to be crucified like his Master.
Shortly before he went joyfully to his death, St. Paul had written to St. Timothy these famous words:
“I am even now ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought a good fight; I have finished my course; I have kept the faith.”
Our consolation is that, like St. Paul, we will not be alone in our suffering, for our Lord is with us, and will be with us, always, until the end of time itself.
May the Joy and Peace and Love of Jesus Christ our Lord be with you!
~Eowyn
