“Blessed
are you when people hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and
cast out your name as evil for the Son of Man’s sake. Rejoice in that day
and leap for joy! For indeed your reward is great in heaven, for in like
manner their fathers did to the prophets.” Luke 6:23
No
one wants to be ostracized or excluded from fun stuff, let alone be put aside
because of one’s faith. Yet Jesus is warning His disciples, those who
will choose to follow Him faithfully, that there will be such days when the
faith will cost them their “popularity” and maybe even their very lives.
Even though it may seem like the end of the world when those we thought were
“friends” begin to exclude us and even call us names and spread malicious
gossip to justify their actions because we stood firm, we must nevertheless
remember that their actions are THEIR condemnation, not ours!
This
is not about being a “street preacher” or evangelizing door-to-door or being
really vocal about Jesus; this is about living the life Jesus encourages us to
live and standing firm for what is right, even blessing and praying for these
who seem intent on hurting us – NEVER returning “evil for evil”. Our Lord
also reminds us that regardless of our actions in His name, when that day comes
(and it will!) when folks begin to turn away from us and actually turn against
us to do intentional harm to us, we are in good company. It’s happened
before to those before us, and it will happen again to us and those who come to
faith after us.
The
Church is the sanctuary intended for this very thing, the place of respite
where we can go and be reminded that we are of great value, that we are deeply
loved, and that our reward for persevering in the faith is “great in
heaven”! They say that “no good deed goes unpunished”, but our Lord says
every good deed is a mark in our favor to the glory of His Most Holy Name.
“Do
not be afraid, for I go before you always.”
Blessings,
Michael
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