DAILY HOMILIES #Persecution

If we understand what happens each time we receive Holy communion, we would realize that we have the best protection any human being can ever have. Just as Jesus protected the Christians in Damascus from Saul’s raid, Jesus would surely protect you from the plans of your enemies whether known or unknown. Jesus assures us that whoever eats Him will live because of Him. No one can cut short your life because you are a child of communion – you are not just anybody. Jesus did not arrest Saul just to punish him, rather Jesus transformed Saul into a minister of the Gospel. Avoid praying for your enemies to die, instead, pray that God may so use them for good as He did with Saul who later became Paul.

When we juxtapose both our first reading and our Gospel passage today together, this is the picture we get: Trials and hard times would surely come our way as long as we continue to serve God, we may even lose our lives due to such trials but even if we die, Jesus promises to raise us up on the last day.

If it comes to that point when we have to choose who to obey, let us remember Jesus’ words in Matthew 10:28 “Do not fear those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather fear him who can destroy both soul and body in hell.”

Are you like Zaccheus, on a treetop, trying to catch a glimpse of Jesus but you lack the courage to renounce your sinful ways? Jesus himself is now the one saying to you: “Come down for I must eat at your house today.”

He who is greatest among you shall be your servant; whoever exalts himself will be humbled, and whoever humbles himself will be exalted.” (Matthew 23:11-12).

If in your opinion the Christian life is hard/impossible, it is a sign that you do not love God. Love is not something we can pretend about. Jesus tells us: “No one can serve two masters; for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and mammon.” (Matthew 6:24)

Always allow God to do your fighting for you. Just as no one can fight God and succeed, you cannot win unless God is on your side. Seek first God’s kingdom and be fervent in prayer. God will do the rest for you.

Until we begin to love those who hate us, we cannot claim to be children of God. A heart that does not forgive is a heart that is yet to receive Christ. Until we stop praying for our enemies to die, we cannot claim to be children of God. Jesus says “You have heard that it was said, ‘An eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.’ But I say to you, do not resist an evildoer. But if anyone strikes you on the right cheek, turn the other also; (Matthew 5:38-39)

The peace Jesus gives us is not the peace of material comfort but a peace that makes us happy even in poverty. Jesus says: “Foxes have holes, birds of the air have nests but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head.” (Luke 9:58). In truth, only in God can we find rest for our troubled hearts.

Like an athlete running with the pole to take the high jump, we must trust God completely even in very difficult moments knowing that when we go up so high to jump, a very soft landing awaits us. Endure! “Sorrow may last in the night but joy comes in the morning.” (Psalm 30:5)

Anytime we reflect on the earliest Christian communities as we have it in the Acts of Apostles, we cannot but feel sad at the situation of things in our churches today.

Everything seems dull and bleak. No one knows where our nation’s economy is going. Faced with another economic depression and stagflation (prices of food and essential commodities jumping above the roof) and a government of that seems unconcerned, we are left with no choice but to harken the words of Jesus: “Look up and raise your heads.” Yes, let us look up. Look up at God, not to social media. Look up, take your minds away from what is troubling you. Look up and surrender everything to God.