"...you are not to prepare your defence, because I myself shall give you an elloquence and a wisdom that none of your opponents will be able to resist or contradict.'
Luke 21:21-19
In today's Gospel Jesus tells his hearers that they will be persecuted by the authorities and betrayed even by family members, because of his name. We are reaching the very end of the liturgucal year and as always at this time, we are reminded of death, pestilence and the end times. Along with these things we are reminded that the cost of discipleship itself can be very dear indeed.
In the early Church martrydom was always a likely possibility for any known follower of Jesus. It was very much part of their reality and new members were only granted Baptism if they were prepared to die for their faith. We know of so many places in the world even now where persecution is still the case. Colleagues, neighbours and family members could still prove risky to the safety of a Christian who draws the attention of an oppressive regime.
However, Jesus says anyone facing such persecution for His sake shouldn't worry about what they are to say in self-defence, answering the charges. He promises to provide an 'elloquence' noone will be able to resist. We can see this elloquence at work each time St. Paul was arrested, imprisoned or tortured - so we know it can happen!
What about us? Will we face persecution? Does this really apply to us here and now?
What about in small ways where we are called to die to ourselves for Jesus' sake? Every time someone ridicules us for going out of our way to get to Mass on a Holy Day? When we are ignored by colleagues because our beliefs contradict what they think is a right freedom of modern life? Maybe we weren't promoted at work because of the preception that we're not the right sort of team player. Could it be that lifestyle choices we make due to our faith mean we have less to live on, or we don't 'fit in' on the street or in the classroom. Do people laugh when we try to keep a holy Lent? In some places, as soon as it becomes known you're a Catholic - people will turn against you even if they appeared to like you the day before.
This isn't the red martyrdom with blood that became the seeds of the Church - but it isn't far from the warning by Jesus that we may well become hated in His name.
Remember Our Lady and the persecution she must surely face once her pregnancy became public knowledge. She didn't contradict the angel or refuse the heavenly request but she could have been tempted to rehearse in her mind what she would say to her parents, her neighbours, to Joseph... How would she survive their anger, disappointment and the hatred she would provoke.
But that's not how it happened. She didn't need to explain herself to Elizabeth, or Joseph. We know how those encounters went. If Mary had been preparing a speech to deliver to them in her self-defence, it wasn't necessary.
Mary trusted - the perfect disciple, well trained in scripture, knowing that God was in charge, relying on His intervention - and we can trust too. Mary didn't look for security anywhere else than in God.
That's all we can do too. We need to take Jesus at His word, do what Mary did and trust. We can pray and ask for the inspiration of the Holy Spirit to give us words to say if words are needed. Otherwise we can pray for our detractors and trust the whole thing to God's love. He is in control. He is our security.
Anything else we seek to gain in this life just withers away anyway!
No comments:
Post a Comment