“If the world hates you, just remember that it has hated me first. If you belonged to the world, then the world would love you as its own. But I chose you from this world, and you do not belong to it; that is why the world hates you. Remember what I told you; ‘Slaves are not greater than their master.’ If people persecuted me, they will persecute you too; if they obeyed my teaching, they will obey yours too. But they will do all this to you because you are mine; for they do not know who sent me.” Jn 15:18-21
In today’s Gospel reading, Christ tells us that we do not belong to this world, but to Him. In the world that we face today, we are constantly challenged to conform to what it tells us. Whether it be at school, at work and even in our homes, as Christians we are and will always be challenged. However, Jesus invites us not to avoid persecution but to embrace it because we are His. We are very much used to this, being part of the Couples for Christ community, to swim against the current of the world and to persevere in doing so.
To stand firm in the faith means to go all out in loving God and in serving him with all that we got. To stand firm in the faith means to identify the aspects of our life that we can hold on to when we are tempted or discouraged, it means to stand on solid ground while the world we are standing in shakes. To follow Christ means to be ready and willing to carry our cross wherever we may go. For there is no crown without the cross. Because we are not meant to be comfortable, we are not meant to be like others, we are meant for Greatness. Our destination is heaven.
Holy Father, may you grant us the grace we need to be strong and faithful. May you surround us with your unfailing love so that we may not only be able to face the world, but to spread your love to it so that they too may know the Way to heaven.
Amen
