Rejoice When They Persecute Us
- Deacon Dan DeLuca
- Nov 23, 2022
- 6 min read
Persecution is part of the Christian life. We are to expect it and embrace it with joy. Our model for how to embrace persecution is our Lord himself. He was shunned, mocked, arrested, falsely accused, and condemned to death. Yet he embraced it all with a gentle humility. If he was able to suffer all that without shying away from it, then should we not be willing to do the same? Are we? Do we rejoice when they persecute us? Or do we instead deny him, deny the faith so that we can fit in with the world? As our liturgical year draws ever closer to the end, we must ponder this.
Signs and Persecutions
But before all this they will lay their hands on you and persecute you, delivering you up to the synagogues and prisons, and you will be brought before kings and governors for my name’s sake. This will be a time for you to bear testimony. Settle it therefore in your minds, not to meditate beforehand how to answer; for I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which none of your adversaries will be able to withstand or contradict. You will be delivered up even by parents and brothers and kinsmen and friends, and some of you they will put to death; you will be hated by all for my name’s sake. But not a hair of your head will perish. By your endurance you will gain your lives. Luke 21 : 12-19
Scriptural Analysis
Luke opens this narrative with the phrase, “But before all this.” This choice of words is intentional. Jesus has just prophesied about the destruction of the temple and wants to put what he is about to say in context. Before the Temple is destroyed, those in authority will persecute the disciples. In God’s plan, such persecution will give the disciples an opportunity to give testimony about Jesus.
In the Acts of the Apostles, we will read about the persecution that the disciples undergo as well as their rejoicing for having undergone such persecution. In this way, the last of the Beatitudes is realized in them, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man! Rejoice in that day, and leap for joy, for behold, your reward is great in heaven; for so their fathers did to the prophets.” (Luke 6:22-23) This persecution will divide families as disciples are handed over by relatives and friends.
For some, this persecution will lead to death by martyrdom. However, God promises that not a hair on their head will perish, “even the hairs of your head are all numbered.” (Luke 12:7) Through their martyrdom they will receive the ultimate crown on top of their head. Perseverance on earth will produce much fruit in the eternal life.
Daily Application
Reading this Gospel passage try to imagine yourself as one of the disciples hearing this for the first time. Recall that first of all the disciples were observant Jews. For the Jewish people at the time of Jesus, the Temple was the heart of their faith. It was more than just a building. It was the dwelling place of God, the place where they came to offer sacrifice, an important part of the faith. Jesus just said the temple was going to be destroyed. That alone would have been shocking enough.
However, Jesus does not stop there. He then tells them that before all of this happens, they will undergo persecution. In fairness, this was not the first time Jesus spoke of persecution. Recall in the Beatitudes when he told the disciples, “Blessed are you when men hate you, and when they exclude you and revile you, and cast out your name as evil, on account of the Son of man.” (Luke 6:22) The precedent was established there. However, this is certainly a much more direct prophecy, setting the expectation concretely, that this will happen to them.
Yet the disciples remained, they remained with Jesus. Yes, all but John scattered when Jesus was arrested and crucified but they came back together. They were witnesses to the risen Christ, and then after receiving the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, marched right out into the temple and proclaimed Jesus, proclaimed him in the face of those who had him handed over. The disciples knew what they were getting themselves into, what proclaiming Christ would mean for them. Yet that knowledge didn’t stop with them. The early Church was built by the blood of the martyrs, by the countless men and women who would rather die than deny the truth, deny Christ.
Is our faith that strong? Are we willing to proclaim Christ no matter the cost? At a macro level, it would be hard to say that we have that kind of faith. America is predominantly a Christian nation (at least it was for the majority of its existence). As of 2017, 22% of America was Catholic: one in four people identified as Catholic. Yet look at our culture and compare that to the Gospel, and then argue that Christians have stood for truth no matter what. There is no way 64 million abortions, since 1973, could have taken place without Christians permitting it to happen.
Individually, how well do we represent the faith: in how we live our lives and the words we speak? When we are faced with a difficult discussion at work, do we represent the Gospel always or do we go along with the wisdom of the world so as to not rock the boat, to make ourselves a target? Do we fear the scorn of the world or the loss of a job more than we do the loss of eternal life that comes from following Jesus? Or do we simply think that it is not a big deal, that as long as in our hearts we believe in Jesus what we do in the public square does not matter?
At the penitential right during Mass, one of the options is for the faithful to recite the Confiteor. As we acknowledge our sinfulness we say, “in what I have done and in what I have failed to do.” That last part of the statement is just as critical as the first part. We often think of sin in terms of what we have done but failing to act is also sinful. If a coworker mentions that they are going to get an abortion and we remain silent over the fear that we may be called down to human resources for speaking the truth, we have sinned. We had a moment to present the truth and failed.
The life of a Christian is not supposed to be easy. Recall what Jesus told us, “If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross daily and follow me.” (Luke 9:23) We are called to take up our cross and Jesus meant that. The early Christians understood this: they understood that there was a price to pay for following Jesus. God also knows this: he knows that following his son is hard but he also tells us not to worry. He will ensure that our needs are met, “And do not seek what you are to eat and what you are to drink, nor be of anxious mind. For all the nations of the world seek these things; and your Father knows that you need them.” (Luke 12:29-30) We shoudl never be affraid of material deprivation as God has promised that we will have what we need as long as we remain in him.
The phrase “Fear not” (or equivalent translations) appears only slightly over 100 times in the Old Testament, as well as about 44 times in the New Testament. Our Lord clearly knew that following him would invoke feelings of fear. However, those feeling are from the evil one, they are his way of getting us to turn from God, to deny truth and embrace the world. Push that asside, embrace the cross and trust. Trust that as you rejoice in the face of persecution, he is wtih you. He will provide for you and he will welcome you with open arms into eternal paradise.
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