Homily: Friday of the 3rd Week in Ordinary Time - Joyful Acceptance of Suffering

We read from the letter to the Hebrews for the first four weeks of Ordinary Time.  The letter’s original audience was a group of Christians who had converted from Judaism who were now undergoing persecution for their new faith.

It was not easy being a Christian in the first century.  Early believers suffered insults and sometimes even violence from neighbors and government leaders.  Many were imprisoned or had their property seized. 

Confidence in God’s promises enabled the early Christians to endure such hardship joyfully.  In today’s reading we hear how the Jewish Christians “joined in the sufferings of those in prison and joyfully accepted the confiscation of your property.”

As these sufferings went on, month after month, year after year, their perseverance in hope continued to be tested.  It was important for the early Christians to return constantly to the unshakable knowledge that God is faithful to his promises. 

In the twenty-first century, we face similar challenges.  In the face of life’s difficulties, we too are tempted to take our eyes away from god and look elsewhere for solutions.  The childless couple, the bankrupt business owner, the unemployed laborer—the list of those who are tempted to lose hope in God is long.  Eventually, each of us finds ourselves struggling with this temptation.  Events in our life cause us to examine whether we really trust God’s promises.  The world, the flesh, the devil conspire to persuade us that God is distant and that, in the face of hardship, we are left to our own resources.

In those times, we, like the early Christians must return to the source of our hope.  We do well to recall the enthusiasm we had when our faith was strongest.  But also, we must allow the Holy Spirit to teach us that God is with us in our struggle.  God wants to strengthen our faith.  He allows trials so that we can learn how absolutely reliable he is. 

In this way we can, like the early Christians, come to joyfully accept our sufferings, because we realize, that through them we learn to love and trust God  perfectly, in preparation for eternal life, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.