Each Sunday of the Easter season, our first reading is taken from the Acts of the Apostles, while our second reading is taken from the Book of Revelation. There is a beautiful connection between these two books of the New Testament, if you think about it. The Acts of the Apostles describes the first steps of the Church in time and history, Revelation describes the Church that will last forever. Acts of the Apostles takes place in the earthly Jerusalem, Revelation takes place in the new and eternal Jerusalem. Acts of the Apostles describes the Church’s pilgrimage, with all of its difficulties and trials, Revelation reveals the Church having reached her destination—the reward for her faithful perseverance.
In Acts we read how the Apostles, having witnessed the Resurrection of Christ, and having been filled with the power of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, go out into the streets of Jerusalem, the very town where Jesus was arrested and crucified, and preach his Resurrection. “Jesus, whom you killed, has been raised, just as he promised” Peter preached on that first Pentecost Sunday. For their preaching of Jesus’ Gospel, the Apostles quickly gain the attention of the Sanhedrin and other Jewish leaders, the same men who conspired against Jesus, to put the Savior to death.
Today’s passage from Acts sees Peter and the gang, having been imprisoned, brought before the Jewish high court. The Sanhedrin demand that Peter and the Apostles immediately cease and desist preaching about Jesus. Peter says, you don’t understand, this task has been given to us by God himself, and “we must obey God rather than man.”
Here stands Peter before these corrupt Jewish leaders, knowing that they have the power to totally ruin people’s lives, even to have them put to death, as they did to Jesus. Peter had already been arrested and thrown into jail, and he knew there could be dire consequences for resisting their threats.
But after courageously proclaiming Christ, Peter and the Apostles, “left the presence of the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” Bleeding and wounded after having been whipped and humiliated, they left rejoicing. Would you or I be rejoicing after that? We find it hard enough to put up with morning traffic! To rejoice in suffering for the sake of Christ is a sign of Christian maturity.
Immature love will do anything it can to flee from any sort of hardship, any demand for commitment or self-sacrifice. Think of the immature love in our own culture: how many people go from one romantic relationship to another because they are not willing to do the hard work of a serious mature relationship. In fact, studies show how many in the younger generation cannot hold down serious jobs because they are so used to being coddled, babied and overprotected. Hence, their dangerous attraction to socialism. Grave immaturity permeates our culture.
Mature Love, on the other hand, embraces hardship and sacrifice for the greater good. Mature love is not only open to generous giving, it looks for opportunities to give. When our love for Christ is mature, we are glad to suffer for his sake, just as he was glad to bear his cross for our sake.
Throughout Church history there have been many times and places where Christians were persecuted. 1000s of Christians were martyred in those early centuries. When the narcissistic Roman emperors were forcing people throughout the empire to renounce their personal faiths and offer burnt offerings in worship of the emperor, the true Christians were those who refused to compromise their faith.
When I was thinking of a modern day example of this type of faith, I thought of the parents of Pope Benedict XVI. Pope Benedict, Joseph Ratzinger, grew up in Germany as the Nazi party was coming to power. Joseph Ratzinger, Sr. the Pope’s father was a police officer in Bavaria. The Ratzinger family experienced great hardships because they would not support the Nazis. The pope's brother Georg said: "Our father was a bitter enemy of Nazism because he believed it was in conflict with our faith." The family knew first-hand how dangerous the Nazi philosophy was. In the late 1930s, the Nazis had implemented a euthanasia program for the handicapped. Pope Benedict had a cousin with Down’s Syndrome, and in 1941, the Pope’s cousin was taken by Nazi authorities for “therapy” as they called it. Not long afterwards, the family received word that the cousin was dead, labeled as an “undesirable” by the Nazi party. Mr. Ratzinger spoke out publically against the evils of Nazism, and for this, he faced demotions and the family had to move several times.
Friends, similar evil philosophies are growing again in this country, and Christians who speak up against the growing evils are facing great hostility. Just this week, a man named David Daleiden, who had exposed the illegal and disgusting practices of Planned Parenthood, had his home raided by the pro-abortion Attorney General of California. His home was ransacked, his property confiscated because he stands up for the Christian Gospel of Life.
Enemies of the Gospel are gaining positions of very high influence. Parents are beginning to be penalized for opting their children out of the secular state’s indoctrination programs. The Church’s teaching on sexual morality and marriage is labeled as bigoted, intolerant, hate-speech. Those in authority are seeking to silence the Gospel, as they did in the first reading, and in the life of Jesus himself. But we, like the Apostles, “must obey God rather than man.”
And that’s why today’s Second Reading is so important. In the second reading we are given a vision of heaven, the reward for those who are willing to suffer for the sake of the name. On the throne of heaven is not some earthly king who never suffered a day in his life. On the throne of heaven is a lamb who was brutally slain by his enemies. And surrounding the lamb were those who suffer for him. This is the fulfillment of Jesus promise in the beatitudes: “Blessed are those who are persecuted for my name, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.”
How might we be called upon to suffer for the sake of Christ? Well, how are we being called in this 21st century to witness to the truth of Christ? With only 20% of Catholics attending weekly Mass, we certainly are being called upon to reach out to our fallen away family members, to speak to them of the importance of weekly Mass attendance. We are certainly called to stand up for life and campaign to enact laws for the protection of the innocent and vulnerable. We might be called upon to refuse to engage in immoral business practices, perhaps even to quit a job where there is institutionalized corruption.
You may have seen in the news yesterday, Pope Francis new document on the dignity of marriage and the family. In a world which seems to glorify and celebrate unhealthy and immoral sexual practices, Pope Francis gave beautiful clear teaching on the importance of healthy, holy families. He speaks against adultery—calling Christians to witness to the truth of marriage. As well as condemning abortion, Pope Francis’ document contains many references to Paul VI’s Humanae Vitae and John Paul II’s writings on the sinfulness of artificial contraception, as well as the teaching that marriage can only be understood as being between a man and a woman.
For this reaffirmation of Catholic teaching, the Holy Father may experience ridicule, backlash, and threats from those with different agendas. Yet, he also equips us with the language we need, forming our faith, for the challenges of spreading the faith in this secular age.
Each of us are called to whole-heartedly embrace the truth of Christ as taught by the Church, and to spread that truth with patience, courage, and compassion. This might bring the attention of our enemies, but it also might lead others to embrace Christ. Let us not be afraid to stand rooted in the truth of Christ, for the sake of the name, for the glory of God and salvation of souls.
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