Ave Maria Meditations
“These are the ones who have survived the time of great distress; they have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.” (Rev 7: 14)
As we celebrate some martyrs this week we see that these holy ones can include anyone from a young girl to the Holy Father and all in between. The 20th century had more martyrs, it is said, that all the centuries before. All the faithful will know persecution to some extent although mostly of the “white martyrdom” kind and not unto the shedding of blood in the red martyrdom. Here is a meditation on this thought from Fr. Francis Fernandez:
The Church wants to make us realize that the Cross is always very close to Jesus and His followers. As he struggles for perfect righteousness–sanctity–in this world, the Christian will meet difficult situations and attacks from the enemies of God. Our Lord has warned us: If the world hates you, know that it has hated Me before it hated you…remember the word that I said to you; a servant is not greater than his master: if they persecuted Me, they will persecute you. (Jn 15:18-20). Since the very beginning of the Church this prophecy has been fulfilled.
And in our days too, if we really follow Our Lord, we are going to suffer difficulties and persecutions in one way or another and of different kinds. Every age is an age of martyrdom, St. Augustine tells us. Don’t say that the Christians are not suffering persecution; the Apostle’s words are always true…all who desire to live a godly life in Christ Jesus will be persecuted. All, he says, with no one being excluded or exempted. If you want to test the truth of this saying, you have only to begin to lead a pious life and you will see what good reason he had for saying this.
Persecution has taken many forms. During the first centuries it tried to destroy the Christian faith by physical violence. At other times Christiana have also been, and are, deprived of their most elementary rights or attempts are made to confuse simple people by campaigns aimed at undermining their faith. Even in countries with a great Christian tradition, every sort of obstacle and difficulty is put in the way of parents who wish to educate their children in a truly Christian way. Or Christians, simply because they are Christians , are denied a fair chance of advancing in their professions.
Our Lord also wished to warn His followers not to be disconcerted when they are misjudged, not by the heathen, but by their own brothers in the faith…who would think that they were offering service to God by this unjust behavior. All contradictions…must be endured in the company of Our Lord in the Tabernacle: there the apostolate in which we’re working will acquire a special fruitfulness. Circumstance like these mean that Our Lord is calling us in a special way to be united with Him through prayer. They are times when we have to display great courage and patience, without ever returning evil for evil. What is more, our interior life has need of contradictions and obstacles in order to grow strong and consistent. With the help of Our Lord, the soul comes out of these trials purified and more humble. We taste the joy of Our Lord in a special way and can say with St. Paul: I am filled with comfort, with all our affliction I am overjoyed (2 Cor 7:4).
The Christian who is persecuted for following Jesus will draw from this experience a great capacity for understanding other people and a firm resolution never to wound them, never to offend them, never to treat them badly. Our Lord asks us, as well, to pray for those who persecute us…speaking the truth in love.
The last beatitude finishes with a fervent promise from Our Lord: Blessed are you when men revile you and persecute you and utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on My account. Rejoice and be glad for your reward is great in heaven. (Mt 5:11). Our Lord is always a generous paymaster.
The history of the Church shows that, at times, tribulation makes someone grow cowardly and cold in his relationships with God; at other times, on the contrary, it ripens sanctity in souls which take up the cross of every day and follow Christ, becoming identified with Him. We always see this double possibility: the same difficulty–illness, misunderstandings, etc.–have different effects according to the dispositions of the soul. If we want to be saints, it is obvious that our disposition has to be that of always following Our Lord closely, in spite of all obstacles. Mary, our Mother, is especially close to us in all difficult circumstances.
