EVERYONE WILL HATE YOU BECAUSE OF ME, BUT WHOEVER STANDS FIRM TO THE END WILL BE SAVED. ( Mt 10:17-22) Jesus said to His disciples, Be on guard with respect to people, for they will hand you over to their courts and they will flog you in their synagogues. You will be brought to trial before rulers and kings because of me, and so you may witness to them and the pagans. But when you are arrested, do not worry about what you are to say and how you are to say it; when the hour comes, you will be given what you are to say. For it is not you who will speak; but it will the Spirit of your Father in you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and a father his child; children will turn against parents and have them put to death. Everyone will have you because of Me, but whoever stands firm to the end will be saved. Like the Martyrs, true love for life is to be afraid of sin not death. Are you attracted to martyrdom or afraid? Happy feast day of Saint Stephen, 1st Martyr! It has been said that Martyrdom is not easy even for saints, especially when they have the freedom to choose otherwise. But inevitably, Christian Martyrs embrace it, not because they are not afraid, but because they believe in a greater good and deeper love that impels them to give up their life even for their enemies. May our martyrs inspire us to live our faith to our last breath! We too have experienced being hated because we stand firm on what it right and just. And as long as we are here, then we should continue to effect change if need be and to live our faith to our last breath. Taking aback is the best we can do to give way and space for them to think about things and allow them to exercise their freedom to reflect and choose what is right and just. But it does not mean we are afraid of them. We do not h ave to force ourselves on them nor prove our worth. We may not be perfect but we should do our best to avoid sin and not to sin with them who hate us. We have to remain steadfast and humble but brave enough to fight for what is right. As long as what we are doing is right then we should not be afraid even if hated because God is on our side. Let us always remember that if we want to follow Jesus, we have to embrace the trials and persecutions in life trusting that in the end we too will be victorious over sin. To live a life of martyrdom is to live in truth and to always act in accordance to the will of God. To be humble is to speak only of the truth. And speaking of the truth may not be convincing, understood and accepted by others but surely, we are pleasing God the most. Every time we choose to do good even to our enemies then it is not being fake or plastic but it is martyrdom. And like the Martyrs, we have to live by faith and discern Gods holy will and not by impulse nor dictation. We can never truly appreciate joy without experiencing the pain that comes along with it. For the joy of loving is embracing the pain it brings.
Posted on: Fri, 26 Dec 2014 06:52:02 +0000
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