“By your perseverance you will secure your lives”
There is a product called “life lock”. It’s supposed to protect your identity no matter what happens. Even if someone does steal your identity, you are protected and have a sense of security. It is to give peace of mind. Our soul is constantly under the threat of being stolen from us.
Do we feel secure with our soul? We must remain steadfast in our faith, even when things around us try to disrupt and “steal” it. If you die today, how secure do you feel about your soul? Why?
Who tries to steal our soul? Who tries to steal our peace? Satan, of course, is the primary person who tries to steal us away from God. He tries to scare us into thinking all hope is lost. These are all lies since it comes from “the father of lies”[i]. When someone comes to us, or we feel hopeless, we can remember the part of Mass when the priest at the end of the Our Father prays, “protect us from all anxiety as we wait in joyful hope for the coming of our lord Jesus Christ.”[ii]
What sort of things might shake us to our very foundation? When living our faith, we may not be the most popular or “coolest”, but we cannot abandon what is true. Christ warned his followers ahead of time in this Gospel reading about being put to judgment. Family members may even reject our faith and us, people may hate us because we are a Christian, and we might even be put to death because of Christ. Jesus does not say these words to scare us, but to prepare us for what is to come. When a person joins the military, recruiters, family members, and others will try and tell them what to expect in boot camp, war, etc. The recruiter’s words may seem scary, but ultimately the words help us to persevere, and get through any obstacle. If we as Christians can persevere in our faith, “we will secure our lives.”[iii]
How do I persevere in the trials of this life? Christ plainly tells us that He will be with us until the end of time. We can have assurance that Christ will not abandon us. We must depend not on ourselves but on God only, “I can do all things in Him who strengthened me.”[iv] Take confidence in the fact that no matter what anyone does to us in this world, we are promised eternal safety. Christ promised that though others may kill the body, they cannot destroy the soul. St. Agnes is a great example of trust in God. She lived in the 4th century AD. When she refused to marry a pagan, she was sentenced to be burned at the stake. However, the flames never touched her, and she had to be beheaded instead.
Over 200,000 people will leave this world between now and midnight. We will all die at some point, but are we being perseverant in our lives? Are we securely locking our life to Christ? Do we hold so tightly onto our physical life that we forget the reality of our soul, the spiritual life, the interior life?
VIDEO – “Fr. Ciszek”
This story of Fr. Ciszek is a perfect example of how persecution under trials gives testimony to the Life of Christ. The Gospel says that “It will lead to you giving testimony” How has and how does persecution and trials lead us to give testimony? There are many examples of how persecution leads to testimony. Tertullian said that the blood of the martyrs is the seed of the Church. The is a woman named Immaculee who was persecuted in Rwanda and so many others that even today are guest speakers and travel the nation giving their testimony. Fr. Ciszek is one of the most famous in our day and is a Servant of God on the way to sainthood.
Story of Blessed Jose Luis Sanchez del Rio 1913-1928
The perfect story to summarize the Gospel reading is the life and death of Bl. Jose Luis. In 1928, the Mexico government fought to destroy the Catholic Church. Bl. Jose, seeing this take place, joined the fight against the government. During a battle, he gave up his horse for his general, was captured, and thrown into jail, which was a Church building at the time. Once captured, his enemies tried to bribe him by promising release, a high rank in their army, or money if he denied his faith. Blessed Jose Luis refused. The mayor of the town he was imprisoned in was actually Bl. Jose Luis’ godfather. His godfather had the power to release him, but was too tied in with his government. Blessed Jose was sent to the restroom, when he saw two roosters fighting. He killed them because they were in a church at the altar. Jose said, “This is a place of worship, a house of God.” Those roosters were his godfather’s, and in fury, he sentenced him to death. In the middle of the night, the soldiers went and tortured Bl. Jose Luis by cutting off the soles of his feet and forcing him to walk to his grave. The guards shouted at him, “if you shout ‘Death to Christ the King’ we will spare your life.” Jose only shouted, “Long live Christ the King! Long live Our Lady of Guadalupe!” This angered the guards and one soldier broke Jose Luis’ jaw with the butt of his gun. Once at the cemetery, they forced him to dig a few times. When he again refused to give up his faith, they killed him by shooting him in the back of the head.
Blessed Jose Luis shows us that even when your nation rises against your faith, when even your own family keeps you incarcerated, and you are sentenced to death, if you stay strong in your faith and persevere, you will secure your life in heaven for forever.
[i] John 8:44
[ii] The Sacramentary pg. 524
[iii] Luke 21:19
[iv] Philippians 4:13