If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you. (Jn 15:19)
Aren’t there days when you just say to yourself, “Come on, Lord. Can’t just one day go right?”
It seems that the “job” of being a Christian is extremely tough.
Well, it seems that way because it is a tough job.
It is tough because the world is set against us.
Make no mistake, the world is our enemy.
Oh, it does not appear that way. That is part of the problem.
It is clever in its design.
It offers many lures and traps that intend to lead people astray.
It does that because it hates the one to whom we have pledged our lives.
Whenever today’s Gospel presents itself, I often think about the men at the prison whom I had the privilege of serving as chaplain. The Christians inside the walls faced many obstacles from the other prisoners. Those outside the faith like nothing more than to see a believer get in trouble. They would mock the Christian and insult him, telling him that he, obviously, would never be able to lead a good life.
The other prisoners constantly attempted to keep the Christians down.
The world encourages that kind of treatment of Christians.
In doing so, it hopes that the Christian will abandon his or her faith.
If the world can sway just one Christian away from God, it considers itself a victor.
No matter how much hate comes your way today, don’t let the world win. After all, we have already been handed the victory by Christ. Maybe that’s why the world hates us so much: because we are already winners!
FAITH ACTION: Pray for the oppressed and the spiritually weak, that they have the determination to cling to their faith.