Gospel: Matthew 10:16-23
Jesus said to his Apostles: “Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst
of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. But beware of men, for
they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, and you
will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and
the pagans. When they hand you over, do not worry about how you are to speak or
what you are to say. You will be given at that moment what you are to say. For
it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through
you. Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child;
children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. You will be
hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.
When they persecute you in one town, flee to another. Amen, I say to you, you
will not finish the towns of Israel before the Son of Man comes.”
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Reflection:
There was a very corrupt high ranking government official who had a
stirring turnabout in his life. From being corrupt he became saintly and from
thereon he never engaged in any form of corruption. His saintly lifestyle
eventually became his cross because he was maliciously persecuted by his former
cohorts in his corruption activities.
Does it pay to leave our sinfulness for the sake of Jesus? Does it pay to
leave behind friends who bring us nothing but sinfulness? Of course it pays! It
may not be easy, we may be persecuted, scorned and even be harmed. However all
of these dangers and earthly imbalances in our life are nothing compared to
what Jesus will bring into our life.
We must always expect persecution the moment we decide to faithfully
follow Jesus. We should expect to be looked down, expect insulting comments.
Nonetheless; let these persecutions strengthen our resolve to follow Jesus.
Almost all of the apostles were severely persecuted for faithfully
following Jesus. They were persecuted by this world yet God exalted them for
their faithfulness to Jesus.
How about you which would you prefer the immoral and corrupt enticements
of this world or the initially difficult but eventually rewarding path towards
Jesus? – Marino J. Dasmarinas
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