Coming Persecutions

Today's Reflections

Coming Persecutions 

http://graceandspace.org 

Mt 10:16-23

[Jesus said to the Twelve,] ¹⁶“Behold, I am sending you like sheep in the midst of wolves; so be shrewd as serpents and simple as doves. ¹⁷But beware of people, for they will hand you over to courts and scourge you in their synagogues, ¹⁸and you will be led before governors and kings for my sake as a witness before them and the pagans. ¹⁹When 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. ²⁰For it will not be you who speak but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. ²¹Brother will hand over brother to death, and the father his child; children will rise up against parents and have them put to death. ²²You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved. ²³When 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.”

Relfection:

Like sheep in the midst of wolves. Jesus, being honest, does not hesitate to tell his disciples what they could expect from him: no comfort, no material reward, no privilege, no choice position; instead, a life of service, sacrifice, persecution, harassment, the cross and crucifixion. Jesus calls us to share in his glory, which means passing through his agony; he sends us not only to experience the victory of Easter but also to encounter him in his Good Friday. We can identify with Jesus if we can also accept the way he accepted and carried his cross and if we can suffer, serve, forgive, and love the way he did.

Amid the sufferings and sacrifices we must endure for his sake, Jesus will give us the strength we need to persevere. When we are handed over, we are not to worry about how we are to speak; we will be given at that moment what we are to say. Yes, when we accept his cross, Jesus will grant us what is necessary so that we can carry his cross. If we are one with Jesus, there is no need to be worried or to be afraid.

Are we willing to share

in the sacrifices and sufferings of Jesus?

What do we fear in committing

our whole life to Jesus?