33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time

To state the obvious, the readings the past couple weeks have been pretty tough. Last week, in our first reading, we had that graphic and yet heroic and inspiring account of the seven Jewish brothers who rather than deny the Lord who was the center of their lives, were tortured to death for their faith. Their lives and their deaths forced you and me to ask ourselves some difficult questions.

Perhaps not so much “would I be willing to die for the Lord?” which is a hypothetical, which might not ever come, but am I now willing to live for Him? Is He the center of my life or am I? And now the challenge this week comes from Jesus in the Gospel.

It is impossible to not be sobered by what He just said, if we really heard it. The context, the immediate context of Jesus’ words, have to do with the destruction of the temple in Jerusalem which happened in the year 70 by the Roman army, but Jesus’ words are not limited to His audience in the first century, they are spoken to you and to me, today, this evening/morning. So what is Jesus trying to say? What are we supposed to take home from this?

Well as I have been praying and reflecting on the Gospel, I heard the Lord say two things in particular.

The first is this: It will be hard. What will be hard? To live as His disciple in this world. Now He doesn’t say this to dissuade us from following him or to discourage us. He just says that to remind us of reality.

Much like a coach at the beginning of a season sits down with his or her team and says 'if we are going to achieve the goal we have for the year, excellence and a championship, it’s going to be hard.' So the Lord again reminds us that if we are going to achieve the only really significant goal that there is, eternal life with God, it will be hard. And it will be hard on many levels. But the level He addresses our attention to today in a particular way is the level that has to do with opposition from the world.

“They will seize you and persecute you, you will even be handed over by parents, brothers, sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death. You will be hated by all because of my name.” It will be hard. And the opposition is real. The hatred is real.

More Christians have died for their faith in the last century than all other centuries of church history combined.

There are more martyrs for the faith today than in any point in history. Blessed Stanley Rother is just one of them. But as great of a witness he is or any of the other martyrs are, teaching us how it is to die for the faith—more than that—they teach us how to live for the faith.

With such persecution in the world today, it still is highly unlikely that any of us will have to shed blood for the faith. But we’re not getting off easy. Just the same, you and I have to live a white martyrdom. All of us are called to be martyrs, very few are called to red martyrdom, that is to shed blood for the faith, but we are all called to martyrdom all the same.

A white martyrdom if you will, where we learn how to die to ourselves so we can live for God and others. That is white martyrdom.

Just as those who gave their lives for the faith by overcoming the temptation to renounce the faith— we too must overcome the temptation to sin. Heroics aren’t always played out in the drama of giving your life. It is heroic to give your life to God all the same. And this is usually played out in daily life, in places never seen: The human heart.

No congratulations, no name on a plaque, no passing down the stories of your death from generation to generation but a heroic death all the same. To be converted and turned back to God. To no longer live for oneself and live for God is the daily martyrdom I see every day.

And the second thing I hear Jesus saying in the Gospel today is this: Perseverance is essential. If we are going to follow Him, if we are going to live for Him and not for ourselves, if we are going to be able to endure the opposition that we so often experience in this world, patience is essential.

We can’t throw up our arms in defeat saying either, “What’s wrong with these idiots!?” or “What’s wrong with me!?” God never tires of forgiving us so we must never tire of asking for forgiveness. We can’t allow ourselves to be beaten down or quit. There is so much work to do. We can’t get discouraged. And perhaps most important is that the real work of transforming the world and winning hearts to God, including ourselves is done by God, not by us. We just need to be available.

We need to give Him permission to use us as he wants to use us in our daily life. What the church desperately needs and what the world desperately needs from the church is more martyrs. That is Christians willing not only to die for the Lord but Christians willing to live for Him. May you and I strive to be those kinds of Christians?

Sunday Mass begins at 11a.m. with the Sacrament of Reconciliation at 10:15 a.m. Come pray with us at St. Michael Catholic Church located at 1004 W. Gentry in Henryetta.

Henryetta Church of God

Henryetta Church of Christ will host guest ministry with Evangelist Tim Jackson & Family on Sunday, Nov. 20 at 10 a.m.

Everyone is welcome and encouraged to join the group in song and worship on Sunday morning.

For more information, call Pastor Deron and Karen Lee at 918-951-3862 or 918-378-6888.

Henryetta Church of God is located on the corner of 2nd and Gentry at 202 W. Gentry.