Word to the Wise
Saturday, May 21, 2022 - 5th Week of Easter - Sat
[Acts 16:1-10 and John 15:18-21]"If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first......If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you. If they kept my word, they will also keep yours. And they will do all these things to you on account of my name, because they do not know the one who sent me." [John}
The adversarial tone of the first half of the Gospel According to John reappears briefly in today's passage from the Last Supper discourse. It is important to bear in mind that this gospel was composed 60 or more years after Jesus' life, death and resurrection and reflects the situation of the Christian community at the time of its composition. By then the community was experiencing expulsion from synagogues and persecution by Roman and other powers. The expression, "the world," is not just the Jewish world. Nowadays we might use the term "secular world" to mean much the same thing except the Christian community at the time of this gospel had not completely abandoned Jewish practice, even if it had accepted Jesus as the one whom God had sent. Persecution was both religious and secular.
In our own time, even the most devout Christian family will experience the eroding effect of secular life-style values that place an emphasis on economic, scientific, political and cultural values. The media refer to this as "the culture wars." Maintaining strong faith and Catholic tradition in the face of those other values is a struggle. Our American bishops have sounded an alarm about the fundamental beliefs of Catholics in the Eucharist!! I witness this daily in the lives of Catholic students, let alone students of other Christian or non-Christian traditions.
Jesus warns the disciples at the Last Supper and us in our own time that maintaining faith in him and in the One who sent him will be a struggle. The Holy Spirit is our helper but we must make the effort by being informed about our Catholic tradition and be willing to live in accord with it. AMEN