Fr. José Juan Sánchez Jácome / ACN.- They tore their garments at Jesus’ conduct, they were scandalized by his actions and words. The learned men and those who considered themselves the official owners and interpreters of religion were offended by the way Jesus Christ acted.
Many of the discussions on neuralgic issues were about traps set for Jesus rather than good-faith efforts to discover the truth.
Jesus, for example, made the paralytic walk, but above all he forgave his sins. And faced with such overwhelming evidence—because Jesus loved people and desired their physical and spiritual healing—the scribes were scandalized by his manner of speaking, because he dared to forgive sins.
They were scandalized because he forgave sins, because he departed from the official interpretation they upheld, an interpretation that left aside life, justice, mercy, and salvation, especially for the poorest and most needy.
Among us as well, very radical and intolerant ways of viewing life are being imposed. Schemes and visions of life imposed through sophisms, stratagems, and a false perspective of modernity, progress, and freedom.
Benedict XVI said: “A man of conscience is one who does not purchase progress, tolerance, consensus, well-being, reputation, or public approval by renouncing the truth.”
That is why there are people who are persecuted because they oppose, on solid grounds, visions of life based merely on shamelessness and unreason. People who refuse to manipulate or diminish the supreme dignity of the human person.
People who are persecuted, excluded, and stigmatized because they refuse to engage in actions at work, at school, in entertainment, in ordinary life—actions that go against the values.
I am not delivering a panegyric of people who perhaps live their faith in a fanatical way—that is, people who distrust everything, who have a negative view of everything and do not know how to enjoy and appreciate their freedom and the beauty of the world God has created.
I refer to those who defend the truth in an educated and well-founded manner, even at the cost of their reputation and of life itself. Paradoxically, those who remain in goodness and uprightness feel uncomfortable and come to experience themselves as excluded in this society.
That is why Pope Francis once spoke of the martyrdom of persecution, of Christians who are “politely” persecuted because they wish to manifest the value of being children of God. They are persecuted by unjust laws that approve abortion, euthanasia, and a view of marriage and sexuality contrary to the truth.
As Pope Francis would say, they are white-glove persecutions disguised as culture, progress, and legality. In the same vein, John Paul II said: “The martyrdom of the twenty-first century is the martyrdom of consistency.”
Again, Francis maintains: “And so every day we see that the powers enact laws that force us along this path, and a nation that does not follow these modern, cultured laws—or at least does not wish to have them in its legislation—is politely persecuted. It is a persecution that strips man of freedom, even of conscientious objection!”
“Jesus has named the leader of this ‘polite’ persecution: the prince of this world. And when the powers seek to impose attitudes and laws against the dignity of the Son of God, they persecute these people and go against God the Creator. It is the great apostasy. Thus the life of Christians moves forward amid these two forms of persecution. The Lord has also promised us that he will not abandon us. ‘Be watchful, be watchful! Do not fall into the spirit of the world. Be watchful! But go forward. I will be with you.’”
Recently, in the Church’s liturgy, we celebrated the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist and recalled the words of St. Augustine that we should keep very much in mind in this climate of persecution and apostasy: “Think of Augustine whatever you please; all I desire, all I want and seek, is that my conscience not accuse me before God.”
Benedict XVI also referred to this same reality: “Celebrating the martyrdom of St. John the Baptist reminds us… that love for Christ, for his Word, for the Truth, admits no compromises… The Christian life requires, so to speak, the ‘martyrdom’ of daily fidelity to the Gospel—that is, the courage to let Christ grow within us…”
We do not cease to remember the terrible times the Church endured facing persecutions throughout its history, such as the persecution during the first three centuries. In Mexico we are recalling the Cristero movement as we mark the 100th anniversary of the Mexican government’s persecution of the Church. We also consider the difficult situations many Christians are facing around the world, especially in Nigeria.
Nevertheless, although we are not facing these violent persecutions as in other times and places, the Church and the Gospel are always persecuted. Hence we are called to be faithful and not naïve in the face of the adversities we continue to endure. Thus St. Augustine refers to the persecutions we still face:
“Therefore, let no one say: ‘I cannot be a martyr because Christians are not being persecuted.’ You have just heard that John suffered martyrdom; and, if you consider it truthfully, he died for Christ. ‘How,’ you say, ‘did he die for Christ if he was not questioned about it nor forced to deny him?’ Listen to Christ himself who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life. If Christ is the truth, then whoever is condemned for defending the truth suffers for Christ and is legitimately crowned.”
Therefore, let no one seek excuses; all times are open to martyrs. And let no one say that Christians do not suffer persecution. It is impossible to empty of meaning the sentence of the Apostle Paul, for it is true; Christ spoke through him, he did not lie. He says: All who wish to live piously in Christ will suffer persecution. All—he says—excluding or discarding no one. If you wish to test the truth of what he said, begin to live piously in Christ and you will see it for yourself.
Has the devil ceased to rage simply because persecution by earthly kings has ended? The ancient enemy is always on the watch against us; let us not fall asleep. He flatters with praises, sets snares, instills evil thoughts; to bring about a more harmful fall, he offers gains and threatens losses. When the decisive moment arrives, it is with difficulty that one rejects the evil suggestion, ending up willingly accepting present death.
Understand, brothers. If someone—for example, a noble person who holds your life in his power—forces you to give false testimony, without saying to you, “Deny Christ,” what do you think you would do: choose falsehood or die for the truth? And yet, the one who persecutes you is saying nothing other than “Deny Christ.” For, as I have already said, if Christ is the truth, then whoever denies the truth indeed denies Christ. Now, everyone who utters a lie denies the truth. Why does someone give false testimony? Undoubtedly because he is afraid. Do not all Christians suffer persecution when they fight for the truth? At present everyone is being tested, and each one suffers temptation according to his circumstances” (Sermon 94 A, no. 2.).
Therefore, within the discernment we make to follow Christ unconditionally, we must consider our availability to persecution, as Paolo Sottopietra reflects: “Today God asks us for availability to persecution: moral, media-driven, legal, and even physical. When Christ sent his disciples, he foresaw persecutions. The times we live in bring these words of his to the forefront once again, making us feel them anew as a possibility that concerns us. The ‘yes’ we say to him in the priesthood and for the mission carries this awareness.”
We who are exposed to the enemy’s snares and feel his sting in the front line, let us consider the invitation Fr. Nicola Bux makes to us not to deny the Lord anything, especially in difficult moments: “Christians must be prepared to go to martyrdom for Jesus, and there is no better way to resist than to go to Mass, the sacrifice of the martyr.