Gospel: John 15: 26-16: 4
Once again Jesus reminds us that an essential characteristic of the Christian life is to encounter persecution and hatred from others. However, this reality should not create within us a martyr complex. Instead, we are continually reminded to be joyful, that the Lord is with us in the midst of these struggles, just as God was present to the Lord Jesus in the midst of his encounters with opposition.
If a person lives a life of loving service as Jesus did, then we will discover true joy in being involved in the lives of others. There, we discover how God is present to others in their own circumstances and situations of life. We learn how others discover joy in their own lives, and that in turn leads to ever greater joy within our own. This life of loving service will lead to persecution as it convicts the world of its own selfishness and greed.
When we accompany others along the pilgrimage of life, we take part in their hopes and joys, and they in ours. We also share in their pains and burdens and they in ours. In all this we find the presence of God in the lives of others and in our own, and that becomes the source of our joy that enables us to endure the inevitable persecution that comes in being a Christian who lives to love and serve others.
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