Friday of the
Twenty-eighth Week in Ordinary Time
(Ephesians 1:1-10; Luke 11:47-54)
In Elizabethan England Catholic priests were often hunted
down and executed. They were prepared to
meet the sacramental needs of the Catholic remnant in France. Crossing the channel to begin their work, they
no doubt took comfort in gospel passages like today’s.
Jesus finishes his criticism of the Pharisees. He says that they are not the pious people
that they pretend to be. Indeed, they
will persecute the disciples when they go forth to preach the gospel. But the preaching is necessary so that God’s salvation
in Christ may be revealed to all. The
Pharisees are not to be feared because God will compensate for any suffering
the disciples undergo. The disciples
should rather consider that God has charged them to make known His will. The consequences of forsaking this command may
be considered as truly awful.
We too find it hard to defend our faith. People will want us to join them in actions
that are contrary to God’s will. At
such times it is difficult to say “no” and even harder to tell them that their proposals
are evil. We too should take comfort in
God’s love that will never abandon us.
