13-05-24 Kekuatan Iman di Tengah Penindasan: Kisah Julianus Apostata dan Kemenangan Gereja

Monday 7th week of Easter "Jn 16:29-33" Jesus said to his disciples, "The hour is coming, indeed it has come, when you will be scattered, every man to his home, and will leave me alone; yet I am not alone, for the Father is with me. I have said this to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation; but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." Jesus knew that His disciples were going to be scattered. He knew that over the years many Christians would have to leave their homes and run away with their families as St Joseph had to do. Knowing this, He wanted to record in the memory of His disciples the fact that they would never be alone: God would be with them. Despite having been brought up a Christian, Roman Emperor Julian the Apostate (331 – 363) decided to persecute the Church with all his might. He was determined to wipe out the religion of ‘the Galilean’, Jesus Christ, and restore the pagan religion. Old temples were renovated and new ones built, and the pagan priesthood was reinstated. On June 26th 363, in the battle against the Sassanid army, he was wounded with a spear and died at the age of 32. As he lay dying, he realised that all his efforts to stamp out the message of Christ had failed. "You have won, O Galilean!" Now, 2,000 years on, there are over 1,000,000,000 Catholics in the world. The Church survived and even flourished despite times of terrible persecution by Romans, barbarians and Saracens; and more recently from communism, fascism and Nazism. Those ‘kingdoms’ have come and gone, while the spiritual kingdom of Christ continues in the hearts of those who love Him. We, therefore, can never be surprised or afraid of the difficulties that Christians may find in their lives, including our interior lives: temptations, dryness, misunderstandings, loneliness. We need to be aware that we usually go against the grain. We will always “have tribulation”, said Jesus. But let’s not stop there. Let’s read the rest of the sentence and keep it fresh in our hearts: be of good cheer, I have overcome the world." My Mother, Help of Christians, intercede for those who suffer persecution of any kind, for those who undergo any tribulation, and especially for those who need my prayer most today.