Bearing and conquering

IF we want to be faithful to Christ, we should expect all
kinds of suffering, especially that of misunderstanding and
persecution. And sometimes, we can even suffer at the hands of our own
people.

            We should not be surprised by this eventuality. We just
have to be ready for it. We also should strengthen our conviction that
all this suffering will be worthwhile because divine justice, always
with mercy, will always come our way sooner or later.

            In the gospel, many are the references that point to this
phenomenon. “In the world you shall have tribulation,” Christ warned,
“but be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.” (Jn 16,33)

            More pointedly, Christ also said, “a time is coming when
anyone who kills you will think he is offering service to God.” (Jn
16,2) Yes, things can be that bad.

            In the gospel of St. Mark we are told about a parable (Mk
12,1-12) where a man planted a vineyard and leased it to tenant
farmers. The servants whom he sent to collect his portion of the
harvest were treated badly and some were even killed. Finally, he sent
his son, thinking that the tenants would respect the boy. But they
also killed him.

            The servants and the son are a picture of those who work
for Christ. That’s actually all of us, since we all ought to work for
Christ. But precisely because of the message we have to spread and
live by, and the resistance of the world, we can expect
misunderstanding, persecution and even martyrdom to come our way too.

            We have to learn to be thoroughly patient, bearing all
things that can come to us, as St. Paul once described charity. But
let’s also remember that charity can also conquer all things. Charity
is not just bearing all the time, but also conquering all the time.

            I would say that the bearing part of charity would seem to
have the last word in our life that is going to be full of suffering.
But it’s actually conquering. Just as Christ bore all the sins of men
by dying on the cross, he eventually conquered with his resurrection.

            This divine paradigm of our own redemption should be clear
in our mind. In our earthly sojourn, there would be many instances
that we have to bear all the misunderstanding and persecution we can
encounter in life. But we should not be remiss of our duty, out of
charity also, to conquer, not only in the last moment, but also along
the way.

            This conquering can be done in terms of making corrections
on people who are in error. The way to do these corrections would, of
course, vary depending on the circumstances of the case.

            Yes, it’s true that we have to bear and be patient with
everyone all the time, but it would not be right if we do not make
corrections or suggestions or mere proclamations and reminders of
truths when both the need and the opportunity come. In fact, we should
not just wait for the opportunity to come. Somehow we have to look for
them, or even make them come.

            Bearing and patience would be false if they are not
accompanied by acts of conquest.  We are somehow noticing this anomaly
around when people just prefer to be patient, actually doing nothing,
without making any effort to make some corrections or suggestions,
proclamations and reminders.

            The gospel warns us about the danger of what is known as
human respect. This is the fear to correct someone who is in error for
a variety of false reasons—because he is a friend, or a superior, or a
disagreeable person.

            Or it can be that we play favorites and treat different
persons differently in an unfair manner. The different translations of
the Bible refer to this attitude as “partiality” or “favoritism” or
“respect of persons.” (cfr. Rom 2,11; Act 20,34)

            Yes, we have to bear and be patient, but we also should
not run away from the opportunities when we have to speak up and even
complicate our life out of true love for God and for souls.

            When Peter and John were commanded not to speak of Christ,
they just boldly said: “Whether it is right in the sight of God to
listen to you rather than to God, you must judge. But we cannot but
speak of what we have seen and heard.” (Acts 4,19-20)

            They and many other holy men preferred to suffer, even to
the point of martyrdom, rather than to keep quiet and fail to proclaim
or correct those who need to be corrected.