We must always pray for peace in the Church and for Christians of every country. However, we should not be surprised or frightened if there is resistance to the teaching of Christ which we want to spread, a hostility in the form of defamation, calumnies. God will help us to reap abundant fruits from such situations.
On arriving in Rome, the Jews living there, referring to the infant Church, told St Paul: “We know that everywhere it is spoken against.” (Acts 28:22) After twenty centuries we continue to see how in various countries thousands of good Christians, priests and lay persons, have suffered martyrdom because of their faith.
They have been discriminated against for their beliefs, or kept out of public offices or teaching positions on account of their Catholicism; or encounter difficulties in securing a Christian education for their children.
It is difficult to understand calumny or persecution at a time when one hears so much about tolerance, understanding, fellowship and peace. But the attacks become more difficult to understand when they come from good men, when a Christian persecutes, no matter how, another Christian, or a brother, his brother.
Our Lord prepared his own for these inevitable times when the enemies of Christ are not pagans, but brothers in the Faith who think that by their actions they would be doing “a service to God” (cf Jn 16:2). This ‘opposition from the good’, an expression coined by the founder of “Opus Dei”, St Josemaria Escrivá, to describe what he experienced so painfully, is a trial God sometimes permits.
It is particularly painful for the Christian victim. The calumniators are usually motivated by human passions that can distort good judgment and complicate the clear intention of men who profess the same faith as those they attack, and who make up the same People of God.
At times jealousies supervene; rash allegations that may arise from envy, and make it possible to regard as evil the good that others are doing. There can also be a ‘tunnel vision’ of dogmatism that refuses to recognize for others the right to think differently in matters left by God to the free judgment of men. (cf J Orlandis, “The Eight Beatitudes”, p150)
The Christian who wants to be faithful to Christ must learn to pardon, make amends and act with rectitude of intention, all the time focused on Christ. “Don’t expect people’s applause ... sometimes you musn’t even expect other people and institutions, who like you are working for Christ, to understand you. Seek only the glory of God and while loving everyone, don’t worry if there are some who do not comprehend what it is you are doing.” (St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 255)
“Turn to our Lady, the Mother, Daughter, and Spouse of God, and our Mother, and ask her to obtain more graces for you from the Blessed Trinity -- the grace of faith, of hope, of love and of contrition, so that when it seems that a harsh dry wind is blowing in your life, threatening the flowers of your soul, they will not wither, and neither will those of your brothers.” (cf St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”, 227)
Ref: Cf F Fernandez, “In Conversation with God”, 4:589-592
Prayer Helps Read ‘the Signs of the Times’
Through prayer especially to Jesus at Communion, you will understand so many things about the world and its relationship to him. You will be in a position to read accurately what are referred to as the ‘signs of the times’. Above all, you will have something to offer those who come to you in need.
Through prayer you will possess Christ and be able to communicate him to others, the greatest contribution you can make in your lives: ‘to communicate Christ to the world’.
Through prayer you will receive the strength to resist the spirit of the world. You will receive the power to show compassion to every human being -- just as Jesus did. Through prayer you will have ‘a part in salvation history’ as it unfolds in your generation. You will be able to enter into the heart of Jesus and understand his feelings towards his Church. ...
Going to Jesus in prayer and through him to the Father, you will always find inspiration in Mary his Mother. You will learn to pray with her, and with her to await the action of the Holy Spirit in your lives. (cf Acts 1:14)
Ref: Cf Pope John Paul II, “Prayers and Devotions:, 1994, pp263-4
Crucible
793 -- “Insults hurt so much, even though you want to love them. Don’t be surprised: offer them to God.”
802 -- “Think of the good that has been done you throughout your lifetime by those who have injured or attempted to injure you.
“Others call such people their enemies. Not so you. You should imitate the saints, even in this. You are nothing so special that you should have enemies; so call them “benefactors”. Pray to God for them; as a result, you will come to like them.”
807 -- “I copy these words for you because they can bring peace to your soul. “My financial situation is as tight as it ever has been. But I don’t lose my peace. I’m quite sure that God, my Father, will settle the whole business once and for all.
“I want, Lord, to abandon the care of all my affairs into your generous hands. Our Mother -- your Mother -- will have let you hear those words, now as in Cana: ‘They have none!’ I believe in you, I hope in you, I love you, Jesus. I want nothing for myself: it’s for them.”
852 -- “Ever since Jesus Christ Our Lord founded the Church, this Mother of ours suffered continual persecution. Perhaps in other times persecution was carried out openly, while nowadays it is often done surreptitiously: but today as yesterday the Church continues to be attacked.
“How great is our obligation to live every day as responsible Catholics!”
854 -- “These are the characteristics that define the incomparable goodness of our holy Mother, Mary: a love taken to the extreme, fulfilling the will of God with tender care; a complete forgetfulness of herself, for she is happy to be where God wants her to be.
“For this reason, not even the slightest gesture of hers is trivial. Learn from her.”
Ref: St Josemaria Escrivá, “The Forge”
Prayer for our enemies
O GOD, the lover and preserver of peace and charity: grant unto all our enemies peace and true charity; give them remission of all their sins, and by Thy power deliver us from their snares. Amen. (Very Rev Charles J Callan, OP, STM and Very Rev John A McHugh, OP, STM, “Blessed Be God”, 1925, p469)
• Our Lady of Victory. This image bears that name because the French having fortunately taken it from the hands of the Greeks, during a sanguinary engagement with them near Constantinople in the year 1204, they gained by means of it a complete victory. — Spondanus, Annals ann. 1204. (“Catholic Gems or Treasures of the Church” Historical Calendar; www.bethlehemobserver.com)
• Our Lady of Victory, Lepanto. Hungary. 1716. (See October 7 for details). (www.marylinks.org/Mary-Calendar.htm); (www.miraclehunter.com/marian_apparitions/calendar/index.html)
• Our Lady of Victory of Lepanto, Hungary (1716). Our Lady of Victories. (www/divinewill.org/feastsofourlady.html); (www.iskandar.com/ourlady/ourladyfeasts.html)
• Our Lady of Victory. (maryfest.htm / www.starharbor.com/santiago/m_feasts.html)
• Italy, Mater Domini (1650) (http://mariedenazareth.com)
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