The
history of the Church and her saints shows us how all those who have
wanted to follow closely in the footsteps of Christ have encountered, in
one way or another, the Cross and contradiction. There are no easy and
comfortable ways to climb Calvary and run with Christ. Already in early
times, St. Peter wrote to the Christians, scattered everywhere, a Letter
with clear accents of consolation for what they were suffering. It was
not about the bloody persecution that would come later, but about the
uncomfortable situation in which many found themselves for being
consistent with their faith: sometimes it was in the family, where
slaves had to endure the injustices of their masters and women
intolerance of their husbands; other times, it was slander or insults,
or discrimination.... St. Peter reminds them that the adversities they
suffer are not useless: they must serve to purify themselves, knowing
that it is God who judges, not men. Above all, they must keep in mind
that in imitation of Jesus Christ they will attract many good things,
including faith, to their own persecutors, as it happened. He calls them
blessed and encourages them to endure suffering with joy. He makes them
consider that the Christian is incorporated into Christ and
participates in his paschal mystery: by his sufferings he participates
in his Passion, Death and Resurrection. It is he who gives meaning and
fullness to the Cross of each day.
Since
St. John the Baptist, many have given their lives for their fidelity to
Christ. Today too. "The enthusiasm that Jesus awakened among his
followers and the confidence that immediate contact with him instilled
in them remained alive in the Christian community and constituted the
atmosphere in which the first Christians lived; it was that which gave
their faith courage and firmness.... Jesus Christ has in his favor the
testimony of an almost two-thousand-year history. Christianity has
produced good and magnificent fruits. It has penetrated into the
interior of hearts, in spite of all the external opposition and all the
hidden resistance. Christianity has changed the world and has become the
safeguard of all noble and sacred values. Christianity has passed with
the greatest success the test of its persistence of which Gamaliel spoke
one day (Acts 5:28). It is not, therefore, the work of men, for if it
had been, it would have crumbled and died out long ago." On the
contrary, we see the strength that faith and love for Christ has in our
souls and in millions of hearts that confess him and are faithful to
him, in spite of difficulties and contradictions, sometimes serious and
difficult to bear.
It
is quite possible that the Lord does not ask of us a confession of
faith that would lead us to death for Him. If he were to ask it of us,
we would give it with joy. The normal thing will be, perhaps, that he
wants from each one of us peace and joy in the midst of the resistances
that a pagan environment often opposes to faith: slander, irony, being
left aside? Our joy will be great here on earth, and much more in
Heaven. We also see these inconveniences in a positive sense. "Grow in
the face of obstacles. The grace of the Lord will not fail you: "inter
medium montium pertransibunt aquae! You will pass through the mountains!
But faith is needed, "living and penetrating faith. Like the faith of
Peter. When you have it, as he said, you will push aside the mountains,
the humanly insurmountable obstacles that stand in the way of your
apostolic endeavors. Moreover, we will never lack the consolation of
God. And if at any time it becomes more difficult for us to walk close
to Christ, we will turn to Our Lady, Help of Christians, and she will
give us shelter and refuge.