Working Through Persecution

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to work as Christians even as we encounter persecution on our Way.

Working in the Vineyard

The Reading  from the Prophet Malachi declares the Need to Serve God [CCCB Malachi 4.1-2 (USCCB Malachi 3:19-20a)]

* [3:20] Wings: a common symbol of the manifestation of a god in the ancient Near East is the winged sun disk found, for example, on premonarchic jar handles. Cf. Nm 6:25; Ps 4:7; 31:17; 34:6; 84:12. (Malachi, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

Psalm 98 extolls welcome for God’s coming to rule over the world

* [Psalm 98] A hymn, similar to Ps 96, extolling God for Israel’s victory (Ps 98:1–3). All nations (Ps 98:4–6) and even inanimate nature (Ps 98:7–8) are summoned to welcome God’s coming to rule over the world (Ps 98:9). (Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB, n.d.)

The Reading from the Letter to the Thessalonians addresses Neglect of Work.

* [3:1–18] The final chapter urges the Thessalonians to pray for Paul and his colleagues (2 Thes 3:1–2) and reiterates confidence in the Thessalonians (2 Thes 3:3–5), while admonishing them about a specific problem in their community that has grown out of the intense eschatological speculation, namely, not to work but to become instead disorderly busybodies (2 Thes 3:6–15). A benediction (2 Thes 3:16) and postscript in Paul’s own hand round out the letter. On 2 Thes 3:17–18, cf. note on 2 Thes 2:2. (2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB, n.d.)

In the Gospel of Luke, the Destruction of the Temple is Foretold as Signs of the End and the Coming Persecution.

* [21:5–36] Jesus’ eschatological discourse in Luke is inspired by Mk 13 but Luke has made some significant alterations to the words of Jesus found there. Luke maintains, though in a modified form, the belief in the early expectation of the end of the age (see Lk 21:27, 28, 31, 32, 36), but, by focusing attention throughout the gospel on the importance of the day-to-day following of Jesus and by reinterpreting the meaning of some of the signs of the end from Mk 13 he has come to terms with what seemed to the early Christian community to be a delay of the parousia. Mark, for example, described the desecration of the Jerusalem temple by the Romans (Mk 13:14) as the apocalyptic symbol (see Dn 9:27; 12:11) accompanying the end of the age and the coming of the Son of Man. Luke (Lk 21:20–24), however, removes the apocalyptic setting and separates the historical destruction of Jerusalem from the signs of the coming of the Son of Man by a period that he refers to as “the times of the Gentiles” (Lk 21:24). See also notes on Mt 24:1–36 and Mk 13:1–37.

* [21:8] The time has come: in Luke, the proclamation of the imminent end of the age has itself become a false teaching.

* [21:12] Before all this happens…: to Luke and his community, some of the signs of the end just described (Lk 21:10–11) still lie in the future. Now in dealing with the persecution of the disciples (Lk 21:12–19) and the destruction of Jerusalem (Lk 21:20–24) Luke is pointing to eschatological signs that have already been fulfilled.

* [21:15] A wisdom in speaking: literally, “a mouth and wisdom.” (Luke, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB, n.d.)

Rev. George Meze, SJ, reflects that persecution is difficult to reconcile with, especially when one is persecuted for good deeds. How can God allow good people to suffer?

The call of discipleship for each Christian is also a call to share in the mystery of suffering so that we may both give and receive the joy of Christ. At times, we are called to carry the cross of our neighbors, just as Jesus did for us.

We surrender to our Lord’s words, “You will be hated by all because of my name, but not a hair on your head will be destroyed. By your perseverance, you will secure your lives.” (Meze, n.d.)

Don Schwager quotes “First signs of the end times,” by Maximus of Turin (died between 408-423 AD).

"Perhaps you are anxious, brothers and sisters, at the fact that we hear constantly of the tumult of wars and the onsets of battles. Perhaps your love is still more anxious since these are taking place in our times. The reason is the closer we are to the destruction of the world, the closer we are to the kingdom of the Savior. The Lord himself says, 'In the last days nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom. When you see wars, earthquakes and famines, know that the kingdom of God is at hand.'This nearness of wars shows us that Christ is near." (excerpt from SERMON 85.1) (Schwager, n.d.)

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 21:5-19 comments that Jesus’ words make sense, both then and now, only if we look beyond this life to the next. He is promising that we will “secure” our lives for heaven if we persevere through hardship and struggle and trust in his grace no matter what comes (Luke 21:19). Then, when our life here on earth ends, we can look forward to the promise of living forever with our Lord. (Meditation on Luke 21:5-19, n.d.)

Friar Jude Winkler explains that in Malachi apocalyptic judgement is presented as we approach the end of the Church year. We need to follow the example of the Apostles . We should follow virtue and be virtuous to  show our faith. The Thessalonians who thought the end near are reminded to do an honest day's work. Luke, writing after 70 AD, seems to offer a description of the actual destruction of Jerusalem. Friar Jude refers to 2nd century persecutions that remind us of the price to pay for being a Christian is not always easy in our everyday life.

Fr. Mike Schmitz briefly expands on the story of the poor widow’s offering, emphasizing that the Lord cares more about the size of our hearts than about the size of our gifts. Fr. Mike also underscores Jesus’ moving words to Peter when he foretells Peter’s denial. Jesus’ words remind us that no matter how fiercely the enemy tries to attack us, he is always praying for each and every one of us. Today's readings are Luke 20-22:38 and Proverbs 26:17-19.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, considers how Jesus challenges the worldviews constructed by our religions, cultures, and family upbringings. Our operative worldview is formed by three images that are inside every one of us. They are not something from outside; they have already taken shape within us. All we can do is become aware of them, which is to awaken them.

The three images to be awakened and transformed are our image of self, our image of God, and our image of the world. A true hearing of the gospel transforms those images into a very exciting and, I believe, truthful worldview. When we say Christ is the truth, that’s what we mean. Christ renames reality correctly, according to what reality honestly is, putting aside whatever we think it is or whatever we fear it is. Reality is always better than any of us imagined or feared; there is joy associated with a true hearing of the gospel. 

All together, we could put it this way: “What should life be?” “Why isn’t it?” “How do we repair it?” When these are answered for us, at least implicitly, we have our game plan, and we can live with safety and purpose in this world. (Rohr, n.d.)

We contemplate how our relationship with ourselves, God, and the world is evidence in action of mission as “workers in the vineyard” of Christ.

References

Luke, CHAPTER 21 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/luke/21?5 

Malachi, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/malachi/3?19 

Meditation on Luke 21:5-19. (n.d.). Word Among Us. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://wau.org/meditations/2025/11/16/1430450/ 

Meze, G. (n.d.). Daily Reflection. Creighton Online Ministries: Home. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://onlineministries.creighton.edu/daily-reflections/daily-reflection-november-16-2025 

Psalms, PSALM 98 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/psalms/98?5 

Rohr, R. (n.d.). Our Operative Worldview. Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://cac.org/daily-meditations/our-operative-worldview/ 

Schwager, D. (n.d.). Take Heed That You Are Not Led Astray. Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations – Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://www.dailyscripture.net/daily-meditation/ 

2 Thessalonians, CHAPTER 3 | USCCB. (n.d.). Daily Readings. Retrieved November 16, 2025, from https://bible.usccb.org/bible/2thessalonians/3?7 

Checking Our Path

The texts from the Roman Catholic Lectionary today challenge us to check on our acceptance of the Will of God to gather people from all nations into our community.

Many nations along our path

The passage from the Prophet Isaiah describes the desire of God to gather the nations.

* [66:18–21] God summons the neighboring nations to Zion and from among them will send some to far distant lands to proclaim the divine glory. All your kin: Jews in exile. The “gathering of the people and the nations” is an eschatological motif common in the prophetic tradition; cf. 56:8.1 

Psalm 117 calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy.

* [Psalm 117] This shortest of hymns calls on the nations to acknowledge God’s supremacy. The supremacy of Israel’s God has been demonstrated to them by the people’s secure existence, which is owed entirely to God’s gracious fidelity.2

The reading from the Letter to the Hebrews identifies God as our Father and nudges us to accept His affectionate correction. (corrected USCCB link http://www.usccb.org/bible/readings/bible/hebrews/12:5 )

* [12:1–13] Christian life is to be inspired not only by the Old Testament men and women of faith (Heb 12:1) but above all by Jesus. As the architect of Christian faith, he had himself to endure the cross before receiving the glory of his triumph (Heb 12:2). Reflection on his sufferings should give his followers courage to continue the struggle, if necessary even to the shedding of blood (Heb 12:3–4). Christians should regard their own sufferings as the affectionate correction of the Lord, who loves them as a father loves his children.3 

In the Gospel, Luke presents the Narrow Door where we need to choose a path toward salvation or rejection.

* [13:22–30] These sayings of Jesus follow in Luke upon the parables of the kingdom (Lk 13:18–21) and stress that great effort is required for entrance into the kingdom (Lk 13:24) and that there is an urgency to accept the present opportunity to enter because the narrow door will not remain open indefinitely (Lk 13:25). Lying behind the sayings is the rejection of Jesus and his message by his Jewish contemporaries (Lk 13:26) whose places at table in the kingdom will be taken by Gentiles from the four corners of the world (Lk 13:29). Those called last (the Gentiles) will precede those to whom the invitation to enter was first extended (the Jews). See also Lk 14:15–24.4

A narrow gate

Mike Cherney comments that a loving God who is eager to expand the fold may not have been the easiest message which a prophet might bring.

I think that many of us enjoy being special. I am ashamed to say that I have caught myself feeling better because I have things that others do not. Opening up the God’s kingdom to outsiders may not have been something that was welcome in the first century and my sense is that it is not universally welcome now. I often wonder how I would have reacted as a Jew during Jesus’ lifetime. Religious leaders had a certain amount of autonomy under the Roman prefect. I can see both Jesus and Paul running up against the institutional authorities. Their message called for change and reform. I can imagine how Jesus and Paul were characterized. I think that I can safely assume that varying narratives are not unique to today’s point in time. My prayer today is for openness and wise discernment.5 

Don Schwager quotes “To enter the narrow door,” by Cyril of Alexandria (376-444 AD).

"'Wide is the door, and broad the way that brings down many to destruction.' What are we to understand by its broadness? ...A stubborn mind will not bow to the yoke of the law [the commandments of God]. This life is cursed and relaxed in all carelessness. Thrusting from it the divine law and completely unmindful of the sacred commandments, wealth, vices, scorn, pride and the empty imagination of earthly pride spring from it. Those who would enter in by the narrow door must withdraw from all these things, be with Christ and keep the festival with him." (excerpt from COMMENTARY ON LUKE, HOMILY 99)6 

The Word Among Us Meditation on Luke 13:22-30 declares the Lord is not stingy when it comes to drawing people to himself. In fact, the more the merrier! The key is entry through the narrow gate. That’s the action of faith that unites us.

Now, just as you are a part of the people of God, so are the people in your community, everyone who serves side-by-side with you at your parish. But so are people who speak a different language or whose culture or economic status is very unlike your own. So are people in prison cells and in homeless shelters. So is the annoying neighbor down the street whose faith is known to God alone. In God’s eyes, everyone is equally deserving of his love. Because God wants everyone in his kingdom. So let’s make space next to ourselves at the Lord’s banquet table.7 

Friar Jude Winkler discusses the rare apocalyptic section in Isaiah 66. The Narrow Gate: Easy or Difficult? Yes! Friar Jude reminds us that Love is often found in the suffering when we are out of sync and trust in God becomes a choice and not a feeling.

Fr. Richard Rohr, OFM, comments that today, every academic, professional discipline—psychology, anthropology, history, the various sciences, social studies, art, and business—recognizes change, development, and some kind of evolving phenomenon. But in its search for the Real Absolute, much of Christian theology made one fatal mistake: It imagined that any notion of God had to be unchanging, an “unmoved mover,” as Aristotelian philosophy called it. He offers a clear and concise description of our changing worldview from Australian theologian Denis Edwards.

Our theological tradition has been shaped within the worldview of a static universe. The great theological synthesis of St. Thomas Aquinas [1224–1274], for example, was formed within a culture which took for granted that the world was fixed and static, … By contrast, we are told today that the universe began with a cosmic explosion called the Big Bang, that we live in an expanding universe, with galaxies rushing away from us at an enormous rate, that the Earth is a relatively small planet revolving around the Sun, that it is hurtling through space as part of a Solar system which is situated toward the edge of the Milky Way galaxy, that we human beings are the product of an evolutionary movement on the Earth, and that we are intimately linked with the health of the delicately balanced life systems on our planet.
The shift between these two mindsets is enormous. It needs to be stressed that most of our tradition has been shaped by the first of these, and even contemporary theology has seldom dealt explicitly with the change to a new mindset. . . . We have no choice but to face up to the ecological crisis which confronts us. Religious thinkers . . . are searching for a new synthesis of science and faith, a new cosmology, and a “new story.” [1]8 

Graeme Benjamin of Global News reports that Peace by Chocolate founder, Tareq Hadhad says that an anti-immigration billboard in Halifax is ‘Very hurtful to see,’

Hadhad abandoned his studies to become a physician and fled to Lebanon with several family members after a 2012 bombing destroyed his father’s chocolate factory in Syria. The family found a home in Antigonish, N.S., in early 2016, as Canada accepted a wave of more than 25,000 Syrians… Hadhad was hurt and disappointment to see the billboard installed in Halifax, a place he says is largely accepting of immigrants. For that reason, Hadhad doesn’t feel the message will resonate with voters come October.
“Eighty-four per cent of Nova Scotians are pro-immigration,” Hadhad said. “I think this is the wrong place for a sign like this.”
“It was very hurtful to see. I hope that this will not resonate with anyone in the city.”9

The path of our journey through the narrow gate, ironically, calls us to widen our acceptance and welcome of people of all cultures and economic status into our lives and to trust in the development by the Spirit of a mindset that addresses demographic and ecological change and the synthesis of science and faith that will be in accord with the will of the Father.

References

1	(n.d.). Isaiah, chapter 66 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/isaiah66:26
2	(n.d.). Psalms, chapter 117 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/psalms/117
3	(n.d.). Hebrews, chapter 12 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/hebrews/12
4	(n.d.). Luke, chapter 13 - United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from http://www.usccb.org/bible/luke/13
5	(n.d.). Creighton U Daily Reflections - Creighton .... Retrieved August 25, 2019, from http://www.creighton.edu/CollaborativeMinistry/daily.html
6	(n.d.). Daily Scripture Readings and Meditations. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from https://dailyscripture.servantsoftheword.org/
7	(n.d.). 21st Sunday in Ordinary Time - Mass Readings and Catholic Daily .... Retrieved August 25, 2019, from https://wau.org/meditations/2019/08/25/
8	(2019, August 25). The Change of a Worldview — Center for Action and Contemplation. Retrieved August 25, 2019, from https://cac.org/the-change-of-a-worldview-2019-08-25/
9	(2019, August 24). 'Very hurtful to see,' Peace by Chocolate founder says of anti .... Retrieved August 25, 2019, from https://globalnews.ca/news/5809545/tareq-hadhad-ppc-billboard/