When We Are Persecuted

I was at Ancient Corinth. Yes, the place of the Corinthians of whom St. Paul addressed his letters. I was excited to see and walk in the environment where St. Paul lived and preached the Good News. In his first visit, he lived there for eighteen (18) months. And on his second visit, he stayed for three (3) months. In Corinth, Paul was accused by the Jews of persuading men to worship God contrary to the Law (Acts 18: 13). He was brought to the tribunal before the proconsul Gallio. But Gallio dismissed Paul of accusations by answering,"If it were a matter of some crime or malicious fraud, I should with reason hear the complaint of you Jews; but since it is a question of arguments over doctrine and titles and your own law, see to it yourselves. I do not wish to be a judge of such matters. (Acts 18: 14-15)"

Like Paul, we go through persecutions as Christians. There will be times when people will wrongfully accuse us and smear on our name, for the sake of Christ. Paul encourages us: We are afflicted in every way, but not constrained; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not abandoned; struck down, but not destroyed (2 Corinthians 4: 8-9). What then do we do when we are persecuted? Paul further exhorts in 1 Cor 16: 13-14, "Be on your guard, stand firm in the faith, be courageous, be strong. Your every act should be done with love."

Being on your guard, in my reflection means that we do not loose our posture as Christians, even in light of persecution. We are to be on our guard of the tactics of the enemy, so we will not give in to his taunts. We have to be standing firm in the faith, keeping our convictions and principles strong. We are not to be easily swayed to turn our backs from our beliefs. Courage takes a major role in persecutions for courage is not the absence of fear but doing things in spite of fear. To be courageous is to be bold in doing what is right. Being strong requires us to have trained and to have practiced our faith to be able build in ourselves great inner strength. Especially in times of persecutions, our strength will be measured by our reactions and our sense of hope. Doing every act with love is the greater challenge, since we are called to love our enemies. If amidst persecution, love still surfaces above all, then we have truly grown close to the Lord.

Paul, despite being tried and almost sentenced in Corinth, still went for a second visit. Let us not stop if persecutions come our way. For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him (Philippians 1: 29).