Dominica post Ascensionem - The Holy Ghost Strengthens us in Persecution

PRESENTATION: Persecution is the mark of the Christian

Today we find ourselves in a limbo of sorts. Our Risen Lord is gone. Three days ago He ascended back to the Father in Heaven. The promised sending of the Holy Ghost has not yet come to pass, and so, with the Apostles, we wait. Unlike the Apostles, however, we know what is going to happen, we know that by this time next week the Holy Ghost will have descended upon the fledgling Church, and the Apostles will take up the mission of Christ to spread the Gospel to the whole world.

We also know how the story ends of course, St. James the Greater was stabbed to death with a sword, St. James the Lesser was stoned to death, St. Jude was killed with a hail of arrows, St. Philip was crucified, St. Thomas was killed with a spear, St. Paul was beheaded, St. Peter was crucified, St. Matthew was killed with a sword, St. Simon was crucified, St. Bartholomew was flayed alive and beheaded, St. Andrew was crucified, St. Matthias was crucified, and St. John was boiled alive in oil, and when that didn’t kill him, he lived the rest of his days in exile.

Our Lord fortells the persecution of the faithful in today’s Gospel when He says, “They will put you out of the synagogues: yea, the hour cometh, that whosoever killeth you will think that he doth a service to God.” We might say, that it is the mark of the Christian to welcome suffering and persecution for the love of God, as St. Jerome reminds us, “The church of Christ has been founded by shedding its own blood, not that of others; by enduring outrage, not by inflicting it. Persecutions have made it grow; martyrdoms have crowned it.”

EXPLANATION: St. Valeria’s joyful martyrdom

Two years after St. Peter went to Rome, he sent St. Martiel to France to preach the Gospel. St. Martiel was one of the seventy-two disciples who were chosen by Our Lord Himself to help the Apostles in the conversion of the world. When the saint and his companions reached the city of Limoges, they began at once the work for which they had been sent. By the miraculous cure of an insane man, St. Martiel converted a wealthy woman Susanna and her daughter Valeria.

Not long afterwards Susanna passed to a better life, but Valeria lived for many years to help the infant Church in Gaul, and to edify the Christians by her holy example. In order that she might be more free to serve God, she made a vow of virginity. She also distributed her riches among the poor, so that in every part of the country people spoke of her goodness and of the holy works she did for God.

It was about this time that Julianus was appointed governor of the southern countries of Gaul. He had been promised the hand of Valeria before her conversion, and now, when he heard that she had become a Christian, and that she made a vow of virginity, and was distributing among the poor the riches he had hoped to obtain along with her, he was filled with indignation.

As soon as he arrived in Limoges he sent for her to appear before him. Valeria went at once to his house, and falling down on her knees at his feet, waited patiently till he would speak to her.

“Is it true,” he said, “that you have given to another that heart you promised to give to me?”

Valeria answered: “I would indeed be the most vile creature on the face of the earth if I gave to any other man that love which belonged to you; but, by a special inspiration from Heaven, I have chosen to lay aside all affection for an earthly spouse, that I may belong solely to my God for ever. In doing this I have shown how much I esteem you, for if I have given my heart to another instead of you, it is only to Jesus Christ my saviour. No one else would ever take your place in my heart. It is to the Blessed Martiel that I owe this happiness. Like me, be you also obedient to his voice, and learn to know the one true God. Become a Christian, and we shall for ever love each other as pure virgins in His sight.”

Julianus was angered at these words and would not allow her to say any more, but condemned her to death, and ordered Hortarius, his steward, to see that the sentence was carried out.

When Valeria heard this sentence she was filled with intense joy, and went to the place of death as if she had been going to a splendid feast. When she reached the place where she was to die, she lifted up her hands to Heaven and began to pray. As she finished her prayer there came a voice from Heaven saying, “Valeria, fear not, for the angels are gazing on you with delight, and are waiting to receive you into the eternal joys of Paradise.”

At these words the countenance of Valeria become bright like the sun, and lifting up her eyes to Heaven, she cried out: “My God, my Father, I commend my soul to Thy hands.”

The executioner then raised his sword, and with one blow cut off her head. Then all the people, both pagans and Christians, who were present, saw her soul leave her body which the angels received and carried into Heaven in the midst of beautiful music.

IMPLICATION: Bearing persecutions with love and joy

As Christians we must expect persecutions. Our Lord was persecuted, His Apostles were persecuted, Christians have been persecuted in every time and place. The mark of the true Christian is not just the expectation of persecution, but the welcoming of them, and to return love for hatred. As the Church Father Tertullian reminds us:

300 Quotations for Preachers from the Early Church Only Christians Love Those Who Hate Them

Our religion commands us to love even our enemies, and to pray for those who persecute us, aiming at a perfection all its own, and seeking in its disciples something of a higher type than the commonplace goodness of the world. For all love those who love them; it is peculiar to Christians alone to love those who hate them.

This obviously seems like a tall order, to welcome persecution and love our persecutors, which is why we cannot do it alone. This is also why Our Lord, before fortelling the Apostles’ perscution, promises them the Holy Ghost.

We have received the grace of the Holy Ghost in our Baptism, and were strengthened in it at our Confirmation. If we wish to be strong, and loving in the face of persecution, then we must remain strong in God’s grace. If we are in a state of sin, then we are cut off from grace, which is why we must have frequent recourse to the Sacrament of Confession. We also need to be refreshed in grace, which is why we must make frequent Communions.

We must also turn to the Holy Ghost frequently in prayer, particularly in those moments when we are fearful of showing our faith outwardly, or when we are tempted to return hatred for hatred.

Christ’s promise of the Holy Ghost is one which is not just for our guidance, but for our strengthening in the face of a world which will hate and revile us, because we bear the name of Christ. As we receive Our Lord in Holy Communion today, let us pray for strength to bear persecution with charity and with joy.