Again, in the gospel reading today, Jesus is warning His disciples, and also warning us, that because of Him, we may be rejected by others. Jesus is not trying to scare us, but to make us ready, make us prepared. If you are prepared for that, then you will be able not only to understand, but also to survive that rejection or even the hatred. When I became a priest, I always wanted to be liked, loved, accepted. Then I met people who left the church because they were hurt by priests, or people who didn’t agree with what I was preaching, people who didn’t agree with my decisions, people who didn’t like me for many reasons. Did that shake my faith in God? Did that change my decisions of following my vocation? No, it didn’t, because I knew that this would happen. I knew that even our Lord was rejected and even killed. Jesus said: “I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.” When you are ridiculed, rejected, or even hated because of your faith in God, don’t give up. Just remember what Jesus told you.
