Why Are Christians Persecuted?

Persecution of the Catholic Church is not new. The Church is the body of Christ, and Christ was persecuted to the point of death. That was only the beginning. It has never stopped.

--Laura Weston

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There is a report talking about persecuted religions, and Christianity came out on top. Worldwide, more Christians are being persecuted than any other group.

In this period after Easter, before Pentecost, but Pentecost is a very important to this, the questions come up in my mind, especially since as a deacon I'm supposed to go out into the world and bring the good news and all, first is...

Well, good morning!

What is there that is appealing about Christianity, Catholicism?

We see a question of what is there about Christianity that brings people to it. I'm a convert so I am more aware of it. John's a convert, but he's not here today. What is there?

But at the same time... Fr. Michael was talking about this a couple of weekends ago... the Church is shrinking; it's lost people. But in the United States, the Church is growing faster than any other religion.

You go into parts of the world… Western Europe… if you can find a good Catholic in Western Europe any more, that's apparently a real challenge.

You go to other parts of the world, it is booming. What is there that is appealing?

And the second question I think is a related question. What is it about Christianity that makes people want to persecute Christians? What is there?

Why do they feel a necessity of persecuting people who are Christian. It's illegal. There is a woman who recently got released, but they were going to kill her because she professed Christianity.

So what is going on here? How do we go out to the world? How do we get converts?

Now, personally, I love reading books and thinking about things. Come to me on an intellectual level, man, like I said, I love the Catechism of the Council of Trent. I love to look at the writings of the Scholastics. Most people I've met are not like that.

But what is it about Christianity that makes it appealing? It's the people of Christianity who believe in the two great commandments of loving God and loving neighbor. Because it changes how you act and what you are. And people can look at you and go, "I want to be like Robert!" "I want to be like Frank!"

And they'll go, "What is it that's special?" And they will see Christianity. They will see Catholicism.

But at the same time, because there is this inherent appeal to people, if you are in a situation where you're not Christian, what is there about Christianity that makes people go, "We're going to persecute you because you're a Christian."?

Part of it is that Christianity is an evangelical religion. We go out to seek converts. And two, it has a fundamental appeal. What I was just describing is a fundamental appeal. And three... and this is very important... you bring Michael in, and he is a convert, because converts tend to be more obnoxious than other people, and he is in a group of people who are not Christian, and they are doing things that are bad. First, he doesn't do them, and that is an affront to them. And second, he has the audacity to tell them that what they are doing is wrong. Now Michael might not do that. No I take that back, I do know you would do that. You do do that.

So how much do you like... I'll pick on Jeff. "Jeff, I don't like your haircut. You are making it too short. You need to let it flow over your ears. Be like everyone else."

Jeff, in his exalted position, says, "No! I'm not going to do that."

"Well I don't like you. And if I don't like you I can do bad things to you."

So you have that dual situation where, by loving our neighbor, and believing in what we do, we are in a situation that people want to come to Christianity, Catholicism particularly, and those who are in power who are looking at people who are going, like Beth. We're talking and Beth's going, "Well that's pretty good. You know I like that guy Fr. Frank. I like Robert, too. Maybe I should become Catholic."

And at the same time, the people who say, “Well Beth is a member of my congregation. I don't want her to leave. I don't like people who are taking her away from me.”

And so we see inherent in Christianity, in our lives, and if you think about it you can actually come back with experiences of both. In the nature of Christianity itself is the root of the persecution and the root of the evangelical nature of Christianity, of bringing people ever close.

And then the bottom line that comes in is in this Gospel reading today, is the statements of Jesus. So we have this religion that makes people nicer, makes them appealing. That causes people to think, which people don't like, that threatens the status quo. And then we have the ultimate thing where Jesus today told the crowds, "I am the bread of life. Whoever come to me will never hunger. And whoever believes in me will never thirst."

What an incredible promise that is, that is made. And that when we in our lives… again, you guys are all crazy. It's rainy outside. It's 6:30 in the morning. Why are you here?

Well, the reality is, the Bread of Life is right there. And we get to consume it.

So when you're going out into the world to find people, just remember that ultimately the way you're going to evangelize the world, the same way I'm going to evangelize the world, is not get on a street corner and pound. We're not Billy Graham. We will never be Billy Graham. But if we live our lives in accordance with our beliefs, we will bring people to Christ.

And then we face a situation, and unfortunately where we face it frequently is in an office or a workplace, where people know that we are saying that what they are doing is wrong. We face persecution.

But ultimately it come to Our Lord Jesus Christ and His presence in the Eucharist in our lives. The very Bread of Life and the promise of eternal life.

May 8, 2019 2