Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
Love and hate, as opposites, are two very strong emotions. I am not speaking of the mild likes and dislikes a person can have toward, let’s say, pineapple on pizza or their favorite pub, but raw life-changing emotions that will shape a person’s lifelong decisions.
Our Gospel today speaks of hate toward followers of Christ. Hate born out of rejection for what an encounter with Christ means, the disruption of life as it is.
This week of reflections centers around the disruption of life as it is, with the hope that you be hated because you disrupt life as it is. That you go out and stand up for the poor and serve them, as the deacons did; that you ask, argue, and accept difficult questions of faith and practice, as the first disciples did; that you confront the uneasy changes of life with openness and forgiveness by accepting the movement of the Spirit, as the apostles did in choosing Matthias; or that you accept the command of Christ to love, even our enemies.
Will you succumb to hate by rejecting the word of Christ in your life? Or will you learn to love, and accept ridicule and rejecting from a life transformed?
Reflect on this past week and ask, “will I be hated because of my faith in Christ?” If not, maybe it’s time for a change.
Reflection by Fr. Etienne Huard, OSB
Posted in Daily Reflections, Lenten Resources