Dark Devotional: The Mystery of Persecution

Last updated on: June 25, 2017 at 12:32 am by Guest Contributor

Dark Devotional: The Mystery of Persecution 2017-06-25T00:32:31-05:00 Guest Contributor

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Persecution, original illustration by Brian C. Jocks

But the LORD is with me, like a mighty champion:
my persecutors will stumble, they will not triumph.
In their failure they will be put to utter shame,
to lasting, unforgettable confusion. (Jeremiah)

One thing I learned while studying for my PhD was to distinguish the persecution from suffering. The two issues are interconnected, but while the problem of suffering affects all–both the righteous and the innocent–persecution strikes the righteous because they are righteous.

Persecution is a theological mystery revealed in the scriptures, where we find that it touches the prophets, especially, because of their love of God and their loyalty to God’s word. See the Book of Wisdom, in which the wicked man says of the just man: “just to see him is a hardship for us” (Wis 2,14); “He is annoying to us” (Wis 2: 12). The righteous man is a witness to the living God who the wicked prefers to misunderstand.

Romano Guardini, in his book The Lord, suggests that Judas betrayed Jesus for this very reason: Christ’s goodness had become intolerable for him. But in the Passion, the calculation of sinful man turns out to be wrong. The “princes of this world,” crucifying the “Lord of glory,” become the tools of divine Wisdom (1 Cor. 2: 8). The death of Christ becomes salvation of the world and glory of God.

For me, the troubling part of the matter lies in the Gospel, because, in the teaching of Jesus, persecution becomes a subject worthy of beatitude (Mt 5,11) and also something that’s inevitable (Jn 15,20). It’s not difficult to understand why things are just like this: in a world dominated by selfishness and the pursuit of their own interests, those who preach love, poverty and forgiveness will inevitably be persecuted, because sin is deeply rooted in the heart of man. But the persecuted don’t fear: they trust in the Lord. Persecutors can only kill the body. They have no power to ruin the soul.

Is it that simple?

Sometimes the Church is persecuted because it is lagging behind history, because it’s lazy, because it lacks confidence and courage. It’s painful to watch when Christian ideals–freedom, equality, human rights, democracy–meet resistance, suspicion, and sometimes even opposition from within the Church. I understand the Church has human limits. The unaware (maybe… but surely real) connivance with situations of injustice and power, fears and hesitations, silences, lack of courage … they have understandably turned honest people of goodwill against us.

But there is also a persecution that we can call “satanic.”

It is the black yeast of the world that spreads and branches like a cancer that corrodes the tissues of humanity; it is like a mystical body of evil, with which, despite every act of good will, the Church can not enter into dialogue, because it is the irreducible enemy of the adversary who fights against Christ and his kingdom.

And this, the scriptures tell us, despite so much skepticism, is an evil that exists — and must be resisted.

Andrea Ciceri is an RPG and videogame Geek with a PhD in Philosophy of Religion. Married, father of one son, he loves to cook for his family and friends. He is the proud owner of his family bookshop in Italy.

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