“Yes, and all who desire to live godly in
Christ Jesus will suffer persecution.” (2 Timothy 3: 12)
And the
Lord Jesus Christ had foretold and proved by it by His own example. And so did
the apostles, who talked about it, and proved these words by their own example.
And all the God-bearing Fathers of the Church, confessors and martyrs talked
about this, and proved it by their own
example. So is it possible to doubt even for a moment the fact that you must
take the narrow path to enter the Kingdom of Heaven? Is it even possible to
doubt the fact that we must face many misfortunes in order to enter the Kingdom
of Heaven?
No, there
are no longer any grounds or justification for doubt. Can a sheep live amongst
wolves and not be attacked? Can the flame of a candle burn on the path of
strong winds and not tremble? Can a fruit tree grow near the road and not be
plucked by those who pass by? The same goes for the Church filled with pious
souls which will be persecuted, in fact it will be persecuted by pagans, by
idol worshippers, by heretics,by apostates, through various passions and vices,
sins and lawlessness, by the world and demons.
The same
applies to any no pious soul which can not remain without persecution - either
external or internal - until it is ready part with the body and the world.
Someone can deny this and try prove something else, according to his own
reasoning and his own logic. But neither the mind nor the logic of a single
person will be helpful here: thousands of crucified people say otherwise, and
thousands of people who were burned to death shout a different opinion, and
thousands of those who were hacked to
death prove otherwise, and thousands of those who were thrown into the water to
drown testify about something else. O my brethren, the Christian faith is
strong not only when it agrees with mind and logic, but even then (especially
at that moment) when it opposes any reason and any logic.
Whoever
wants to live in piety, will be persecuted. The Apostle predicted in the early
Christian times,while twenty Christian centuries responded with a chorus of
echos, and confirmed that the prophecy was true.
O
Resurrected Christ, give us light, that we may be pious to the end, and give us
strength to withstand persecution until the end. To you glory and praise
forever. Amen.
Translated
by The Catalog of Good Deeds
CONVERSATION