Jesus never promised us that being one of his disciples would be easy. In fact, quite the contrary. Throughout the Gospels, we see how Jesus shares with His disciples just how much hardship and suffering they will have to endure simply for following Him and spreading the Good News of salvation. Our Gospel reading for Mass today is another example of that.

We enter this Gospel scene right in the middle of it. Jesus is giving His closest followers the instructions that they will need for their first missionary journey. The most striking thing about these instructions is the warning that Jesus offers for the Apostles. He tells them “Fear no one…do not be afraid.” Very obviously the disciples needed to hear that message, because Jesus offers it three times in some way in the 8 short verses that we read this morning/afternoon. But why would they need to hear it?

Jesus hand selected these twelve men because He knew what they were capable of accomplishing. He needed them to use their gifts and their talents to go out in His name to spread the message of the Gospel to others. But He also knows that, in carrying out that mission, His followers were going to run into some pretty serious challenges. It wasn’t going to be a walk in the park for them.

Jesus is warning His Apostles that in fulfilling this mission, in conducting their ministry, there will be moments when they will be met with persecution and hardship. He is warning them that their Christian mission will require heroic courage, perseverance, and fidelity as they face suffering, slander, scorn. They are going to experience opposition. They are going to encounter people who will want to destroy them, humiliate them, and even kill them, just because they bear Christ’s name and are trying to spread His message.

In the verses that come directly before the passage that we have just heard, Jesus was abundantly clear. He told His disciples: “Beware of men: they will hand you over to the Sanhedrin and scourge you in their synagogues.” He says, “You will be dragged before governors and kings for my sake, to bear witness before them.” He reminds them, “You will be hated by all men on account of my name.” And all of that will absolutely come to pass.

Every single one of Jesus’ Apostles died a martyr’s death – all but John, the Beloved Disciple, who somehow miraculously survived being boiled in oil. Peter was crucified upside down in Rome. James the Greater was beheaded in Jerusalem. Andrew was crucified on a cross in the shape of an X. Bartholomew was skinned alive and crucified in Armenia. Philip was stoned and then crucified in Turkey. Thomas was speared to death in India. James the Lesser was hurled from the city walls of Jerusalem and beaten to death with stones and clubs. Jude was shot to death by arrows, in Persia, while tied to a cross. Matthew was stabbed to death by order of the King of Ethiopia while celebrating Mass. Simon the Zealot was sawed to pieces in the Kingdom of Georgia.

If we look at the history of the Church, it’s a similar story with each passing generation. There have been countless examples of faithful Christian men and women who have given their lives for the faith, who have persevered in proclaiming the Gospel despite persecution. Men and women who, even as they were being tortured and mutilated, refused to denounce Christ and instead proudly proclaimed Christ to be their Savior. And that continues to happen to this very day.

You may not be aware of this, but the 20th Century was the century with the most martyrs in the history of the Church. In fact, in the year 2000, Pope St. John Paul II established the Commission for the New Martyrs of the Great Jubilee in order to record and study those who had died for the faith in the previous 100 years. What they discovered is that the “20th century produced double the number of Christian martyrs [than] all the previous 19 centuries put together.” Think about that! That is a staggering discovery, especially when we look at how much we venerate and honor those Christian martyrs from the early Church.

Now, in the 21st century, martyrdom is still a reality that confronts many of our Christian brothers and sisters throughout the world. Christianity continues to be the world’s most persecuted faith group. In 2023, nearly 6,000 Christians were killed for their faith; and more than 2,000 churches were either attacked or closed. This isn’t something that has only happened in the past.

These are our brothers and sisters in the faith. They are our example. They teach us that being a Christian is demanding; it takes courage; it stirs up opposition. They followed in the footsteps of Jesus; they gave everything for the Lord. And they have blazed the trail for us to do the same.

Persecution is always going to be a reality that we face as Christians. And while we may not be called to give our lives for the faith, we may not be put to death for being followers of Jesus, we will be coerced to compromise our beliefs in some way.

For example: how many of us have been forced, with threat of termination, to do workshops at our places of employment where we are instructed to be accepting of lifestyles that embrace teachings far from our faith tradition? How many of us have had to change where we shop or what products we purchase because those companies support social agendas that are contrary to our faith? How many of us have been criticized by family members, coworkers, total strangers for believing that marriage should be between a man and woman or because we oppose abortion and contraception, or because we ask others to simply respect our faith traditions?

These are all small ways that we experience persecution…and that’s not going to change. If anything, in the next several decades, it’s only going to get worse, especially here in the United States. So what are we to do?

Listen to the words of Jesus spoken to His disciples in today’s Gospel: Do not be afraid. Do not let threats of violence and persecution deter us from our resolve to follow Christ. Have no fear because God’s care, His mercy, His love stretches beyond anything we can experience that discourages us, entraps us, or even robs us of life. God’s watchful love overshadows every threat that we face. He walks with us in the challenges and the struggles.

The Lord is our champion; He is our victory; He is our strength. He proved it when He rose from the dead. He has proven it thousands of times since, in the lives of the saints – those who have been faithful to His friendship. And He proves it every day on the altar, in the sacrifice of the Eucharist.

Jesus will never abandon us. He will always be our strength as we fight each day to be faithful witnesses to His Kingdom. This week, let’s make Him this resolution: whenever we feel the cold breath of fear behind us, we will call out to Him in prayer, trusting that He is with us, and giving Him the chance to show His power and His strength in our lives.

Image: The Synaxis of the Twelve Apostles. Russian, 14th century, Moscow Museum. This is a faithful photographic reproduction of a two-dimensional, public domain work of art. The work of art itself is in the public domain. Wikimedia Commons.