Few Friends

“If the world hates you, realize it hated me first….If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.” John 15:18-21

During mass early this morning, Fr. Mark Renacia of the Our Lady of Consolation Parish had a very fitting homily to illustrate this heartbreaking reminder of Jesus. Fr. Mark shared about the time he was able to visit the Basilica of St. Teresa in Avila, Spain. Inside the Basilca, they preserved the room where Teresa de Cepeda y Ahumada was born. There is also a prayer room where she spent hours in prayer and it was in this little chapel that St. Teresa received the vision of the crucified Christ. 

Fr. Mark explained that in the 1500s there were so many abuses and malpractices in the Church and Teresa saw the need for change. She started with her own Carmelite congregation and it was very difficult for her. Little by little she tried to expand that reformation. The process was not easy for her. Her superior wanted to expel her from the congregation and she had clashes with priests and Bishops. In the midst of this terrible crisis, she spent hours praying, complaining, and asking God why she was experiencing persecution, so much pain, when she was only doing this for the His  Church, for His people. For Him. The Lord appeared to her in a vision of the crucified Christ, water and blood pouring out of Him.

Father Mark said that Jesus spoke to St. Teresa saying something like, “Teresa, when I was on earth, I gave everything, my whole life for the salvation of the world, and you know what, I did not receive anything in return except this cross. This one is my only trophy, this one is my only precious treasure, and I share this with those who are closest to my heart. I share this with those I consider to be my true friends. And you are my friend.” St. Teresa responded, “Lord, no wonder then you have very few friends. Tienes pocos amigos. Because to be your friend means to carry the cross with you and to die on the cross with you.”

It is true as Father Mark concluded, as Christians we do not fully belong to this world, our values contradict those that the world holds important. If we stand up for what God has taught us and wants us to proclaim, we should be prepared for persecution which “leads us to the long and winding road to Calvary”. But “no mind has ever imagined the glory that awaits us!” Thank you Father Mark for your inspiring homily”