In the Gospel reading Jesus forewarns his disciples about the cost of discipleship: As followers of Jesus and witnesses to Christ and his message, they would be hated, arrested, brought to trial, persecuted and even put to death because they were followers of and believers in Jesus. Jesus assured them of God’s help.
Indeed from the beginning the Apostles and the Christians were hated, arrested and persecuted and even put to death because they were Christians.
The Acts of the Apostles (Acts 6: 8- 15; 7: 1 -60) tells us about St. Stephen, the first martyr for Christ, who died in witness of his faith in the Lord Jesus. The Greek word martyr originally meant witness: today we call martyrs those who suffered or died for what they believed or stood for. All of us are called to be “martyrs,” witnesses to Jesus. As witnesses we should be ready to be ridiculed and hated, persecuted and even put to death: with God’s grace and the assistance of the Holy Spirit, may we remain faithful witnesses, “martyrs.”