In the Name of Religion
The Jews so loved their Scripture and their law, that they were ready to stone Jesus for what they heard as blasphemy. Eventually, their desire to kill him – despite the commandment against killing – would be realized, in effect fulfilling a prophecy from the Scripture they went to great lengths to defend.
Throughout the ages, millions have been killed in the name of religion, including Christianity.
This is the opposite of the missionary spirit that drove thousands of brave souls, including our own patron, to bring the news of Christ to the ends of the earth. These men and women know the true meaning of the phrase so familiar to Serrans: I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked man, says the Lord, but rather in his conversion, that he may live (Ezekiel 33:11).
Saint Junipero Serra understood that all people were children of God. He sought to spread the Word of salvation so that all could die with hope in the Lord. This he did by preaching, of course, but also by good works. As Jesus says in today’s Gospel:
If I do not perform my Father's works, do not believe me;
but if I perform them, even if you do not believe me,
believe the works, so that you may realize and understand
that the Father is in me and I am in the Father.
May our works show that God is our Father, before even our words.
http://www.serrainternational.org/content/name-religion