I thought that I could finish the Third Chapter on the Beatitudes today, but Pope Francis has quite a bit to say about this last Beatitude: " Blessed are those who are persecuted for righteousness' sake, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven." I will just give some of this Beatitude and go on to Chapter 4 tomorrow.
90. Jesus himself warns us that the path he proposes goes against the flow, even making us challenge society by the way we live and, as a result, becoming a nuisance. He reminds us how many people have been, and still are, persecuted simply because they struggle for justice, because they take seriously their commitment to God and to others. Unless we wish to sink into an obscure mediocrity, let us not long for an easy life, for
"whoever would save his life will lose it" (Mt 16:25)
91. In living the Gospel, we cannot expect that everything will be easy, for the thirst for power and worldly interests often stands in our way....
92. Whatever weariness and pain we may experience in living the commandment of love and following the way of justice, the cross remains the source of our growth and sanctification....
93. Here we are speaking about inevitable persecution, not the kind of persecution we might bring upon ourselves by our mistreatment of others....
94. Persecutions are not a reality of the past, for today too we experience them, whether by the shedding of blood, as is the case with so many contemporary martyrs, or by more subtle means, by slander and lies. Jesus calls us blessed when people "utter all kinds of evil against you falsely on my account" (Mt 5:11). At other times, persecution can take the form of gibes that try to caricature our faith and make us seem ridiculous.
Accepting daily the path of the Gospel, even though it may cause us problems: that is holiness.
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