Today’s readings speak about the persecution of God’s servants. Jeremi- ah suffers, while John the Baptist is killed for speaking the truth. Working for God is not always a warm and rewarding life, seldom a life lived with perfect and pleasant people. We can take this seeming inconsistency to mean that we are on the wrong path in our service of God, that everyone else is in the wrong, or that God is asleep or needs our guidance on how to run this world.

We can lose heart or even lose sight of why we are living as Christians. We fail to remember that this is God’s world and that God is in charge of our salvation: and our contribution is primarily a matter of us following God’s lead. We must keep our eyes fixed on God and deal with the frequently difficult conditions as only secondary if we are rooted in him. We might get to the point where we can welcome a tough life as a gift from God. We will then pray Your will be done” and rejoice in everything he calls us to and face our troubles as a chance to engage in faith and trust.

Prayer: Abba Father, help us to understand hardships of life and to live our lives to its fullness. Amen.