To be a faithful Christian is not easy in our day and age. The next time you’re at work, look around you. How many followers of Jesus Christ are there in the room with you? Most likely than not, you are in the minority. To live the teachings of Jesus can make us feel alone. The culture tolerates a “Christian lite” form of lived faith. If you proclaim you hold the age-old Church teachings of the dignity of human life from conception to natural death or the traditional view of sexual morality you are deemed an old fashioned, rigid religous zealot. Or worst of all, you are called a bigot. It’s almost easier to go along with the culture and not fight for Christ and his Church. Afterall, we may win more friends that way. I get it, no one wants to be a social leper. We all desire to be loved and accepted. “Is any of this worth it?” I asked in my homily last week during the Sunday Masses.

St. Paul, the author of the Second Reading that we heard at Mass today understood this reality better than most. He writes:  

"Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead… for which I am suffering, even to the point of chains, like a criminal. But the word of God is not chained. Therefore, I bear with everything for the sake of those who are chosen, so that they too may obtain the salvation that is in Christ Jesus, together with eternal glory. This saying is trustworthy: If we have died with him we shall also live with him; if we persevere we shall also reign with him. But if we deny him he will deny us. If we are unfaithful he remains faithful…"

If we asked St. Paul, is being a faithful Christian worth it? What do you think he would say?