Endurance to do the Will of God

Homily for Friday of the Third Week in Ordinary Time

The Jews were expelled from Rome several times in the history of that city. The author of the Letter to the Hebrews references one of those episodes in the very first line of today’s first reading. “Remember the days past when, after you had been enlightened, you endured a great contest of suffering.” Sometime in the fourth decade or early fifth decade of the first century, Emperor Claudius expelled the Jews from Rome. According to the Roman historian Suetonius, “Since the Jews constantly made disturbances at the instigation of Chrestus, he [the Emperor Claudius] expelled them from Rome.” This incident is also referenced in the Acts of the Apostles when Paul met Aquila and his wife Priscilla in Corinth.

The author cites this episode because it seems that his audience is losing confidence in their faith. He reminds them that they will receive their recompense for their suffering when “he who is to come shall come…”, and that they “need endurance to do the will of God and receive what he has promised.”

Suffering purifies us, fosters our endurance, and calls on us to live by faith. It bears fruit by stripping us of many of the supports on which we rely and challenges us to rely on God alone. This is the “better and lasting possession” of which the author of the first reading speaks. We cannot take our comfort, money, or pleasures with us to eternity, but we can have a deep and intimate friendship with God.

Suffering is deceptive – it is painful and often seems fruitless; but if we embrace it with the conviction that God only wills what will be good for us, we can discover in our pains and trials a deepening of our relationship with God. Although we may not be able to experience the joys of this relationship in their fullness now, we can be assured that this is indeed a great recompense worth dying for.

The Eucharist is a memorial of the suffering and death that Jesus underwent for our salvation. The sacrifice which Jesus offered once for all is recalled in our prayers as we offer our oblation of praise. Christians have remembered the suffering and death of Jesus for thousands of years, and our praise and adoration of God in this Eucharist joins us with all who have suffered for their faith.