Hope in the Midst of Rejection
Saturday, May 9th Readings Reflection: Saturday of the Fifth Week of Easter
In today’s Epistle, we hear of Saints Paul and Timothy traveling to various lands to spread the Gospel. Twice in the ten verses of this reading, we hear that they were unable to enter certain areas, which the author of Acts (St. Luke) attributes to the Will of God. In today’s Gospel, we hear Our Lord telling His Apostles to expect the same persecutions that He Himself received. Just as the world has hated Christ, so too it will always hate His followers.
This thread of rejection that we see in today’s readings is presented from a very hopeful perspective that the world would not understand: it is presented as the Will of God, which is to be accepted as such. When Saints Paul and Timothy were unable to enter Asia and Bithynia, they accepted this as the Will of God and peacefully turned their evangelizing efforts elsewhere. Rather than ceasing their missionary efforts in frustration, they simply turned their attention elsewhere and trusted God to find a means of bringing the Gospel to the areas that they could not yet enter.
As Christ foretold, the world has continued to hate His followers. As Catholics, we often experience suffering and even persecution for our faith, and the world often closes doors to us for being Catholic. While this is certainly unjust, today’s readings remind us that a truly Catholic approach to these situations is to serenely accept them as the Will of God and to trust that God will find alternative means of accomplishing His holy Will.
A beautiful example of this from modern times is the life of Sr. Wilhelmina Lancaster, OSB, whose seventh anniversary of death is in a few weeks. Sr. Wilhelmina, who founded the order of the Benedictines of Mary, Queen of Apostles, rose to international fame in 2023 after her body was found to be incorrupt four years after her death. In life, Sr. Wilhelmina experienced many hardships and sufferings, living through the tumultuous wake of the Second Vatican Council in which many religious orders—including the one to which she belonged for fifty years—abandoned their traditional standards and observances.
For many years, Sr. Wilhelmina fought tirelessly to stop liturgical abuses, restore reverence in the liturgy, and re-focus religious orders on their primary role as spouses of Christ. Like the Apostles in today’s Epistle, Sr. Wilhelmina never abandoned her religious vocation despite the suffering and rejection that she experienced even from her own religious community. She continued to live out her vows and trusted that God would find a means for her to live out her vocation to the fullest once again. She did not leave her religious order until God provided her the concrete opportunity to found a new order of her own, at the age of 71. Providentially, when Sr. Wilhelmina’s body was found to be incorrupt, her religious habit, for which she had fought so much in life, was in nearly perfect condition.
May Sr. Wilhelmina pray for us, that in the midst of the obstacles and persecutions of this world, we might find hope in knowing that God uses all things to accomplish His holy Will. May we not become disheartened by the discouragements of this world but instead cling with faith to our God, trusting in His timing and merciful Providence.
Sr. Wilhelmina, pray for us!
Christianity guards the strange majesty of ordinary people. The widow, the child, the laborer, the sinner returning home, all matter forever.