St. Anthony the Abbot Catholic Church

When we let this Christian joy penetrate our hearts, we find the strength we need to resist temptation and to carry our crosses. This is the experience of all the saints and martyrs. One of my favorite examples of Christian joy and courage is that of the teenage virgin and martyr, St Agnes, who died around the year 304 AD. She was from a wealthy, aristocratic Roman family, and very beautiful. All the young noblemen were vying for her hand in marriage, but she informed them that she had already consecrated her heart and her virginity to a heavenly husband, Jesus. At first they laughed at her, but when she persisted they became angry.

Knowing she was a Christian (which was a capital offense, since Christians wouldn't sacrifice to the state gods), they denounced her to the governor. They were hoping that arrest and interrogation would weaken her resolve.

They were wrong. At first, she resisted the governor's flattery, reiterating that she could have no spouse but Jesus Christ.    Then she resisted the governor's threats. Then she stood firm when they lit fires and wheeled out various instruments of torture for her inspection. The governor tried everything he could think of, but the teenage Christian was too strong for him - she refused to be unfaithful to Christ, no matter the cost.

Finally, egged on by an infuriated mob, the frustrated governor had her executed. They say that the executioner was inexperienced, and St Agnes had to help guide the sword herself. Eyewitnesses said later that she went to her execution more joyfully than most young women go to their weddings. Christian joy isn't built on the shaky foundations of worldly circumstances; it's rooted in Christ, whose love for us is stronger than evil, and even than death.

Jesus is leading us to the heavenly Jerusalem, just as King Cyrus in today's First Reading led the Jews back to their earthly Jerusalem - and this is the source of our joy. But not all the Jews returned to their homeland, even when they could, because not all of them had believed the prophets, as today's Psalm implies. Many of them "forgot about Jerusalem" and began placing their hopes in the wealth, power, and pleasures of Babylon.

After all, it seemed impossible to restore Jerusalem. It was much easier and more reasonable to accept the daily realities of life in a pagan culture, to compromise with it, to stop waiting for God to fulfill his promises, to take things into their own hands. Those who chose this path had some success and pleasure in life, but they lost their true identity; they lost their opportunity to experience the full, redeeming power of God's love. We are daily tempted to do the same thing; to become impatient with God and seek our happiness outside of friendship with Christ, forgetting about the heavenly Jerusalem. 

This is why today's Gospel says that in order to experience everlasting life we have to "believe in" Jesus. We who are exiled in a fallen world have to trust God and follow his commands, even though at times it would be easier to live like a Babylonian pagan, like everyone else around us.

This is why St. Paul in today's Second Reading tells us that we are saved by "grace," by God's free gift, but that we have to make that grace active in our lives "through faith," through the acceptance of that gift.” We do that by living as Christ would have us live: putting our time, talents, and treasure at the service of God and neighbor, no matter the cost.

Let us thank Jesus for the growing joy His friendship gives us now, and the complete joy He promises for later, and let's ask Him for the grace to follow Him more and more closely as we make our way out of the exile of Lent and into the full daylight of Easter.