It is an essential attitude of followers of Jesus to look beyond ourselves, our own issues and our own interests. 

 

Of course each of us has a primary task of tending to the needs of our own soul as well as taking care of our bodies. In that sense there is a right and holy obligation to concentrate on ourselves as part of the task of salvation that we have been given. 

 

But in our brokenness resulting from original sin, there is a temptation for each of us to transform the just care for our bodily and spiritual lives into placing ourselves first in an earthly manner that becomes selfish and even narcissistic. Self-centeredness and the search for comfort, prestige and power can become the natural consequences.

 

We are called to imitate Jesus who combined love for and obedience to the will of His Father with care for His friends. In the end that is the message of His sacrifice on the cross.

 

That love for others becomes the basis for our life in our families and in society. We simply cannot be indifferent to the poor, those who are suffering or any of our fellow human beings who simply have problems making it through life. And the charity that we carry out, privately and through the Church, or joined with the appropriate public actions of our government to aid the poor is part of our love for others.

 

The same can be said for our lives as members of the Church. We are rightly called to seek the good of our parish and our diocese. 

 

That includes offering our prayers and our stewardship. It means coming to Mass and rightly encouraging sacramental devotion and the correctness of the teaching of our Catholic faith, especially to our young people.

 

We are called, however, to be concerned for the Church throughout the world and for our fellow members of the Church. It is especially that concern for the sufferings of our fellow Christians and Catholics that is often overlooked today.

 

Pope Francis reminded us recently that, “Today too there are many persecuted Christians, even more than in the first centuries…” (homily, Nov. 2, 2019). 

 

We tend to think that the persecution and martyrdom of our fellow Christians and Catholics is something of another era. But it is all too alive and well today. 

 

The Pontifical organization Aid to the Church in Need estimates that one out of every seven Christians in the world today lives in a country where there is some kind of persecution. By another estimate 90,000 followers of Jesus suffered martyrdom each year between 2005 and 2015.

 

In the wake of the Iraq War, countless Christians have fled the outbreak of violence in the Middle East — violence that has often been directed against them. 

 

In Syria as well, the civil war has driven Christians to seek refuge in neighboring countries as they search for a country, like the United States, in which they can live in peace and security for their families and children.

 

The sufferings of our fellow believers should not go forgotten or unnoticed. We should pray for them and offer whatever help we can. 

 

But we should be mindful as well that the Body of Christ, the Church, is one. Their sufferings are our sufferings. Even more, like Christ on the cross, the graces that their sufferings merit are a blessing also to us and to the whole Church.

 

Christ suffered and died for the whole world. We should be mindful that even today, His followers are joining Him in suffering and even in martyrdom as the price of fidelity to the gift of faith that we share with them.