Published on 06/17/2008

As we have seen, believers in the first centuries of Christian history paid a higher price for their faith than many of us in the West do today.

I'm moving to New York City, at least for three Saturdays in August. Today's New York Times reports that Mayor Bloomberg has announced a car-free zone along a 6.9-mile stretch of streets in Manhattan. Cars, trucks, and buses will be banned on the route, stretching from the Brooklyn Bridge, north to Park Avenue and the Upper East Side. The experiment will be conducted on August 9, 16, and 23 from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. Walkers, joggers, and bike riders are elated. Business owners in the area are less enthused.

Happiness is an elusive thing. When your team wins, mine loses. Your lawn needs the rain which ruins your son's baseball game. What pleases one person often frustrates another. But there is a route to true happiness, that tranquility which transcends circumstances. For some time now we've sought the joy only Jesus can give by exploring his Beatitudes. This week we're studying the last: "Blessed are those who are persecuted because of righteousness, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 5:10).

As we have seen, believers in the first centuries of Christian history paid a higher price for their faith than many of us in the West do today. There are several reasons for the disparity: some of us don't know or relate to many non-Christians, or we conform to the world's standards and lifestyle, or we're not willing to take a sacrificial risk for our faith.

If any of this is true for you, why change? What are those of us who don't risk for our faith missing? Jesus' beatitude tells us.

First, suffering believers experience great joy. We will be "blessed" with joy transcending our circumstances. Jesus told risk-taking Christians to "rejoice." There is joy in facing persecution for Jesus. He also told us to "be glad," words which translate a Greek word which means to leap much with irrepressible joy.

He was right. There is great joy in suffering for Christ. The apostles felt it: "They called the apostles in and had them flogged. Then they ordered them not to speak in the name of Jesus, and let them go. The apostles left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing because they had been counted worthy of suffering disgrace for the Name" (Acts 5:40-41).

Early martyrs felt it. There is an ancient tradition which states that Nero would walk at night on the Coliseum floor, examining the bodies of slain Christians left there. Wherever a body had a face, the face was smiling. When we suffer for Jesus, we receive more than we pay, sometimes on earth but always in heaven. Let's continue tomorrow.