so that you may not fall away

“I have told you this so that you may not fall away. They will expel you from the synagogues; in fact, the hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God. They will do this because they have not known either the Father or me. I have told you this so that when their hour comes you may remember that I told you.” (JN 16: 1-4)

How many times the Church was persecuted in the past but also in our times. And this is not about our sins, our weaknesses or our crimes—this is self-understanding. It is about evil, who from the beginning is an enemy to the dignity we were invited to by God. “The hour is coming when everyone who kills you will think he is offering worship to God.” Again, this is not about us; this is about Our Lord and His love who was and is rejected. We need to remember not about the “hour which comes,” but about the Father and His love, Our Lord and His love, and the Holy Spirit and His love, “so that we may not fall away.” First of all, we are loved.

“The Spirit of truth will testify to me, says the Lord, and you also will testify.” (Gospel Acclamation)