01.06.2024 – St. Patrick Catholic Church, Largo, FL

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Persevere in the faith: living and teaching

Epistle of Jude, verses 17; 20-25, Psalm 63, Mark 11:27-33

Today, in the first reading, we read from an almost forgotten book of the Bible: The letter of Jude. It is the second to the last book of the New Testament and is located just before the book of Revelation. It is a very short letter composed of 1 chapter made up of only 25 verses. While it can be read in mere moments, the content is deep, the language is beautiful, and it contains an unfolding drama which is incredibly relevant to Christians today.

How does a Christian persevere in Faith, how does a Christian persevere in Christian virtues and values in a society infiltrated and suffocated with false teachers with their erroneous philosophies? What is even the most important goal of our faith? Why do we come to Church? How do we strive towards eternal life in an environment so volatile with the material here and now? The Letter of Jude is a Pastoral Letter that responds to the problem of False teachers who proclaim ideas counter to the truth, and are leading these Christians astray. Christians cannot be passive, they must “contend”, stand up, battle for their faith.

Pursuit of the kingdom of heaven is strenuous task. It requires constant commitment. We must contend to keep the faith, for we all suffer from a form of spiritual gravity in which the concerns of the world and the flesh seek to rob us of what we gained through baptism. Thus, we Christians must be on guard against all false teachers. Individuals and movements which proclaim new philosophies of man. This letter is ever more relevant to our own time in which so many in the world seek to redefine marriage, gender, and even reality itself. These new philosophies deny the truth. They reject the very foundations of civilization (the family) and our Christian faith. Ultimately, these philosophies lead to nowhere but the abyss. 

Today´s first reading gives a blueprint to hold fast or contend for the faith. He says: “build yourselves up on your most holy faith; pray in the Holy Spirit; keep yourselves in the love of God; look forward to the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ that leads to eternal life. And have mercy on some who are wavering; save others by snatching them out of the fire.” While we strive to preserve our own faith; we also have a duty to teach and transmit that faith to others, as well as correct those who are deviating and sympathize with those who for now fault of theirs have been carried away by the false teachings and ideologies.

We see a clear example of what the author of the Letter of Jude warns of about in today´s gospel: the chief priests, the scribes and the elders. At least in the Four Gospels these set of people represent the hypocrites, people who are not willing to accept the truth even when they find it; people who are constantly at war with themselves because they do not want to accept the light that Jesus brings and they not only stop at that; they try to discourage other people from accepting the truth and the light of the gospel.

These are the false teachers that the letter of Jude warns the Christian community against and in our age those false teachers are still very much alive albeit in different forms thus making the warning in the letter of Jude timely and still relevant. Today, the Church remembers St. Justin, Martyr, he is one of the Saints remembered for his audacious defence of Christian belief and practice. He is an example for all of us. We pray for his loving intercession that we be steadfast in the faith, and reject all forms of errors and deceptions in our journey to eternal life.