The larger context of today’s first reading taken from the Book of Wisdom, is the musing of someone who has judged life to be meaningless and therefore has decided to “…enjoy the good things…have our fill of costly wine and perfumes…everywhere let us leave tokens of our rejoicing…” Having adopted this philosophy of life, he then sees the God-fearing good man as a reproach to his chosen lifestyle.  He resents the virtuous man and persecutes him because the “goodness” is a reproach to his conscience.

The lesson of Jesus found in today’s Gospel is: expect to be resented and persecuted if you are a true disciple. Evil cannot tolerate the presence of goodness and therefore seeks to bring down goodness to its own level, and if that fails, to destroy goodness.

Look around you in the world today. How many of our contemporaries relish attacking the Church? How may openly resent the Church’s moral ideals? Where do you stand in the midst of this world’s machinations?