The Persecution Of Good Friday

As I write, it is Holy Saturday. The latest issue of CPR arrived in this morning’s mail. Tomorrow I will proclaim the glorious and victorious resurrection of our Lord from the dead—the ultimate head-crushing of the devil. The events of Good Friday are fresh in my mind. As Jesus set his face toward Jerusalem with laser-like focus and intensity and stayed the course, the obvious, (albeit simplistic) answer for us is, likewise, “stay the course.”
Some years ago, the Archdiocese of Chicago's Cardinal Francis George said, "I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison and his successor will die a martyr in the public square. His successor will pick up the shards of a ruined society and slowly help rebuild civilization, as the church has done so often in human history." I believe he is correct; however, I question his time frame. I believe it to be sooner that he concludes.
There is no contesting the fact that Christians are being marginalized. Presently, it seems to be economic in nature—lawsuits against and intolerance toward individuals who wish the freedom to conduct their lives and businesses according to their Christian principles (gay “marriage”, sale of aborted fetal tissue, etc.). Although I never considered I’d live to see it in my day, it may be that the church, (as in other times and other places, will of necessity go