One of the greatest lessons I have learned in the past few years—if not the greatest lesson—is that Christ (obviously) meant what He said when He repeatedly warned us that we would be persecuted for His sake.>Prior to finally and totally abandoning myself to Christ and the Catholic faith, I, like many others, saw Christianity as something you did on a Sunday if you were a balanced and well-adjusted person. It was supposed to be a box-ticking exercise that improved the quality of your life and gave you some peace of mind to boot. Or a social club with some “nice people” in it. Now don’t get me wrong, it does “make your life better,” and it definitely does give you peace—but not in the way I thought it would.>When I could finally take the rape and pillaging of the Catholic faith no more, and stood up for Christ and His Church, little did I know that these acts of defiance would set events into motion that would turn my world upside down, that of my loved ones, and push me into a battle of cosmic proportions. And of course, the persecution started almost immediately.

Originally published in Radical Fidelity. Read original article