Please read this passage before reading the homily.
Christians are being seized and persecuted today, but so are people of other religious faiths. Persecution has been a facet of our lives since the earliest days and will be a facet our lives until the very end. Persecutions happen so that we have opportunity to proclaim our faith in God and give witness to God’ presence and purpose in the world.
Those who are killed for their faith in God, even if this faith does not match our Catholic faith, will secure their lives.
We cannot prepare our defense. We do not know the circumstances of the defense; we do not know the questions. The trial will be like a doctoral student who has written a thesis after long research and then has to defend the thesis before a board of experts: The student must be prepared for anything and everything. We cannot prepare our defense because our whole is the preparation of our defense.
Jesus promises that not a hair on the head will be destroyed. Even the baldheaded person will have the hair restored. If we are going through persecution, we should keep on going through it.