An excerpt from the Gospel of today’s Mass of the Memorial of St. Athanasius (Matthew 10:22)

You will be hated by all because of my name, but whoever endures to the end will be saved.

Somewhere I read (it might have been a quote from the writings of St. Josemaria Escriva) that the trials and tribulations, all the sufferings that we go through, are in a sense training for final perseverance, the hour of our death where Satan launches his last attempt to snatch us away from God. All our troubles are NOT for nothing if we always get through them (regardless of how long it takes) and always come out the other side looking for and reaching out to Jesus, who will also be fighting for us during the Final Hour.

The first part of the Gospel passage, about how we will be hated by all because of His name, is about how that as Christians, we live in opposition to the world’s moral values. We do not subscribe to the way the world thinks human life should be lived. And because of this, Satan, the Prince of the World, will try and take us away from Jesus, especially at the end, when we are weakest.

Satan may not wait until the end of our lives. He may try and tempt us with the allurements of alcohol and other things way before that time. Especially since he knows our weakness lies in addiction, we may be consistently tempted throughout our lives, no matter how sober and clean we’ve been, to try it just one more time.

What could one hurt? Plenty. Eternity could be lost.

Don’t fall for the lie. Trust in Jesus now, and He will be there to help you throughout life, and particularly at the end.

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