So good evening once again. Tonight I take a little turn as we talk about that call to be signed for one another. Another word of which is called discipleship. How we are called to be Disciples of God, of Jesus and what that discipleship costs because it’s not free. God gives it willingly, unconditionally but there is a cost involved. The cost is suffering. It’s not the easiest topic to talk about, it’s not one that I would ordinarily focus on in a time of prayer like this except other than that tonight we're remembering four Ukrainian martyrs who suffered and died for their faith. And they were among a multitude of others at that time who also suffered, and many were put to death.

We've been well aware that the country of Ukraine was invaded by its neighbour Russia and has been undergoing a terrible occupation. A war of attrition in which many people have been killed and even more people have been scattered far and wide as they have been seeking safety wherever they can find it.

As bad as it is, this is not the first time that Ukraine has gone through such persecution. During the Second World War, that country also faced a terrible religious oppression under the Soviet communist government. Many members of the Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church were questioned, detained, imprisoned, tortured and many were ultimately put to death.

Of these, of which there were thousands, in 2001, Pope Saint John Paul beatified 25 of them and of those 25, four were Redemptorists. 

Bishop Nicholas Charnetsky was a spiritual director. He was a professor. He became a Bishopbut he loved to preach the word of God. As a Bishop he was interred for 11 years in a Soviet prison–a labour camp–where he finally perished. 

Blessed Vasyl Velychkovsky, a priest, teacher, a missionary to the rural poor. Also imprisoned for 10 years. By the time he was released, the Greek Catholic Church had become an illegal Church. 

Father Zynoviy Kovalyk. Also a mission preacher. When he was imprisoned, he continued to preach within the confines of his cell to the prisoners among whom he found himself. Eventually when the prison was finally liberated, they found Father Zynoviy crucified in his cell.

And finally among the Redemptorists Father Ivan Ziatyk. A teacher in the seminary. A beloved preacher, Provincial of the Redemptorists. Eventually he too was beaten to death because of his faith.     

So among these four and among the 25 that were beatified and among the thousands who were questioned, tortured, imprisoned, what did these people all have in common? Certainly for these four it was their Redemptorist vocation. For the rest, a love of God, a desire to do God's will, no matter the cost. But perhaps what truly bonded them all, what really was their commonality, was their humanity. That they were all ordinary men and women simply trying to do God's work. Trying to share the good news with those around them.

Brothers and sisters, the cost of discipleship is high.

I think of our mother, Mary. When the Angel first came and asked if she would participate in the great mystery of salvation, allowing herself to be a vessel used by God to bring God's son into the world. Did Mary think about these difficult things that lay ahead of her? She was overwhelmed at first, thinking of her present moment, but could she see herself down the road raising her son? A single mother. Seeing her son go off preaching, being in the midst of the public eye, taking on the powers that be who sought to have him killed, imprisoned, tortured.

When we look at our life, if we're truly honest, we understand that life is not all about comfort and joy. In fact, for many people in the world, life is very seldom about comfort and joy.

So acknowledging that life is difficult. It's amazing how often we pretend that it's not. We act surprised when something difficult happens. When things are going good, we say, thank God, isn't God good? Isn't God great? All of these wonderful things are happening to me. But then when something hard comes up. When we feel the suffering of this world, we cry out, “Where is God? Why is God not with me? What have I done, Lord, that you would abandon me?”

It's interesting that those very words even came out of the mouth of Jesus as he died on the cross. Not because he was in despair, but perhaps we needed to hear our own voice coming back to us from that cross.

So, acknowledging the difficulties, acknowledging the suffering the discipleship calls us to. I pose a question. If you had heard those difficult words first, if before you heard about the true love of God, if before you heard of the loving compassion of our mother Mary, if you heard the difficult words “take up my cross and follow me.” Do you think you would still have followed? Do you think you would still be here tonight? 

Because the truth of the matter is that many who heard Jesus did not stay with him. The teachings that Jesus offered were difficult for them to take. Not just to understand but to actually bear. How can I leave my mother and father? How can I believe those difficult teachings and expect my friends to stay by my side? They followed for a moment, they listened and thought and then they decided to turn away.

What they did not know when they made that choice is that when you turn your back to the invitation of the cross, when you decide to avoid that suffering that the cross offers, in fact, it leaves us defenseless. Rather than offering us protection, it leaves us utterly defenseless. It is only when we allow God to strip away the walls, to knock down the gate to call us out and call us to vulnerability that we discover that God is the only armour that we will ever need against the snares and perils of this life.

The Ukrainian Greek Catholic Church after the purge of all those religious leaders, after all of that persecution, torture, imprisonment and death. You think that it would be a simple small thing compared to what it was before. But in fact, the Church under persecution from the Communistsgrew and it thrived, and it was vibrant. God gave them everything that they needed, not just to endure, but to thrive. And this is what God wants for you.

We talk about these hard things not because we want to be morbid or we think that somehow suffering is our lot, but we acknowledge the reality of our life. And it's important to know and to be forewarned, forearmed, that when we do suffer, we need not fear. We know that we are okay in the arms of God, under the gaze of our Mother of Perpetual Help. We will be okay. We will not just endure. We will thrive. We will experience the true joy of discipleship.