18 May 2025 #ThatsWhy

If you’ve attended my Women’s Bible class, you know I pose this question whenever we dive into a compelling passage from the Acts of the Apostles: Why did early Christians convert when death was the likely penalty for following Jesus?

Picture Paul and Barnabas traveling through the Roman Empire around 47–48 AD, preaching in Lystra, Iconium, and Antioch. Meanwhile, Nero, who ruled from 54–68 AD, sat at the heart of Roman power. Nero despised Christians because their faith challenged the core of Roman culture. He saw himself as a supreme god and ruler, but Christians worshiped only one God, rejecting his ego. Strike one. Roman society was rigidly class-based, with no social mobility. Christianity, however, taught equality, proclaiming that all—slave or free, Jew or Greek—were created in God’s image. Strike two. Roman gods demanded sacrifices to ensure victories, fertility, or rain. Christians refused to worship these fickle, cruel deities, risking divine wrath. Strike three.

For Christians, it was game over. Nero’s “Reign of Terror” was brutal. The lucky ones, like Paul, faced quick beheadings. Others endured horrors in the Colosseum—torn apart by starving animals, crucified publicly (men, women, and children), or coated in tar and set ablaze as human torches for Nero’s garden parties. It was a systematic slaughter.

So, when we hear in today’s first reading that Paul and Barnabas “strengthened the disciples’ spirits and exhorted them to persevere in the faith, saying, ‘We must undergo many hardships to enter the kingdom of God,’” they meant martyrdom.

Why, then, would anyone convert to Christianity? The answer lies in the rest of our readings. Following Jesus offered a gracious, kind, compassionate, and merciful God (Responsorial Psalm). Faith in Him promised more than returning to dust; it offered heaven and a second coming when Jesus “will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there shall be no more death, mourning, wailing, or pain.” At that time, all will rise, and Jesus “will dwell with them, and they will be His people.”

Above all, people converted because Christians like you and me loved one another as Jesus loved us. We tend to the brokenhearted, feed the hungry, visit the imprisoned, and help the homeless. We show kindness to all, work with a smile, and face setbacks with trust in the Lord, free from anxiety. We worship with joy in our hearts and enthusiasm in our souls. We spend time with Jesus in Adoration, filling ourselves so we can pour out love for others, just like Him. #ThatsWhy