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Alcoholics Anonymous has a saying, “Keep coming back. It works if you work it!”
Meaning, the path to sobriety is paved in perseverance.
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The same is true with Christianity. The path to heaven is paved in perseverance.
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Just consider the life of Saint Apollinaris, whose feast day we celebrate today.
According to tradition, he was sent by Saint Peter himself to become the first bishop of Ravenna, a town in northern Italy.
Apollinaris was so “successful” in preaching the Gospel that the non-believers in town beat him up, threw him out, and warned him never to return again.
But he did.
Apollinaris was beaten a second time, warned again never to return.
But he did.
This time he was thrown – beaten and bloodied – onto a ship to Greece.
But Apollinaris found his way back a fourth and final time, where he was martyred for our faith.
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“Keep coming back. It works if you work it!”
Apollinaris persevered in preaching the Gospel, in spite of the many challenges he faced. To this day, some 2,000 years later, his beloved Ravenna remains a staunchly Catholic town.
Thank God Apollinaris never gave up.
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Where is the Lord asking me to persevere?
Maybe it’s as simple as not giving into the negativity and frustration surrounding the pandemic.
Maybe it means tightening my discipline; refusing to give into temptation; staying sober; or pushing through a particular trial.
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“Keep coming back. It works if you work it!”
Like staying sober, the path to heaven is paved in perseverance.
We must never give up.
Saint Apollinaris, pray for us.
