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Can you remember a time when you were tested or discouraged? Did you persevere? Or give up?
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Today we celebrate the life of someone who never gave up.
According to tradition, Saint Apollinaris was sent by Peter himself to become the first bishop of Ravenna, a town in northern Italy.
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Apollinaris was so “successful” in preaching the Gospel that the locals beat him up, threw him out of town, and warned him never to return.
Undeterred, Apollinaris came back a second time. And a third.
This time, he was tossed on a ship to Greece, beaten and bloody, sternly warned not to return.
But Apollinaris returned to Ravenna a fourth – and final – time where he was martyred for our faith.
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Over the course of his ministry, he must’ve felt discouraged from time to time; he was only human. But he never gave up.
Thank God he didn’t.
To this day, some 2,000 years later, Ravenna is a staunchly Catholic town, thanks in no small part to Apollinaris.
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Imagine how different our world might look if every Christian lived with that same determination to spread the Gospel.
Let that change begin with us.
What would it look like for me to be a little more determined to live out my faith? Would I speak more publicly about it? Drop an unhealthy habit? Or live more generously?
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May the same Spirit that inspired Apollinaris, inspire us today.
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Image credits: (1) The Importance of Determination, Strategic Leaders Academy (2) Cruise118.com (3) EWTN.