Jesus has been urging us to love all those around us as a sign of our love of him. Today he warns us that there is no guarantee that we will be loved in return. If they hated such a loving person as Jesus so bitterly, we his followers cannot expect to be treated different.

And the reason we will be hated is because we refuse to identify ourselves with the values and priorities of the secular world. We will reject materialistic greed and competitiveness, the scramble for status and power, the hatred, anger, violence and revenge which mark so many people's lives.

Once again Jesus reminds us that the servant is not greater than his master: "They will persecute you as they persecuted me. They will respect your words as much as they respected mine." That is, hardly at all.

Some of us may find it difficult to understand this. We feel that the Church should be honoured and respected. We can get upset when we hear ourselves or our leaders rubbished in the media or hear of Christians languishing in jail or suffering torture simply for living their faith. But we are rightly proud of our martyrs and our courageous witnesses.