Yes, that's what Jesus says in today's Gospel (Jn 15: 18-21)-- "If you belonged to the world,the world would love its own; but because you do not belong to the world, and I have chosen you out of the world, the world hates you." Really? That's strong stuff. Do we really feel like we are "hated" as Christians? Opposed-- for sure. Ignored-- often. Misunderstood, belittled, mocked-- yes to all three. But hated? Do people even care enough about Christians these days to have the energy to hate us? Maybe we need to start with a definition of hate. The Google dictionary defines hate (as a verb) as to "feel an intense or passionate dislike for" something or someone. I suppose that emotion does exist-- we just don't usually see it on full display. It gets hidden, often under the guise of political correctness or supposed comedy. I was a grandparents' day at a local school a couple of weeks ago, and there was a program for the grandparents that included some songs performed by the choirs of junior high schoolers where the event was taking place. One of the songs they sang was James Taylor's "Fire and Rain." We all know the song. The third verse is: " Won't you look down upon me, Jesus, you've got to help me make a stand. You've just got to see me through another day. My body's aching and my time is at hand. I won't make it any other way." When the kids sang it, though, the word, "Jesus," had been replaced with "brother." The whole prayer aspect of the song was replaced with a completely-different spin. Is that hate-- intense dislike of the Christian message? Maybe not. Maybe it is just fear that someone will complain if there is a popular song lyric sung at school that uses the word, "Jesus." But what drives that fear (if that's what it is) is the fact that there are some with a real hate, a desire to eliminate Christianity from the public square, an intense dislike for Christianity in particular. How to respond to that? First of all, to recognize it when we see it, and then to know that it's ok. Jesus said this would happen. In fact, if it weren't, we should wonder if we're actually being Christians at all. Perhaps we might even smile to ourselves a bit when we see this kind of thing. If "the world," by which Jesus means the fallen world of His day and ours, is so scared of Christianity that it has to edit a popular song to eliminate the name of Jesus, we're doing something right. After all, the opposite of love isn't hate. It is indifference. And if you've got to eliminate the name of Jesus everywhere that you see it, you're certainly not being indifferent.