Catholic priest's advice to a fourteen-year-old girl

[chilipeppasbaby]

My character is a fourteen-year-old girl who migrated to Australia with her family from Singapore when she was six. Her family were Hindus way back when, but have been Catholic for generations. She attends a Catholic girls' high school, where she is bullied by other girls for being what they consider overly religious: volunteering to sing a hymn

Comments

[matrixrefugee]

The kind of advice a priest would offer on this situation varies, but I could see most priests being very compassionate and understanding; if he were to cite a particular passage in the Bible, the most likely one would be from the Eight Beatitudes in Christ's sermon on the mount, Matthew 5: 11-12, "Blessed are ye when men revile you and persecute you and speak all that is evil against you, untruly, for my sake: Be glad and rejoice, for your reward is very great in heaven. For so they persecuted the prophets before you."

He might also refer to the lives of the Saints as well, pointing to any of the Roman martyrs, many of whom underwent excruciating physical torture at the hands of their accusers, in an effort to break their resolve. St. Cecilia (one of my patrons) comes to mind: she suffered several different torments, including being locked in the steam bath in her house in an effort to suffocate her, and when that didn't work, the Roman soldiers tried to behead her, but after three strikes, the soldier who'd been given the task failed to cut before she finally died from her injuries. Legend has it that she managed to attest to her faith even then, since she had three fingers of one hand extended and one finger of the other, symbolizing the trinity and unity of God.