2 Timothy 3:12

Whenever people ridicule you for your faith in Christ; whenever people laugh at your naiveté because you have put your trust in the Lord’s word rather than in the words of devious and selfish people; don’t take it to heart, don’t be downcast. You are only experiencing what the Lord has warned you about: people will persecute and slander you for following him.

Some years ago, I was in Hawaii with a couple of friends, and I met a police captain (a relative of one of my friends) who was relocated to another part of the Island because he exposed a big drug operation in a large plantation owned by a prominent (missionary!) family. I asked him: “how do you feel about being persecuted for doing the right thing?”
“I feel fine,” he told me
“How, so?” I inquire, again, of this good man.
“I was true to my God and my conscience and I have nothing to fear,” he replied, gently.

You will be persecuted for doing the right thing; you will be slandered for opposing injustice like the Hawaiian police captain.

No need to be concerned. No need to worry. You are in good company. As St. Paul says in his second letter to Timothy: “All who want to live religiously in Christ Jesus will be persecuted.”
And, St. Paul knew this from personal experience. He experienced all kind of persecution for the sake of Christ after his conversion. He did not let it get him down. On the contrary, he considered it an honor to suffer persecution for the Lord’s sake.

Fr. Hugh Duffy