A meditation
If you are what you should be, you will set the whole world on fire.
–St. Catherine of Sienna
DISCIPLESHIP isn’t easy. Jesus told us it wouldn’t be. He sent us as sheep among wolves. People would hate us, He said, but we were to remember that the world hated Him first. And since He was persecuted, we would be as well. We cannot escape it.
So often we think of this in terms of martyrdom, or great acts of faith and courage. But we must stand for Christ and His Church everyday. It’s our duty. It is our mission. It is our calling. We must defend the Truth always. God will give us the words and the courage if we ask for them. We must always stand up for the Truth and not be afraid. God is with us. He will give us the words, as He has given each of us our mission. He alone knows what He desires for us, and knows what we must do to achieve the glory He has envisioned for uys. If we but trust in Him, He will not abandon us.
It is hard. We my not face the scaffold or the soldier or the blade, but we face the loss of respect, of friends, of understanding. Why do we need these? Yet we do. We crave human acceptance and approval. Yet is is so much more important to crave God’s approval. We must strive to do His will. We can do it, every day, if we ask for God’s help. He holds us in the palm of His hand–He will never forsake us. He loves us more than we can fathom. Let us love Him with abandon, with fervor. Let us defend His Church and Her Truth. “The gates of Hell shall not prevail against it.” We are the vineyard workers, we are Christ’s body on earth. We are His disciples now.
Gandhi said that if Christians truly lives their faith, there would be no Hindus in India. We must love and live our faith, our complete faith, without picking only the parts we can handle. The Cross is hard. Christianity is hard. Catholicism, at times, can seem even harder. We must persevere in faith. We must strive to live and teach the Truth. Veritas Splendor. “Be not afraid!” It sets us free, but first it must be taught an embraced. We cannot hide it. We must not hide it. To do so is to deny Christ and His love for us.
We are not perfect. We all stumble on our road. But we must be like Peter, and not Judas; we must realize our mistakes, confess them and strive to do better. We must not despair.
“Quo est veritas?” Jesus, and His Church. We must teach that. It is imperative. It is our mission. Without it, we flounder and stumble and lose the Light. We are the Light of the World, the Salt of the Earth. We cannot lose our savor. It denies it, it denies Christ, it blunts our purposes and we lose our way. We cannot and must not be ashamed of the light and the Truth. He is our entire purpose. Jesus gives everything meaning. His Truth cannot be changed or “softened” or mutated. It is, always.
We must not be afraid, for Christ is with us “until the end of the age.”
