Am I dangerous?

Tonight, as I was celebrating Mass, I preached about the bravery of saints like St. Andrew  Kim Taegon and his companions.  I remarked on the courage he showed is insisting on being a priest in a land where being so was dangerous.  I then remarked how such men stood up in the face of persecution, allowing themselves to be seen as dangerous by the enemies of Christ and His Church, and boldly lived the Gospel.  Whether it was the Douay priests who courted certain death by returning to Elizabethan England,  or the Cristeros in Mexico, or St. Isaac Jocques, who returned to preach the Gospel to a people who had already tried to enslave and kill him, the faith has been built and sustained by those who employed the spiritual gift and cardinal virtue of of fortitude in how they lived the Catholic life.

At the end of Mass, during the closing collect, a phrase leapt out at me, "Nourished with the food of the valiant..."  The food in question was the Body and Blood of Christ.  Food for the valiant.  Those words have burned into my thoughts ever since.  Am I valiant?  I would imagine the answer to that would be the same as the question, "Am I dangerous to those who hate Christ and His Church?"

Am I dangerous?

I guess you can be dangerous in a few ways.  You can be a threat to the health and well being of others through selfishness and violence.  That is not the kind of dangerous the martyrs were.  No, they were a different type of dangerous.  That their actions exposed the selfish and violent made them dangerous. Their ability to love made them dangerous. That's the kind of dangerous I am talking about.

Jesus was dangerous,  I used to hear that and cringe.  It wasn't that I merely saw Jesus as some sappy do-gooder  who the killjoy religious authorities resented, but I did see a kind of 'peace, love, and crunchy granola'  kind of  hippie who died a tragic death at the hands of persecutors.  Let's be honest, though, he was incredibly dangerous.  People wanted him dead.  They were so afraid of him that they plotted against him, put him on a show trial, and made sure he was executed in such a way as to scare anyone who might want to pick up his mantle.  Jesus knew this.  He was warned by his own disciples that going to Jerusalem meant death.  He went anyway.  He didn't back down.

His followers were seen as dangerous, as disruptive to the good order of the empire.  In their book, "Seven Revolutions', Mike Aquilina and mark Papandrea talk about the seven ways that Christianity wildly upset the Roman Empire.  The threat came not in swords and weapons, but in redefining huamn beings, family, and who God is.  No amount of persecution could kill off the faith.  In fact, the courage of those deemed dangerous by the Roman Empire (and many other empires thereafter) fed the rolls of converts who saw in the brave something worth giving up all for. Their bravery showed something worth living and dying for.

But am I dangerous?

Am I willing to go out on a limb for my faith?  Will I stand for truth when truth is unpopular or reviled?  Will that stand take on compassion in the face of sin?  It is easy to stand behind the relative safety of a keyboard or even a pulpit and talk big words.  It is quite another to go out and live them.

I will give you an example.  I follow the story of a man named Joseph Sciambra. He was a former gay porn star who had a massive conversion experience.  He reaches out to the gay community, going where they are, preaching that there is something better in Christ, something worth breaking the chains of enslavement to the flesh.  He assures them Christ loves them and wants better for them.  He goes to the parades and street fairs wearing a "Jesus loves gay men".  He talks to them.  He shows compassion to them.   He knows they know what he is coming to preach and he treats them with the love of Christ.  Instead of taking the noxious tactics of a certain baptist church which I will not dignify with any press, he shows the way home.  I could use the same example with Abby Johnson and her work with those who work for Planned Parenthood and other abortion industry outlets giving them the route to freedom she took.  She made some powerful enemies there.  Love, though, will provoke a person to such bravery.  Love and bravery seek the redemption of those to whom they speak.

As love is at the heart of the Gospel, and we are told that perfect love conquers all fear (I John 4:18); then such love should lead us to risk being dangerous in the world's eyes.  If I am not dangerous to those who hate Christ and His Church, then I am dangerous to those who love Christ and His Church.

Let that sit for a second.  How can I be dangerous to those who love Christ and His Church?   The greatest way is in teaching others to compromise truth for convenience or popularity.  I can be dangerous when I allow my own self love to lead me to use, deceive, and abuse those I am called to protect and serve.  I see it in clergy who are all too ready to be the darling of the progressive cocktail party crowds by espousing the teachings of the Church to be outdated and archaic.  I see it in clergy and parents who said they are Catholics but abuse those placed in their care.  I see it in those who steadfastly hide any public display of faith, worried that it will draw unwanted attention.  I see it in those who hijack a moral issue, even taking the moral side, and use it as a weapon to beat down those who dare to disagree with them!  It is not about calling people to conversion. It is not about defending what is right. It is only about being right.  That is not fortitude.  That is not the boldness we are called to exhibit in the proclamation of the Gospel.

I can't help sometimes but wonder if we have such a shortage of clergy because the clergy doesn't exhibit the fortitude necessary.  It is necessary.  I think that deep in the heart of every young man is that person who wants to be the hero.  They want to be that brave man who is noble.  Many leave it in their heart for fear of the cost that being the hero carries.  They look for men who will stand tall, who will go to the wall for what is right, and who will fight to their dying breath for those they love: God and their neighbor.  Banal milquetoast inspires no one.  I also believe that might be why so many men abandon faith. We don't want to be nice. We want to be heroes.  That heroism must be modeled.  For that heroism to be modeled...I and my brothers, lay and clergy, are going to have to be dangerous to those who hate Christ and His Church.

The oft quoted and misquoted line of William Shakespeare's play, "Julius Caesar", "A coward dies a thousand deaths, a hero dies but once." should be how we men approach the living of our Catholic faith.  The future of the Church does not belong to the banal, the squeamish, the bullies, or the compromisers.  No, it belongs to the dangerous, the bold, and to those loyal to the truth o the Gospel.  What side do you want to be on when you stand before God?   If we are indeed 'nourished with the food of the valiant' in the Eucharist, then we better aim to be valiant!