“A dead
thing goes with the stream, but only a living thing has the ability to go
against it.” – G.K. Chesterton
Where is
the stream? And if I’m in it, am I stopping, turning into connecting creeks and
swimming upstream as I please?
The
purpose of this post is to speak about why I, as a young, active,
college-educated woman am blessed to call myself part of the church militant. I
am not perfect, nor do I hope that I will ever profess to be. In the phone
conversation that Christine and I had today, it was a conversation very much
like the conversations that we have had during the past seven years of our
friendship: we talked about friends, family, adventures, boys and men, health,
inspiring things that we have listened to or seen, venting about different
things. . . and today we talked about all of those things plus: government systems,
world poverty, modern Christianity, Pope Francis, gay marriage, adoption,
contraception, Common Core Standards and being a missionary.
That
last one: being a missionary.
That
means Africa, right? That is for people who have it all together. For men who
constantly look well-groomed carrying a bible at their hip, for women who wear
skirts and have perfect straight teeth smiles introducing themselves saying: “Hi
I’m Jenn, do you have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ?” This is my
stereotype every time I hear the word “missionary”.
Yes
there are great, educated, amiable, charismatic, intelligent people who respond
to the title of missionary. I am proud to call some of my siblings
missionaries. Missionaries within a group called the Fellowship Of Catholic
University Students. FOCUS, as it is
more commonly known, is a beautiful group of young Catholic men and women who
live on multiple college campuses around the United States evangelizing and
spreading the love of Christ and the Catholic faith to college students. FOCUS
missionaries live here in the states, they look just like you and me and they
love The Faith.
There are
multiple Catholic missionary groups throughout the world that many awesome
human beings are a part of, giving their livelihood to the cause of
evangelizing and introducing people to Christ. This is a beautiful thing and
very necessary.
Necessary,
but, I have a job.
Necessary,
but, I have a family.
Necessary,
but, I have this, thing.
Necessary,
but, I am a busy adult with many important things to do.
I feel
you. Jesus understands your concerns. Pope Francis knows and has written his
most recent exhortation on this topic: “Evangelii Gaudium” (for you Americans
out there this means “The Joy of Evangelization”)
Some of
you may be thinking “Evangelii Gaudium”, that is a challenging title to pronounce;
I don’t think I would understand it even if I tried to read it.” Others of you
may be thinking “Yeah, I started to read it, but it was waaay long and I don’t
have the time to read anyway.” Still others of you may be thinking: “I know
that Pope Francis is a guy and didn’t he get nominated for Times Magazine
person of the year?”
There
are many people who have written commentary on Pope Francis’ exhortation and
posted their thoughts online, but I don’t mean to do so here. I have *almost*
read it all and have really appreciated reading it. It has inspired me in many
ways.
It
reminds me that within the Catholic Church there are three main parts composing
the one body. The three main parts being: The church militant, the church
suffering and the church triumphant. The church militant are the foot soldiers;
we Catholics who are still kicking it here on earth. The church suffering are
those of us who have kicked it here on earth in the past, and are currently
working towards living in a more pure union with Christ and those in the church
triumphant; these are the souls we believe are in purgatory. The church
triumphant is all holy men and women living in eternal celebration of God in
heaven, who, during their lives here on earth have fought militantly.
So, you
and I are a part of the church militant. It sounds intense, because it is.
There
are so many things that I encounter in my daily life that tempt me towards an
easier life, a life more in line with “what simply everyone is doing these days”. Let’s talk about that elephant in
the room, known as purity.
What is
that?
In
conversations and writings I like to use popular culture as examples in
anecdotes. Unfortunately, it is difficult for me to think of a pop-culture
reference that embodies purity. . . perhaps you understand what I am saying.
Living a
pure life in our culture today is similar to a living thing swimming against
the stream. It is difficult. Oh, yes, it is difficult, but it is not
impossible.
As
Christine and I were talking on the phone earlier and talking about being
missionaries, I listened and my mind wavered. It wavered because I know that I
have fallen. I have sinned. I have broken many of the commandments. I cannot be
a missionary preaching about Christ and His teachings if I am not fully
following Him all the time myself!
That’s
where that where Mr. buzz-word: “MILITANT” comes shining through. Wikipedia says that "militant is usually used to describe a person engaged in aggressive verbal or physical combat." I would like to add "aggressive spiritual combat" to that definition and we'll be working with something. We are at
war. We are constantly fighting in a battle, plagued with poisonous lust,
bullets of anger, grenades of envy, fire of gluttony, storms of pride, immobilizing
sloth and fists of greed.
These
are some pretty strong opponents, and we cannot fight them alone or we will
certainly fall. We fight with the grace of God. When we fall in one battle, we
need only to come back to God in confession and again be armed with the sword
and shield of grace.
I am not
Catholic because I am perfect. I am Catholic because I have fallen and have the
courage to get back up and seek God’s grace in confession. Therein is the key.
When we fall, and we will fall, we must get back up.
You and
I and everyone and everyone’s mother here on earth are all a part of the church
militant. No one is exempt from temptation. No one is free from sin. No one can
boast in being perfect. And guess who Christ called to not only fight here on
earth, constantly being shot at with one sort of temptation or another, but to
also evangelize and bring others to Him?
All of
us.
Even
when we fall in battles against sin, we can still be missionaries in that. Our
reaction after falling can be a form of evangelization. Seek out your fellow
wounded soldiers; begin your journey back to grace with them, look for help to
those who are stronger fighters. We are all militant together.
Life
does not stop and wait for us to be fully prepared for battle. We are born and
our fight begins. We are constantly changing, growing, fighting and learning
until we are dead. Life does not stop and wait for us during the times that we
are “working through something”; life does not stop while we are educating ourselves
and trying to become a better version of ourselves; life does not stop while we
are trying to grow more in our faith, life does not stop while we are planning
for the future.
Christ
knows this, and yet we, the members of the church militant are the ones being
called to preach! We cannot wait for the time to be perfect. There will never
be a perfect time.
The time
is now.
Back to
what I stereotypically think of when I think about missionaries: Africa,
neat-looking bible-toting, cheerful, skirted people.
Missionaries
may look like that. But they also look like secretaries, nurses, doctors,
lawyers, construction workers, politicians, mountaineers, fishermen, loggers,
policemen, businesspeople, scientists, engineers, teachers, students, mothers,
fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles, brothers, sisters and you.
You have
a job? Great! Preach by example to your colleagues. Be a Christian in your
actions. When necessary use words. Words are great, especially when they
involve “conversation” and “snacks” in the same sentence.
You have
a family? Great! Teach them about the faith. Pray with them. Love them.
You have
a thousand other excuses? Stop already. Christ wants you to be His hands and
feet, now. Right now, in the lifestyle that you currently lead. This is what it
is to be a Christian. This is what it is to be a Catholic. You are the church
militant.
“Challenges
exist to be overcome! Let us be realists, but without losing our joy, our
boldness and our hope filled commitment. Let us not allow ourselves to be
robbed of missionary vigor!” – Pope Francis, Evangelii Gaudium
You are
not dead yet. You have the ability to swim against the stream if need be. You
are alive. You belong to the church militant. Go fight like it.
“Go
therefore and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the
Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all that
I have commanded you; and behold, I am with you always, to the close of the
age.” – Mt. 28:19
