By Judie Brown
In the Gospel of Luke, Christ says to His disciples, “I have come to bring fire to the earth, and how I wish it were blazing already.”
Reflecting on these words, Saint Jose Maria Escriva opined, “An apostolic fire that acquires its strength in prayer: there is no better way than this to carry on, throughout the whole world, the battle of peace to which every Christian is called to fill up what is lacking in the sufferings of Christ.”
We contemplate the different ways that each of us is consumed by this fire as we pray for the grace to boldly share the truth without apology and never with compromise.
This cannot occur when the listener—especially a priest—is fainthearted. And apparently we have many ordained men in our midst who have become weak-kneed when it comes to proclaiming truth. Father Jerry Pokorsky writes about the truth, saying:
The first casualty of every war, as the saying goes, is truth. High school history books necessarily are abbreviated and somewhat cartoonish. It is far more instructive to listen to historical debates. But wars—and our opinions of wars—occur in real time, and we need to develop views in the moment. I think I have sufficient evidence to form an opinion. But I realize that the evidence that persuades me does not convince many Catholics.
We agree with that assessment but hastily point out that when we are speaking of the war against the innocent within our national borders, there is not only more than sufficient evidence of these crimes but an equally adequate dose of miasma among citizens creating a dense fog of deceit. This is why so many either deny that abortion kills a person or surrender their honesty on the trash heap of political correctness.
This is evidenced in recent news events, including in the story of a Baltimore man who viciously attacked pro-life people in front of an abortion mill and who was subsequently sentenced to home detention. His brutal assault of two elderly men garnered the proverbial slap on the wrist from a judge who sent a very scary message with her verdict.
Commenting on this miscarriage of justice, Thomas More Society attorney Tom Brejcha said, “No one should fear being beaten on the sidewalk for simply standing up for the most vulnerable among us. . . . Violence must never be tolerated, excused, or minimized, especially when it’s politically motivated. Justice was not served in this case, and we must continue to fight until all peaceful pro-life voices are protected.”
That requires FIRE—a passionate desire to defend the innocent no matter what may happen because without such fervid commitment to truth, the devil wins. And nobody wants that. At least no morally sane person does.
While on the topic of visceral response to evil, we would be remiss if we did not mention the case of the six-year-old twin boys who were obtained through surrogacy and then locked up in a human-sized cage by a 74-year-old man. One pro-life commentator wondered, “When are we going to put the rights and well-being of children FIRST and ban surrogacy??”
That is a valid question on many fronts. Reporting on this case, Doug Mainwaring wrote:
Desperation to maintain the image of youthfulness comes in many forms, and it supports a multibillion-dollar industry in this country: Botox, plastic surgery, liposuction, gym memberships. Now we can supplement the list with kids, whose presence gives the aura of youthful vitality to aging gays—an aura supplied by commodified children. Unlike a sporty red Miata that can be purchased either from a showroom or out of the classifieds, children are human beings, and it matters a lot how they come into the world.
Into this skewed, flawed world of ours come the men and women who defend life, who are on fire with their love of life and truth, and who will give tirelessly of themselves to right the human wrongs that escalate every day.
Saint Paul wrote to the Corinthians, “Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.”
And that is precisely why we must be ablaze with His truth—a righteous FIRE!