Stand therefore, having your loins girt about with truth, and having on the breastplate of justice, And your feet shod with the preparation of the gospel of peace: In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one. And take unto you the helmet of salvation, and the sword of the Spirit (which is the word of God). – Ephesians 6:14-17 Douay-Rheims
What will it take to wake you up from your slumber? Why do you continue to smoke while your home is on fire? Why do step over the bodies of our fallen martyrs rather than step up to the front and take their place? Have you no courage? Their blood screams out your name and you place your hands over your ears? You look to the left and to the right rather than into the heart and soul of our Lord our Christ on the cross? WHY?
It is not I who asks “WHY”, but the Lord our God. Our failure…our dismal failure to heed the Word of God; to stand for the Word of God; to act on the Word of God, has left us with the Lord’s blood dripping from our very own hands. How dare we allow this! This is an outright failure as Catholics. We watch idly as Catholics are picked off one-by-one. We move out of the way and make the path clear to allow the enemies of the faith to push deeper into our homes and our lives. Shut your doors; stand in your walkway; lock arms with family and neighbors; and stand your ground!
If you are a Catholic, then live completely as one. Practice your faith and encourage others to live their faith. Do so by practice; through social media, through the written word; through your spoken word; through all your networks.
I challenge every Catholic to call out every person and every venue that attacks the faith and those who live and practice it. Allow NOT ONE instance to knowingly pass you by. By standing firm on our beliefs, as a nation of Catholics, we become a faith to be reckoned with.
Our soft-underbelly has been exposed and our enemies have plunged the dagger deep into what we believe and what we stand for. We have grown lazy and act slothfully. I challenge every Catholic to know their faith; to understand their faith; to answer for their faith. The bullies have entered the school yard and we run while they laugh at us. Stop, turn around and stand your ground – at ALL costs. The Lord Jesus Christ is your example. Jesus gave His all and so must we as well. There is NO OTHER CHOICE. We have been making up excuses for generations. Making up excuses is no longer an option. Our ‘credit card’ has now been maxed out. It is now time to pay the bill. It is going to be an expensive obligation, but an inevitable one.
I have purposely avoided arguing theology, or scripture or philosophy. The time for arguments is over. It is now time to act. When bullets are flying over your head, and bombs are dropping in your vicinity and we are in the heat of battle, it is too late for debate. It is now time to take direct orders from your leaders – Jesus Christ our Lord, His Word, His saints, His martyrs and all His Field Captains and Marshalls from all of the vocations. It is rather simple. Jesus died for us. It is now our turn to risk suffering and even death for him.
Catholics….stand your ground. It is the very least you could do for your Lord. As for me, I am charging into the breach!
Copyright 2016, Luciano Corbo
Luciano Corbo
Luciano Corbo holds a Master of Arts - Integrated Studies from Athabasca University. His major interests are Culture, Work, Organizations and Leadership, within a context of Catholic Social Teaching Principles. He writes from Canada.
2 responses to “Catholics…Stand your Ground”
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Thank you for this powerful message, brother. Catholics are all called to action indeed. It is imperative that we reach out to all and share the message of Christ’s passion, death, resurrection, and ascension. He endured all so that we would not have to. I love you, my brother in Christ.
Peace,
Mike McKee
Greetings brother. Thank you for your kind words. God Bless.