Homily of Bishop William E. Lori Supreme Chaplain 33rd Sunday in Ordinary Time Knights of Columbus State Deputies Mid-Year Meeting Baltimore, Maryland Nov. 14, 2010

In 1996 author Paul Wilkes published a book entitled The Good Enough Catholic. In it, he offered his perceptions of how the Catholic faith had changed in the years following the . Written for Catholics who are perplexed by what the Church believes and teaches, The Good Enough Catholic is a guide for those who are looking to stay in the Church, but on their terms and based on their personal assessment of Church teaching. Among others, the author had in mind those who reject what the Church teaches about marriage and sexuality.

This approach to our Catholic faith stands in sharp contrast with the witness to Christ given us by the apostles and by the many men and women who have given witness to Christ even to the point of shedding their blood for their faith. Often I am struck by the courage of St. when persecution of Domitian was raging. In a series of letters which he wrote on the way to his execution, St. Ignatius urged his fellow Christians to remain steadfast in their faith and not to do anything to detain or deter him from giving his life for Christ. He even spoke of wanting to be ground like wheat by the teeth of lions so that he could become the Eucharistic sacrifice that he celebrated as a bishop.

We tend to think that the age of is over, but it is not. I think of St. who died at Auschwitz in 1942. This zealous priest offered to take the place of another prisoner, a married man, who was about to be put to death by the Nazis. I recall standing in the very spot where he was tortured and died. After the Iron Curtain fell on much of in the 1940s, believers in all walks of life risked everything to practice their faith. Many were imprisoned, tortured, and executed for believing in Christ.

And some years ago, I accompanied Cardinal Hickey to the Consistory where the Vietnamese Archbishop, Nguyen van Thuan was elevated to the College of Cardinals. This courageous bishop spent years in solitary confinement in North and in his dark prison cell, with a speck of bread and few drops of wine offered Mass, thus echoing what a said during the 4th century Diocletian persecution: “We cannot live without the Eucharist!”

How far removed the courage of the martyrs is from those who, in a pseudo-sophisticated way, try to embrace a sort of “no-fault” Catholicism – a faith that makes very few demands, intellectually or morally.

Clearly, today‟s Scripture readings warn us against going down that path. The prophet warns us to prepare for the Day of the Lord, the day that will show all human pretensions for what they are. We prepare for that Day by opening our hearts to Christ, the Sun of Justice. In a similar vein, St. Paul warns us not to fritter away our lives but to work hard while conducting ourselves as true followers of Christ. St. Paul too, is preparing us for the Day of the Lord when the quality of our discipleship will be laid bare. In the Gospel, Jesus warns his followers that they will be persecuted: “... they will seize you and persecute you ... they will hand you over ... it will lead to your giving testimony in my name....”

None of this sounds like being a “good-enough” Catholic!

In his new Apostolic Letter on the Word of the Lord, Benedict XVI teaches us that God‟s Word requires our personal witness. He helps us see that the Word of God teaches us how to bear witness to Christ and that the communication of God‟s word requires us to bear witness to Christ. To be sure, this means conveying what the Word of God says, what the Word of God as it comes to us through the Church teaches. But it also requires us to show the Word of God is really a part of our lives, that it shapes what we say and do, the decisions we make, the kind of people we are.

To quote Pope Benedict himself: “The Word of God reaches men and women through an encounter with witnesses who make it present and alive.” He goes on to tell us that our witness to the Word of God means more than „suggesting shared values‟ with those who don‟t believe. It demands of us an explicit witness to Jesus of Nazareth, the Son of God, „the way, the truth, and the life‟ (See Verbum Domini, 97-98).

At this juncture, you may be thinking, “well, the Iron Curtain has long since fallen” – “we are not living in days of the Roman persecutions” – and, “no one is threatening me with death because I am a Catholic Christian.” True enough – but does that exempt us from bearing witness?

In an article called “The Age of Martyrs”, the late Father , S.J., tells us “that not all victims of persecution die at the hands of a godless government.” Persecutions can be subtle but for all their subtly, no less real. “[A]ny priest or religious, any married or single person, who wishes to sincerely and fully live up to his Catholic commitment, finds countless obstacles in his way and experiences innumerable difficulties that accumulatively demand heroic fortitude to overcome and withstand.”

Here, Father Hardon sheds a lot of light of the situation in which we find ourselves. If we are known to be committed, Catholic Christians, we should not expect to be comfortable in today‟s secularity, which often seeks both to deride Christianity and to stifle its voice. Couples that go to church on Sunday, accept many children from God, vocally support the Church‟s teaching and hierarchy ... are likely to be questioned.

As Pope John Paul II wrote in Veritatis Splendor: “Although martyrdom represents the high point of the witness to moral truth, and one to which relatively few people are called, there is nonetheless a consistent witness which all Christians must daily make, even at the cost of suffering and grave sacrifice” (93).

This should shed light on the exhortations you‟ve received this weekend to increase membership in the Knights of Columbus. This isn‟t merely about making quotas important as that is. It really is about actively inviting men who need to be a part of the Knights as a way of knowing, loving, and living their faith.

Through , Unity, Fraternity, they are strengthened to bear united witness to the love Christ communicated to us by the Holy Spirit. They are strengthened so to live their faith that the “critical difference” of being a Catholic Christian will shine forth in them and in their .

To bear witness of Christ, we must be close to Christ in prayer. We need the strength the Eucharist offers, the help of the Sacrament of Penance, the intercession of the , most especially the Blessed Mary.

Close to Father McGivney in prayer, may we be those witnesses the world needs to the glory of God, for the good of the Church, and for the salvation of souls.

Vivat Jesus!