Marks of Faithfulness (1)

Someone once claimed that he was living the faith rightly because he attended Mass every Sunday. Although it is a good thing to attend Mass every Sunday, that is not the only determining factor in what it means to live the faith (and if we want non-catholics to stop making bad claims about Catholic theology, we really need to stop doing the very things that they attack us for doing!). Different people will have different views, but if we go to the Catechism and Scripture we will find another set of markers that we are to look for.

The first "mark" that I want to look at is: being hated by the world. It might sound like a weird one to begin with, but we are told in Scripture that friendship with the world is hatred of God. You cannot get much more clear than that. If the world really likes you and is never bothered by your faith, then you have compromised with the world, and are not serving God. Case closed.

Now, the world's hatred does not need to be such that you are on death row for preaching the gospel (although some of our brethren in other countries are suffering this way, we are not yet there). It does need to be, however, a clear contrast between what the world wants you to do, and how you are actually living. Many Catholics who have been poorly taught think it is fine if they just pick and choose which parts of the faith that they like: "I like the world's suggestion over here because it makes me happy, but I'll reject that worldly suggestion over there because it makes Catholics look up to me". Yeah . . . no.

Being hated by the world, means that the world needs to be at least a bit shocked at how different you are. If the world does not mind your differences then you are not "catholic different" (different because of the faith) but "worldly different" (different just because of a unique trait or habit) and that is not a good thing. It also means that your life needs to be a bit inconvenient because you do not fit in with the world. There need to be times when you are expected to follow the path of the world and it is very inconvenient for you not to do so, with the result that the world is upset with you. I do not mean just being snarky--any pagan can do that--I mean rejecting the world's path because it is out of accord with your Catholic faith (like not eating meat on Friday, even though everyone else is at the work party is having barbecue!).

This leads to the last point: if the world hates you there will be times when you are uncomfortable in front of the world. Not out of embarrassment of the faith, but out of the previously mentioned inconveniences. When the world says, "you're not one of us" we should notice it; not because we want to be part of the world, but because we are feeling the "angry stare" of the world on us. If the world hates us but we never actually notice it, then either we are totally callous, or the world's hatred is only in our imagination. We should recognize the world's disdain, and accept it as a part of the sufferings of Christ; "if we suffer with Him, we shall also reign with Him".

To be continued...