Get Uncomfortable

Last week, I was reading through The Compass, the newspaper of the Green Bay Diocese.  I came across the Letters to the Editor section.  The two letters that were there were from Catholics who appeared to be mad about some Church teachings, specifically on abortion and gender.  They shared their disappointment and disapproval of the Catholic Church sharing and promoting church teaching- that God created male and female, and that abortion takes an innocent human life.  These are two teachings that are straightforward and clear and there is no room for compromise or disagreement on these issues.  Reading these letters caused me to think about what it means to be Catholic and to follow Christ and about how many people try to make it about their own personal feelings.  If we are looking for warm, fuzzy feelings and to always be comfortable, we might as well look somewhere else.

It’s not about us.  This is demonstrated, first and foremost, in the Mass.  The Mass is where we worship God and offer ourselves to Him.  And even though it’s not about us, God pours His love out upon us and gives us more than we could ever receive anywhere else.  Jesus gives Himself completely to us in the Eucharist and we can receive countless graces from the Mass.  And one of the many, many reasons the Mass is so beautiful is because it is one of the few experiences in our self-obsessed culture that turns the focus away from us and points to God- it gives Him all the glory.  It’s not a time for us to be entertained.

 If we are truly living our faith and as long as we are living in the world, we will likely find ourselves feeling a bit uncomfortable on a regular basis.  As Catholics, we will not blend in when we stand for Christ and the Church's teachings and for all that the world is against.  When we are around co-workers, friends, or family members who are all in agreement on certain topics and have beliefs that are contrary to what we believe, we will not experience warm or fuzzy feelings.  In these moments, when we have to go against the majority and stand up for truth, we will be uncomfortable.  

When we stand up for the importance of Mass and the truth about the Eucharist, for the dignity of the human person, for marriage, for holiness, for purity, for sacrificial living, for strong values and morals, and more, we are standing for God.  We don’t stand for all that is good, true, and beautiful because of or for ourselves.  We do it for God alone, and that often means sacrificing comfort and “good feelings.”
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Our faith will not make us comfortable, but we can find comfort in our faith.  We can find comfort knowing that this life is about someone so much bigger than ourselves.  We can find comfort in knowing that we serve a God who is so good, forgiving, and merciful.  We can find comfort in the fact that we are fully known and deeply loved by Him.  May you learn to find comfort in being uncomfortable; because if you are uncomfortable it probably means that you are standing for God and His truth.  And that’s what it’s all about.