By G.P. Galle, C.O.O. United for Life Foundation, jeff@joinrock.com
Tomorrow, a historical event will touch down in Mobile, Alabama. This introduction of the Manhattan Declaration by Charles Colson has the potential for shockwaves across the nation.
Within this ecumenical event is a most important participating organization: Men of St. Joseph. This new and emerging Catholic men's group not only represents a fortified front of Catholic men dedicated to the truth of Christ in the family, but it also stands as a beacon to those who misunderstand our Catholic faith. By properly leading, Men of St. Joseph can help heal misunderstandings, and aid in the proper explanation of masculinity and freedom.
In 1979, Pope John Paul II published Love and Responsibility. Within this work our Holy Vicar explains authentic masculinity. Pope John Paul II states that authentic masculine life is not brutish, apathetic, nor selfish. Instead, being properly masculine, that is, being properly man, is a love affair with sacrifice, a death to oneself for the world, and to reckon not the cost for the sake of the common good. This masculine life is one of risk, of strain, of constant surrender to the Christ. This great trial of the soul is most becoming of a man, pushing him beyond base urges and drives, making him a master of himself.
This self-mastery and communion with the Holy Spirit awakens joy, awakens happiness, sets ablaze the fire of God in man's heart, and thus brings forth a word not often spoken today: nobility. Our world would do well to remember the true meaning of nobility. Because our great country is forgetting its root in the natural law, it is experiencing a severe lack of nobility. And people deeply desire it. People seek nobility in great athletes. They beg for nobility in Hollywood stars. They look to great speakers in political office. But they cannot find nobility in earthly titles and talents. As the Holy Mother Church teaches: nobility rests on that person who is holy, and is therefore truly free. This freedom is exactly what Men of St. Joseph must champion.
When people hear this word freedom, it is often misunderstood. Freedom is touted from the media and Congressional pulpit as do what you want. And though the bodies of our youth pile up, and families are decimated by abortion, divorce, and abuse, and people in increasing numbers become slaves to addictions, these loud voices continue to tout freedom as meaning do what you want. But this is not freedom, it is slavery. Our Founding Fathers knew this well. Freedom does not mean do what you want, but rather to be free from impulse, to govern with faith and reason, to not be blinded by vice. It means, at heart, to know what is right, and to be able to choose it. Freedom rests in self-mastery, in virtue, in the love of what is beautiful and what is true. In this true freedom, people gain power and dare to be fearless, even in the face of death. Our Catholicism gives us this true meaning of freedom. Our Catholicism guides us to these principles, and in this guidance, gives us happiness and strength.
We find this guidepost freedom in our great and imperfect Catholic men of the past, who could very well of been part of Men of St. Joseph. They who, even in their limited freedom and imperfection, made great strides for humanity. Whether it be our devout Catholic Galileo, the brilliantly gifted Michelangelo, the magnificent de Medici, or the mighty Constantine, we find the freedom these men enjoyed allowed us to reach heights in a coherent and connected civilization never before seen. We see the near pinnacle of freedom achieved in our religious figures St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Louis the Pious, St. Gregory the Great, and St. Joseph himself. Like these men, we must take our place in this sweeping drama called history, steeped in humanity and struggling in sin, and dare to cry out: Christ help us be free, help us be noble!
It is this unabashed cry that the Men of St. Joseph must trumpet, must strive to be. If we are to claim the mantle of Catholicism, we must say and believe that we have been given the full revelation of Christ's Covenant with man. We must perceive truth and proclaim it. And we invite others to this truth, so that they may be happy.
It must be reiterated through the Men of St. Joseph: our understanding of Catholicism is one of invitation. It is an invitation to be part of the ecstatic union with Christ on his altar, an invitation to join the eternal blessed family, an invitation to take that great and holy Cross and walk it all the way to death. It is this invitation, this carrying of the Cross, that truly changes the world. It is an invitation for all to truly be free. It is this invitation that the Men of St. Joseph must give.
It is true: the higher being invites, the lower being enslaves. Our Creator's constant invitation to enter His grace shows Catholic men how to lead. Our power is in our gentleness, is in our patience, and in our love. We have a quiet strength, a deep confidence which wells from the Holy Spirit within us. And from this place of peace we invite, we protect, and we stand up to that which selfishly seeks to enslave the world.
Our powerful approach of invitation is that which our Holy Vicars John Paul II and Benedict XVI both commanded, and thus we should invite conversation and brotherhood with those who oppose or misunderstand our way. If we are to truly herald Catholicism, we must understand that Catholicism is not merely a blunt instrument to beat someone with, but rather an instrument of the rarest complexity and simultaneously of the greatest simplicity. This instrument must be used with skill only bestowed through grace. We must show non-Catholics our lives, our love, our failures, our humanity. In short, we must present the truth of sin and redemption. It is our responsibility in the Men of St. Joseph to take up true masculinity, true freedom, and to be truly noble.
This perspective leads us to the Manhattan Declaration Event tomorrow. There are some that might look at this event skeptically because it is not solely Catholic. This thought process must, if we are to truly set our country ablaze, be put to rest. This skepticism is not of Pope John Paul II, who referred to the Baptists of the South as his brothers. This skepticism is not the thought of our Creator, who explained to St. Theresa of Lisieux that those who merely and faithfully carry the natural law are like wild flowers in heaven. We must understand as St. Theresa and Pope John Paul the Great understood: that a unified effort is needed to overcome what is true prejudice against life, marriage, and religious freedom, and how we must in solidarity overcome the attack waged on our guiding principles. If we do not act in solidarity, subsequent totalitarianism will necessarily proceed. Pope John Paul II saw this happen in his own country. And later he saw, through his leadership, this very totalitarianism fall through faith in Christ. We too must gather together, put aside some specific theological differences (without compromising them), and stand together on the principles stated in the Manhattan Declaration. And as the Men of St. Joseph carry the ecumenical mantle given through leaders like Pope John Paul II, proper understanding of Catholicism will occur. Barriers will break.
Tomorrow is not a finale; rather, it is the first harmonic note to a crescendo in the future. While the rumblings of decline and destruction quake across our country, it is us who must take these gifts of masculinity and freedom, and join with our other brothers in trumpeting the words of our Christ to our hurting country: We have not come to destroy, but to fulfill.
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