For the past six weeks, we have been reading from the letters of St. Paul to Timothy. Today we come to the end of these letters, wherein Paul gives us what is often referred to as his “last will and testament.” He knows he’s about to be executed, and he sums up his life saying, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.” What a blessing to come to the end of life with such a clean conscience. What is also so amazing is that, in spite of all the hardships Paul has had to endure, he still has great trust in God to deliver him. Yet Paul has never looked for deliverance from earthly hardship; he wants only to be delivered safely to heaven.

The lives of St. Paul and the other apostles remind us that, when the gospel is preached, it is often met with opposition. The Greek word used to describe their preaching is dynamis, “power,” the same found in the root of the word “dynamite.” When the gospel is preached, things should explode! Sadly, today it seems we expect, and maybe even hope, that nothing will happen as a result of our preaching. We like blending in and leading our lives in relative tranquility without “making waves.” We certainly hope to avoid “explosions.” This may be “safe,” but it is not what we’re called to be.

This past week, emails in the “Wikileaks” scandal revealed some of the thoughts of politically influential people about Catholics. There were many bigoted, hateful, anti-Catholic comments. Yet this is not what caught my attention. Political leaders despising Catholics is nothing new. It was certainly not unusual for St. Paul and has been the norm in much of history. What really bugged me was a comment speculating as to why so many “respectable” people are Catholic. One high level politician suggested that it’s because Catholicism is “the most socially acceptable politically conservative religion… Their rich friends wouldn’t understand if they became evangelicals.”

This really bugged me because it says that, in the view of outsiders, the Catholic Church has become just a “socially acceptable” little club. You can have a little bit of your religion and still compromise enough to blend in perfectly with society. This attitude would have been very foreign to St. Paul who certainly never experienced the faith as “socially acceptable.” Yet I think the comment reflects a sad reality. We as Catholics have compromised the faith so much that indeed we do just blend in with everyone else. Look at all the Catholics who say, “I’m Catholic…BUT…I’m also pro-abortion, pro-euthanasia, pro-gay marriage, etc.” The gospel has been robbed of it’s dynamis and instead of exploding and bumping up against the culture, we have become “socially acceptable,” while settling for lives less and less acceptable to God. Again, it’s not unusual that political leaders would be anti-Catholic. What is new, and scandalous, is that now Catholics actually vote for these people.

If we look only at the national or world picture, it would be easy to get depressed. We can’t change the world overnight by ourselves, but we can change us. We can change our families. How in your own family have you compromised the dynamis of the faith so as to just go with the flow? Do you fall into the “Catholic…BUT” crowd? We change the culture one person and one family at a time. So, as St. John Paul II reminded us 38 years ago this weekend, “Do not be afraid!” Your life may end up looking more like St. Paul’s. You may wind up getting beaten, and bruised, and left for dead. Good! This means you’re doing it right. Persevere. Don’t give up. Don’t compromise the dynamis of the gospel. Then, at the end of your life, you too will be able to say like St. Paul, “I have competed well; I have finished the race; I have kept the faith.”