Rejoicing in the Lord Always

* Note: From 2008-2010, I wrote an occasion blog for the Archdiocese of Baltimore's website. This is one of the blog posts. *

Title: Rejoicing in the Lord Always

 

            I had an interesting conversation with one of our parish eighth-graders a couple of days ago. We were talking about where he was going to high school, and it turned out that he was going to a local Catholic school. He told me that he didn’t want to go to a school that was very Catholic. I asked him why, and his reply startled me.

            “I only know one other Catholic in my school,” he said (he currently attended public school). “And he’s such a stick-in-the-mud. Always saying, ‘Aww, you just cursed, I’m telling on you.’ I don’t want to go to a school with lots of people like that.”

            One of the reasons, I think, why young people leave the Faith is because they think that fun and the Catholic Faith are incompatible. To be a saint, they think, is to be locked away in some church, reciting prayers all day, being bored so that they don’t sin. Well, gee, with a view of sanctity like that, I can certainly understand why no one would want to strive for holiness.

            But what if holiness is something different?

            I don’t fully know, because I’m not very holy yet, but I sure am having a blast striving for holiness. I mean, it’s so exciting to try to conquer myself, to try to live a radical life for Another, to strive for true charity for all others. What a cool and meaningful life it is to be a Christian.

            Plus, all the truly fun stuff in life isn’t sinful in the least. Like playing airsoft (for the uninitiated, that’s a game where you run around with mini-BB guns and shoot the people on the other team. Yes, it hurts. And yes, it is awesome), playing heavy-metal music (with clean lyrics, of course), hanging out with friends, going rock-climbing (I have had more outdoor near-death experiences ever since I developed a friendship with Christ. Perhaps I know that death holds hope for me now…), video games (though Grand Theft Auto might be a sin…). So, to be truly Christian doesn’t mean to give up fun – rather, it means to be able to enjoy true, pure fun without the guilt.

            I guess that’s one of my lifelong goals – to show that the Faith isn’t a bunch of dry doctrines but a living reality and a living relationship with the living Christ! This is both exciting and fun. Let’s live a radically joyful life – as St. Theresa of Avila said, “A sad saint is a bad saint!” I want to be truly alive, truly joyful in Christ, to show the world that we Christians have more fun than nonbelievers!