I grew up in a religious household. We always went to mass on the weekends, mom went to mass on weekdays, we prayed the Rosary and others prayers together, and we had prayer meetings and bible studies at our house. When I was about seven or eight years old I would ask my mom, "Are we having another payer ball meeting tonight?"

As you move up through grade school and high school it is not untypical for your peer group to mean more and more, if not the whole world, to you. You just want to be accepted and fit in so you have to be cool. I knew with a lot of my peers that I went to school with that it was not cool to be truly religious. I distinctly remember one day I was dropped off at home by one of those peers I was trying to be cool with and gain acceptance. He saw the Christian bumper sticker on one of our cars and proceeded to tell me how we were a bunch of Jesus freaks who had prayer meetings at our house. So much for being cool in order to be accepted by my peers! I remember it was not fun being made sport of.

There is a spiritual battle going on. It is a battle for our soul. The battlefield is our body. If we are truly following God, we are going to be made sport of. Not that we are obnoxious or beating others over the head with the Bible, but as we stand for Christ, Satan will stand against us. As we grow in Christ, amp it up and take a greater stand for the Gospel, count on being made sport of for the faith. When the light comes into the darkness, the darkness is going to do everything in its intelligence and power to drive it away.

On a college campus in the Midwest I read about this young couple giving a talk on dating and their preparation for marriage. They shared about how they were having sex and living in sin and then they changed to live according to God's purposes for their relationship and marriage. Hundreds of collegians were at this talk and afterwards many of them stayed to further discuss this very pertinent subject. A most beautiful thing happened when the two priests present saw a long line forming before the confessional. They ended up hearing confessions for hours! The light of Christ pierced the darkness of their sin and they wanted to be forgiven for choosing darkness over light.

This just points to the battle between good and evil that is constantly happenings. So, where are you in the battle? Have you ever been made sport of in your stand for Christ? Or are we just trying to be cool, fit in, gain human acceptance (what will that ever do for you in the long run?), go with the flow (we know where the worldly flow is going), and not ruffle any feathers?

We need to be extremely clear in our love for Jesus in a world that is so confused and darkened. In love for others, offer them true love. Amp it up and be ready for the battle and to be made sport of. It is part and parcel of standing for Christ but what else is worth standing for?

Blessed by the BEST,

+Fr. John