Half the World Thinks You’re Crazy

Crazy but true? Mainstream views mocked by half the world? Miracles are happening all around you

Crazy but totally true: On Tuesday, I prayed for money.

• I immediately went home, where my bride showed me a $1,000 check someone just brought her. That afternoon, she got an email about an unexpected bonus — and a big raise.
• Two days later, I prayed at another Mass, this time getting very specific about two writing gigs: I walked out of Mass, and one of the clients I was thinking about was right there with my check. Sounds crazy?

“Our goal must be infinite, not the finite.’’ — Blessed Carlo Acutis.

Half the world thinks some of your beliefs are totally crazy

No matter who you are or what you think, millions of people around the world think you believe in something they consider to be totally crazy:

• Do you have a religion? Around the world, non-believers roll their eyes at or attack people who believe in God. The Pew Research Center just reported that government restrictions on religion had hit a new record since their tracking began: 56 countries reached “high” or “very high” levels of restrictions on religion.
• Are you a Catholic? For centuries, non-Catholics have mocked Catholic beliefs in the Eucharist (the source and summit of our faith), our love of Mary, even our pope.
• Are you a Democrat? For four years or more, leading Democrats have talked about Russians rigging our elections, controlling the president. They’ve predicted climate change would destroy the world in a decade. Republicans rolled their eyes.
• Are you a Republican? For four years or more, conservatives have talked about Democrats rigging our elections, about China, or billionaires controlling Democrats. They’ve predicted atheistic communism could destroy our way of life. Democrats rolled their eyes.
• Are you worried about the virus? How many people think you’re crazy for believing — or disbelieving — the ability of things like masks, vaccines — or the power of prayer — to keep you safe?

I wondered whether I should text the latest election news to our kids but stopped, wondering, “Will they see this headline and think I’m crazy?’’

“The true soldier fights not because he hates what is in front of him, but because he loves what is behind him.” — G.K. Chesterton.

Beige Catholicism: When supernatural beliefs were glossed over

Bishop Robert Barron laments the days of “Beige Catholicism,’’ aka “Catholic Lite,’’ when the supernatural beliefs of Catholicism were played down, simplified — or ignored.

Many well-meaning priests after Vatican II tried to leave behind rituals, traditional art, and signs and wonders (like the healing gifts of the Holy Spirit). Just focus on God as love, they thought.

Catholic author Edward Sri describes a painful moment with an elderly woman asking him if the “modern’’ Church still allowed men to pray the Rosary.

“Imagine a photograph of the Sistine Chapel. Carefully detailed and rich with vivid colors, it captures the splendor of Michaelangelo’s masterpiece.

“Now imagine that same picture laying outside, shriveling under a torrential rain. The details smear, the colors fade and the photograph crumbles into a messy, unrecognizable blob… New Evangelization is an antidote to beige Catholicism,’’ — Bishop Robert Barron.

Elderly ladies reminded us of miracles and the power of prayers

We heard less about miracles and spiritual warfare against the devil. Our beige suburban parishes were designed to feel open and friendly. Messages that might upset or alienate people were replaced with safer, and non-judgemental, non-controversial words.

Rough or harsh edges were sanded down into something smooth, more compatible with the secular world. Talk about fearing God, hell, and purgatory was drowned out by the politically correct “thoughts and prayers’’ of messages like “He’s in a better place now.’’

“It all depends on having a quiet little corner where you can talk to God on a daily basis as if nothing else existed… and regarding yourself completely as an instrument, so that you treat your most frequently demanded talents, not as something that you use, but as God working through you.’’ — St. Edith Stein.

Pillars of the Church:

Hans Urs von Balthasar taught about everyone being a different pillar of the Church.

“What you are is God’s gift to you, what you become is your gift to God.” ― Hans Urs von Balthasar.

Each of us has different gifts and responsibilities, adding to different pillars:

• The Petrine? The clergy leadership following the Way of our first pope, St. Peter. The Petrine hold the offices, administer the life-giving sacraments.
• The Pauline, following the way of St. Paul, go out and evangelize, taking the faith to the world. They are missionaries with great charisms, going out.
• The Johannine, following the way of St. John, are the faithful in the pews who pray and pray and pray. They focus on unity, contemplative love.
• Underlying every one of these pillars is our Marian tradition coming from the Mother of God. The Church is the Bride of Christ and Mary is our mother, our advocate, the mother of mercy.

“God’s Presence in us is terrifying, unsettling, but life-giving, sweet, and calming at the same time. It is distant because of our sins, and close because of God’s infinite mercy. It is frightening because it burns and consumes us like a charring fire, but it embraces us tenderly like a Father.’’ — Robert Cardinal Sarah, author of The Power of Silence.

We worry about sharing some things millions believe because they may sound crazy or weird to others…

Safe Catholic Lite can be like vanilla ice cream. It’s fine and nice and good. Everyone likes vanilla (it outsells all other ice creams combined), but we don’t fall in love with “fine.’’ We aren’t “on fire, in love, and fully alive’’ over vanilla.

The secret sauce: the moments we “wow’’ our vanilla with the taste of being in love. The most “on fire’’ Catholics know Jesus is more than God above. He’s someone who is in love with you. He is our greatest love, someone we need to know.

St. John Paul the Great gave us a record number of new (and very human) saints to lead us toward the Catholic Way Home. Pope Benedict gave us magnificent books explaining how it all works, and Pope Francis has focused on our personal relationship with Him.

The world will always tell us things we believe are crazy, stupid, or insane. We will accept and believe things millions of others will think of as “just nuts.’’

A needy little Catholic girl, paralyzed by an inability to move forward, cried. Would she be judged for seeking depression treatment? Would the world judge her for being different?

Of course, the world judges all of us for being different. God made each one of us unique and unrepeatable on purpose. Yet, we still judge and condemn ourselves and others.

We are gifted children of God, yet, we all hear the lies of the liar. Hence, we judge ourselves and others:

• Even though a quarter of a billion worldwide need help with depression or anxiety.
• Even though more than 1 billion believe Jesus Christ is our Lord.
• Even though about 7.8 billion of us feel broken and in need of something we lack.

“Write this: before I come as the Just Judge, I am coming first as the King of Mercy. Before the day of justice arrives, there will be given to people a sign in the heavens of this sort:

“All light in the heavens will be extinguished, and there will be great darkness over the whole earth. Then the sign of the cross will be seen in the sky, and from the openings where the hands and the feet of the Savior were nailed will come forth great lights which will light up the earth for a period of time. This will take place shortly before the last day.’’ (Diary of St. Maria Faustina Kowalska, 83).