A great time to be Catholic

Patrick Novecosky: Challenging times produce saints, so we must embrace our faith . . .

Patrick Novecosky

One of the great things about editing this magazine is that I get to live and breathe Catholicism 24/7. It also brings with it a great challenge: God expects me to live my faith visibly.

Being recognized as a “public Catholic” means that I must model myself after Christ and conform to the Church’s teachings. As “ambassadors for Christ,” members of Legatus have committed themselves to this same standard. Legatus’ mission statement — to study, live and spread the Catholic faith in our business, professional, and personal lives — makes that abundantly clear.

And what a time to be “public Catholics”! It’s during times of persecution and challenge that we have the opportunity to become heroic Catholics. We recently celebrated the feast of one of my heroes — St. Maximilian Kolbe. The courageous Polish evangelist was formed under fire. Anti-Catholicism was at a fever pitch in Europe in the 1920s. In response, he organized the Militia Immaculata to work for conversion of sinners and enemies of the Catholic Church. Ultimately, he gave his life in exchange for another man at Auschwitz, the Nazi death camp.

The Obama administration’s HHS mandate requiring employers to provide contraception and abortion-inducing drugs in their health care plans is a clear sign that we are in a new time of religious persecution in America. A courageous witness to the truths of our faith is required. It’s a teaching moment for Catholics who are unclear on the Church’s teaching on abortion and contraception — and it’s a moment to boldly witness to non-Catholics the truth we profess in these teachings.

A radical sacrifice may be required of us. Earlier this year, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago said, “I expect to die in bed, my successor will die in prison, and his successor will die a martyr in the public square.”

Pope Benedict XVI is also quite concerned about the erosion of religious liberty in America. In a letter to the Knights of Columbus last month, Vatican secretary of state Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone quoted the Pope saying, “At a time when concerted efforts are being made to redefine and restrict the exercise of the right to religious freedom,” the Holy Father exhorts the lay faithful to “counter a reductive secularism which would delegitimize the Church’s participation in public debate.”

Just as St. Maximilian boldly evangelized in his day, we must do the same by studying, living and spreading the faith. We must do so courageously and with great humility — even if it means the ultimate sacrifice.

Patrick Novecosky is Legatus magazine’s editor-in-chief.