Conscience on the high seas: Is there really such a thing as a Catholic pirate?

I have been reading and discussing a book about conscience with some other men here at St. Joe’s, and I just wanted to take a brief moment to share some thoughts on the subject. Here is a brief excerpt from chapter 3 “The Christian life is not about ‘not stealing’ or ‘not committing adultery.’ It is about the high adventure of loving God and neighbor, throwing in our lot with the Jewish carpenter from Nazareth, wherever that may take us.” I love this quote because it does an excellent job of summing up the Christian lifestyle. To many people think that the Catholic lifestyle is nothing more than just a bunch of rules about what you can and cannot do. But is all truth, being a Catholic is all about what you can do, not what you can’t do. I especially like the part about high adventure. It makes me think of adventure on the high seas. Kind of like being a pirate, but without the whole pillaging and looting thing. Maybe if you can imagine life as a pirate who instead of doing bad things (like the pillaging and looting we just mentioned) did good things, like preached the Gospel and helped the poor. You would still get to live on a pirate ship and sail the seven seas looking for buried treasure and saying cool pirate sayings like “avast ye Jim lad” and “ahoy there ya salty sea dog.” The difficult part would be funding your adventures as a Christian pirate, since most pirates fund their activities through illegal activities. Still though, I think if you could find a way to make it work I would totally join your crew. I think part of the reason I find the whole idea of being a pirate so attractive is the whole freedom aspect. I know it is a romanticized version of piracy, but I still think of it as this grand adventure that never ends. No one gets older, dies while fighting the evil authorities, or drowns while at sea. It is a glorious adventure where we are the misunderstood heroes fighting the wrongs in the world. Sort of a Robin Hood at sea kind of thing. Anyway, even though I don’t have a pirate ship or a crew of salty buccaneers , I keep reminding myself that I can still live my life as an adventure. I know that loving God and neighbor doesn’t really sound like high adventure, but in many ways it really is. Part of a good adventure involves taking a risk, and this is exactly what our consciences spur us on towards. Not being satisfied with just not killing my neighbor, but truly loving them. Changing my life so I am not just avoiding sin, but truly living my life for God with everything I have. If you don’t believe this is a risky venture, then you have never tried it.

Happy Feast of Mary, Mother of God

Greetings all and happy New Year. I hope that everyone enjoyed their Christmas break. Hopefully you all went to Mass on Thursday, because it was a holy day of obligation. Even if it wasn’t a Holy Day of Obligation, I think it would have been a good idea to attend Mass anyway. What better way to thank our Lord for another year of life and to look forward to the next then with the Eucharist? While we are on the subject of the new year, I always like to revisit the whole idea of a new year’s resolution. Now I know I have said in the past that there is no need to wait for January 1 to make a good change in your life, but for those of us (and yes, I do mean to include myself) who sometimes have a bit of trouble turning over new leafs, maybe a new year’s resolution is just the incentive we need to get things started. The next question we have to ask ourselves is on the more utilitarian note, what should I resolve to do this year? Now, I realize that my advice may not be suited for everyone, but I am going to do my best. First up, I recommend making a firm resolution to eat more chocolate. Chocolate is good for you. It is loaded down with antioxidants (whatever those are) and other nutritious things like milk and stuff. And eating chocolate can make you happy. So, go chocolate. For those or you who hate chocolate I recommend chewing on rocks until you are more willing to cooperate. Along with eating more chocolate I also recommend trying to get to daily Mass every once in a while. I know from experience how easy it is to find an excuse not to get out of bed in the morning, but Jesus is waiting for us every day at 7:20am. Another idea is to go on a retreat or other youth group outing. Sometimes it is good to just get away from everything and focus on God for a couple of days. You never know, it just might change your life. All that aside, I recommend taking some time to learn to appreciate yourself as the child of God that you really are. Sometimes we get so caught up in all these resolutions to change that we forget who we really are at the core. We are all children of God, and as such have an incredible dignity. No matter what we resolve to change about our lives, nothing can change who we really are. However, just because nothing can change our status as children of God, that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t be looking for ways to act more in line with this great gift. So regardless of how or if you decide to do a new year’s resolution, I encourage you to pray about it first and then do something that will help you to focus on your dignity as a child of God, like eating chocolate.