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.