Through troubled waters: Weekly Message for 08-04-2020

Dear Friends in Christ,

A reader recently sent an e-mail, asking for advice about how to deal with people at his workplace.

He works in a secular setting surrounded by co-workers who espouse various “alternative lifestyles” and who are quite open about it.

The reader isn’t looking for a fight – he considers himself an easy-to-get-along-with guy – but he wonders how much he needs to speak up about his Christian beliefs.

He raises an excellent question and one that is as relevant today as ever. How does a believing Christian go through daily life in an increasingly secular and pagan world?

How do we deal with the associate in the next office who brags about her new “wife”? What do we say when Joe tells us about the baby he and Steve are adopting? And how do we address Sally who now calls herself Sam?

We might page through the Gospels, looking for an easy answer … which eludes us. Or we might consider the Golden Rule … wishing that it came with a complete set of directions.

But the Christian life isn’t that simple. Moral decisions can be complex. We don’t operate with all the facts, and we certainly can’t read the hearts and minds of others. Moreover, we are facing questions unheard of in the history of the world.

We don’t want to offend others, yet deep down we feel the tug to witness to our faith. And if motivated by true love for others, we recognize that the wayward around us have a right to hear the truth, somehow, some way.

Whatever we do, we want to do for the greater glory of God. To help you think in that direction, consider our Retreat Guide that touches on that very theme.

It might start to equip you to navigate the rough seas of secularism.

In Christ,

Father Edward McIlmail, LC
Ask a Priest contributor
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