Patheos

BuddhistCatholicContemplativeEvangelicalGeneral ChristianHinduJewishLatter-day SaintMuslimNew VisionsProgressive Christian

Beliefs

Topics

Columnists

Resource Library

Research Tools

Video

Podcasts

Thought Readers

Faith In Media Tracker

Newsletters

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Patheos

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Bad Catholic

If This Is How We Lose….

Last updated on: November 18, 2011 at 2:47 pm   by Marc

If This Is How We Lose…. 2011-11-18T14:47:26-05:00 Marc

LOGO Patheos Explore the world's faith through different perspectives on religion and spirituality! Patheos has the views of the prevalent religions and spiritualities of the world.

Hello friends, enemies and those passing through with mild indifference and/or interest! I marched for life yesterday!

Actually scratch that, I bus-rode for life, went to mass for life, rocked out with Matt Maher for life, got up really unbelievably freaking early and drank a lot of coffee for life, rocked out to some Ike for life, went to mass AGAIN for life, then marched for life, which can really only be accurately described as partying while moving slowly for life.

I was one of the crazy people at the front, letting my true Jew come out.

Heres’s what I know. We are many, and we are young. This ain’t your grandma’s march, this is your teenager’s, and that should be fine for both grandmothers and teenagers. We aren’t the sour, embittered prunes of the 60’s that manage to define the pro-choice image, we are young blood. And even better than that, we are joyful blood. I passed drummers and guitar players, nuns young enough to be my sister and priests cool enough to be Men in Black, middle-school girls making pro-life parodies of popular songs, monks chanting Ave Maria’s through their most holy and excellent beards, college students dancing with the homeless, city kids and people from as far away as Texas and Alaska. I saw bagpipes and babies and just about every college worth calling a college represented. I saw over 200 priests consecrate the Eucharist (making the bread VERY Jesus) and even more seminarians watch and wish. I heard a message from Pope Benedict, my holy father and best friend, from the lips of his cardinal ambassador to the United States, telling me that he was proud of me and the whole crew of 30,000 caffeinated high-schoolers that were up to hear. It was fantastic to the highest degree.

This won the prize for most hilarious new
pro-life movement. Go here!

And here’s what I thought. (Because it wouldn’t really be a post without a thought, now would it?) If this is how we lose, imagine how we’ll win! The march is – for all practical purposes – a remembrance of a defeat. We lost Roe v. Wade, and yet we come with laughter, with smiles, with fun, and with hope. Such hope! Hope in our own humanity, our own dignity, hope in our country, hope in our world. A hope that will smash down walls surrounding human hearts, and release a torrent of compassion and love on the world. Hope that will wake and shake the oldest of human desires; to live and protect life. Hope that will conquer evil in it’s very dwelling place. Gosh, this all sounds like something. Never has anyone been so victorious in defeat. And here’s the beautiful thing; only when you can maintain joy in defeat can you ever be worthy of winning. The abortionists won, but there is nothing but decrepit, boring hatred in their victory.

Hear the words of Our Lady written in G.K Chesterton’s epic, The Ballad of the White Horse. Hear them with reverence, because if this poem was not inspired, I’m not a Catholic. She speaks to a king without a land, a king broken by many defeats against pagan armies.

“The men of the East may spell the stars,

And times and triumphs mark,

But the men signed of the cross of Christ

Go gaily in the dark.

“The men of the East may search the scrolls

For sure fates and fame,

But the men that drink the blood of God

Go singing to their shame.

“The wise men know what wicked things

Are written on the sky,

They trim sad lamps, they touch sad strings,

Hearing the heavy purple wings,

Where the forgotten seraph kings

Still plot how God shall die.

“The wise men know all evil things

Under the twisted trees,

Where the perverse in pleasure pine

And men are weary of green wine

And sick of crimson seas.

“But you and all the kind of Christ

Are ignorant and brave,

And you have wars you hardly win

And souls you hardly save.

“I tell you naught for your comfort,

Yea, naught for your desire,

Save that the sky grows darker yet

And the sea rises higher.

“Night shall be thrice night over you,

And heaven an iron cope.

Do you have joy without a cause,

Yea, faith without a hope?”

When re-reading to put this up for you, the third stanza before the end made me weep. Stupid, stupid, I’m such a sucker. Not in sadness, of course, but in being hit with truth, for if there’s anything that it really means to be a bad Catholic, it’s that stanza. Anyways. We have joy without reason, and – though I don’t want to spoil any end for you – that perseverance will be rewarded very soon. This I do believe, for our cause is so very just. Be proud of your Church, dear Roman Catholics. We are at the forefront of every movement worth calling a movement, from slavery to now. You have a Church that loses well, and is defeated joyfully…until it wins. And then all heaven breaks loose.

 

Much love! And much more to come! A video, specifically!

 

Winning the Culture Wars

pro-life

subverting the dominant paradigm

Previous Post



January 23, 2011

Do Something Crazy

Next Post



January 26, 2011 Blood!


Browse Our Archives

Select a Category Another Look Atheism Bad Catholics Beauty Communio Crookedhart Destupidification Exiting the Culture Wars Gender Theory That Doesn't Suck How To Language Liturgy! Love One Another Marriage Equality Modesty Music Objectification pop culture Poverty Sacraments Sex Technology The Best Religion in the World The Erotic Phenomenon Time Uncategorized Virtue Ethics That Don't Suck Winning the Culture Wars

Select a Month January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 July 2016 June 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015 November 2015 October 2015 September 2015 August 2015 July 2015 June 2015 May 2015 March 2015 February 2015 January 2015 June 2014 May 2014 April 2014 March 2014 February 2014 January 2014 December 2013 November 2013 October 2013 September 2013 August 2013 July 2013 June 2013 May 2013 April 2013 March 2013 February 2013 January 2013 December 2012 November 2012 October 2012 September 2012 August 2012 July 2012 June 2012 May 2012 April 2012 March 2012 February 2012 January 2012 December 2011 November 2011 October 2011 September 2011 August 2011 July 2011 June 2011 May 2011 April 2011 March 2011 February 2011 January 2011 December 2010 November 2010 October 2010 September 2010 August 2010


Follow Us!

Follow Us on Facebook Follow Us on Twitter



TAKE THE

Religious Wisdom Quiz

What root attitude does Paul say is the "root of all kinds of evil"?

Select your answer to see how you score.

Love of animals Love of wisdom Love of money Love of music

Related posts from Bad Catholic

Catholic

Guest Post on Abortion

Bad Catholic

Catholic

Why I Don't Care pt. 2 or The...

Bad Catholic

Catholic

Our Godawful Objectification of Men With Same-Sex Attraction

Bad Catholic

Catholic

The Christian case for gay marriage: The Smackdown

Bad Catholic

TRENDING AT PATHEOS Catholic

Rejecting Doom: Christian Hope And Human Action

Christianity is a religion of hope. We are to have hope and...

It’s What Comes From Within Which Matters

One of the most difficult things for us to understand is why...

Why I Choose the Eucharist Over the Sermon

Choose the Eucharist, Not the Sermon What are we supposed to get...

5 Design Elements Found in Spiritually Rooted Homes

Putting Spirituality Into Home Decor Our homes are more than our living...

Credo: A Story of God Told with the...

About 10 years ago, I began to imagine a personal "Credo" that...

The Anatomy of Divine Revelation in Catholic Thought

The claim that God has made Himself known to human beings is...

view all Catholic blogs

Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube

Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In Subscription Support

Copyright 2008-2026, Patheos. All rights reserved.

Subscription Support Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In

Follow Patheos Patheos on Facebook Patheos on YouTube