Forty years ago the great German theologian and Jesuit priest Karl Rahner declared, “The Christian of the future will be a mystic or he will not exist at all.” I would say that Christians today and those in the near future must not only be mystics, that is to say, individuals who cultivate a personal and intimate relationship with Jesus, but also martyrs or as the term is defined, “Witnesses.”
We support our favorite sports team with blatant pride and at times with heated arguments – especially if they are on a winning streak. We show our interest and support by our readiness to face the high costs of attending a game or see it live on TV.
The one thing we dare to demand from each member of the team is that he or she give his or her all, that they “live up to the uniform,” that they have the character to give the best of themselves, that they show pride and love for the colors they are representing, and that they wear their uniform with dignity to the very end before accepting defeat.
St. Paul urged the Romans to always be watchful and prepared for battle because the dawn is coming and we must cloth ourselves with the armor of light, we must cloth ourselves with the Lord Jesus in order to overcome the evil desires of human nature.
The colors of Jesus’ team are the colors of blood; they are the colors of the cross. The uniform of Christians is costly.
Our beautiful human nature reached abundance because it was dignified by Jesus of Nazareth. It requires continuous training and complete self-giving in order not to succumb to the blows of the enemy or of sin.
It is costly to wear the uniform of Christ. When the scoreboard is against us and we seem headed toward a crushing loss, when our opponent proves himself to be capable and powerful, when the conditions of time and place are not favorable, when the members of our team are tired or injured or time seems to run out, it is costly to wear the uniform of Christ.
Our technical director and trainer, Jesus Christ, playing side by side with us, presents new strategies to conquer and convince others about the dignity of each human being from the moment of conception until natural death. He presents these strategies in order to demonstrate the nobleness and sacredness of marriage between a man and a woman, in order to find new forms of peace, mutual respect and harmony before those who have a different style of playing in life or before those whose disturbing motivations would rejoice to see us defeated.
The thousands of saints, the millions of members of this team who throughout the centuries have made the team great, and the many who currently sweat in and stain the uniform in the fields of politics, medicine, trade, entertainment, charity or spirituality, are bearing witness to their love for Christ and their confidence in him as an experienced coach who has made the uniform of humanity his own at all cost. They know without a doubt that we will be victorious in the end.
As a member of this beautiful and great team, we have to own the uniform; we have to live a life regime that allows us to always be prepared and ready to play the field regardless of the circumstance of time and place, always giving the best of ourselves.
Mary allowed herself to be guided and she won for us the greatest trainer. We have a trainer who loves his team; a trainer who knows and bears witness to what it means to win at the cost of one’s own tears, blood, sweat and life.
Bishop Eusebio Elizondo is the Auxiliary Bishop of Seattle and the Vicar for Hispanic Ministry.