We are in the middle of combat. As was proclaimed in the Gospel
of the First Sunday of Lent, we hear that Jesus went into the desert to be
tempted for 40 days. As we did throughout Lent, we follow Jesus’ example of
going behind enemy lines. We are in the wilderness struggling, getting
disoriented and fighting toward an Easter victory. We are tempted to feel
alone, paralyzed and isolated, and our defenses are weakened.
The gut-wrenching fact of the matter is that this battle is not
only reserved for fighting during the season of Lent. This is a battle that
happens every single day. This is the very battle we hear throughout the
Scriptures and in the lives of the saints. This is the spiritual life being
lived out in a world of temptation, lies, shame, materialism and doubt — it is
the battle of the Christian life.
At the beginning of my undergraduate career at George Mason
University in Fairfax, I found myself disconnected from God, wholesome
relationships and the man Christ was inviting me to be. In his profound
goodness, I encountered radical transformation through GMU’s Catholic campus ministry
— the Catholic Patriots. My fight toward intimacy in Christ consisted of
frequenting the sacraments, committing to daily Holy Hours, praying the rosary,
and the most decisive step in my early faith-journey — joining a Fellowship of
Catholic University Students (FOCUS) small group.
My college small group taught me the meaning of community,
fellowship and fraternity. I experienced being among a group of men running the
same race toward Christ grounded in vulnerability, accountability, virtue,
camaraderie and of course, prayer. When I arrived at seminary, aside from building
my spiritual life and undergoing intellectual and human formation, I craved
this same fraternity — my heart longed for brotherhood as I had experienced it
in college. In a desperate plea to God, I begged him to place new brothers in
my life to be with in the trenches, to fight alongside toward God’s glory. He
answered, sending me some diocesan brothers to meet with every Wednesday
morning.
Behind enemy lines, I have brothers to share in my joys and to
support me in my struggles. I have brothers who cry out to heaven with me,
begging God to give us the grace to become great saints — together. We share
the depths of our hearts, we seek each other out and we are blessed with
opportunities to reverence the goodness of God present in one another.
The evil one wants us to isolate ourselves, to fight alone and to
be a non-combatant. My experiences in small groups have proven that we are not
made to fight behind enemy lines alone, that with solid community we too can
have communion with Christ. Jesus built the church with the apostles at its
foundation. They were commissioned to bring Christ to all nations but revealed
to us that they needed each other to build up his church. We, a broken and
messy humanity, must depend on one another and hold each other accountable as
we continue our pilgrimages toward eternity with God. This is what we fight
for.
Jesus died and rose to win for us this boundless love, joy and a
freedom in him that remains forever. Who will you fight with? Who are your
friends, your neighbors, your fellow parishioners? Simply say a prayer and
reach out to some brothers or sisters. We’re all called to be strengthened
through struggle; let’s struggle together and allow the love of the risen
Christ to overflow in our lives.
Zinjin Iglesia, from Sacred Heart of Jesus Church in
Winchester, is in his second year of pre-theology at St. Charles Borromeo
Seminary in Wynnewood, Pa.