Dispatches from Fr. Charitas

Wednesday, May 23, 2018

Why do I take some controversial stands that I do?  Is it to be belligerent, to be contrarian, to be arrogant?  No … in this season of my life, I am keenly aware that I will soon stand before my Lord, and as I stand there I want to stand as a man of truth, an honest man, a man of integrity and authenticity, a man with a conscience deemed clear by the Lord.

I choose not stand before God as a clever man, a famous man, even a successful man judged so by standards other than the Lord’s.  I seek to stand before God as a man who sought wisdom, a man who sought to the humble servant, a man who fulfilled as best as he could even with God’s help the Lord’s dream for me in His creation of me.

In these last few miles of my journey with the Lord, I have no allegiance other than my allegiance to Christ Himself, no allegiance to a sectarian doctrine, no allegiance to an organization or a party, no allegiance to the approval of the crowd… only an allegiance to Christ Himself.

I no longer seek to be an ambitious man nor an influential, well-known man.  Rather I seek to be a faithful man, a godly man, a man who fully understands that I will stand before the Lord to accountable for my faithfulness to the truth as best as I with God’s help could discern the truth.

I no longer feel the need to impress my peers nor to prove my worth to my overseers.  I no longer feel the need to placate the critics nor to be liked by the crowd.  With the rest of my days … I simply want to be an honest man seeking with God’s help to live a holy life.

Will I persuade my critics?  Maybe, one or two.  Will I win the favor of those who choose to judge me?  I doubt it.  Will I be embraced by those who choose to reject me?  Probably not.  But I will be able to stand before my Lord in that Day.

Always in Christ’s Service,

Fr. Charitas de la Cruz