One of the near universal things about coming of age, whether here in this country or virtually anywhere else, is the desire to fit in. But one of the most amusing things as an adult is looking back and reflecting on what it took to fit in during a particular epoch of popular culture. For some, I imagine it was bell bottom jeans. For another age, poodle skirts were a thing (I guess, but then I’m thirty, so who knows?). In the glorious 90’s, it was the Starter jacket. If you didn’t have one, your social status plummeted. One at least had to have a knock-off and then hope that no one noticed.

This mentality of groupthink or hivemind or whatever one wishes to call it is part of our nature. To be isolated has always been socially dangerous, and so we are constantly bombarded with the temptation to do whatever it takes to
fit in. The older one gets, the more complicated our schemes become to blend in with the “normal crowd.” But from the very beginning of Christianity
there has been disconnect between the competing  desires to be at peace in the world while simultaneously proclaiming a Gospel that insists that we are made for something beyond this world.

In the first readings throughout the Easter
season we hear accounts of the early Church and what the disciples went through before
Christianity became the worldwide institution that it is now. In today’s narrative we hear about how the Apostles insist on preaching in the name of Jesus even after scrutiny and threats at the hands of the religious authorities of their day. Given the choice between sticking out like a sore thumb and ignoring Christ’s command to proclaim the Gospel, make disciples, and baptize, it was an easy choice.
 
It’s unlikely that most of us will face explicit government pressure to abandon the faith in the near future. Not impossible, but unlikely.But it is virtually guaranteed that if we truly seek to live out our call to discipleship, we will face pressure from the outside world to “tone it down” and “not be such a fanatic.” The pressure to fit in will always be great. No one likes being seen as an outsider or a weirdo. But the Acts of the Apostles tells us that Jesus’ followersrejoiced “that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name.” I suspect that many of us are not quite at that point in our faith. But during this Easter season, as we meditate upon the example of boldness given by the Apostles in preaching the Gospel to the ends of the earth, we ask God for the grace of boldness to follow where they trod, and win souls for Christ.
 
Prayers always,
Fr. McCullough