I never hid my faith growing up. Those around me knew I was Catholic and that my faith was very important to me. I always thought I did a good job of staying true to who I was. I mean, I went to college to study musical theatre and let me tell you, not many people in that department believed what I believe. 

For Lent this year, my husband and I chose to be a part of the 40 Days for Life campaign that the Texas Coalition for Life hosts every year. We signed up to go pray every week in front of the abortion facility in our area. I had never done this before and was always very nervous to sign up for something like this. Our first day arrived, and, because my husband was out of town, I went by myself. There were about 4-5 other people there, and I started off the hour proud that I had showed up, excited to be there, and grateful for the opportunity. However, that excitement was quickly replaced by uneasiness. 

The facility I was at was along a very busy road, and there was a railroad crossing about a block away, meaning every so often the cars were backed up and stopped along the road as they waited for the train to pass. The first angry honk made me jump and shocked that innocent excitement right out of my body. I quickly got my bearings until a short while later, a man yelled “Go home!” at my back. As a natural people pleaser, I immediately got flustered and felt as though I had done something wrong. Another angry honk soon followed and my level of discomfort crept up. I started praying and asking God to replace that fear with peace and confidence in what I was doing. It was then that I had the realization: this was the first time I had publicly defended my faith. 

I thought to myself, no way was this the first time. I have always been open and honest about my faith. But have you ever truly defended it?, I felt God whisper. Have you put yourself in an uncomfortable position for My sake? No, I hadn’t. Anytime things got uncomfortable, I would gracefully back away from whatever discussion I was in. I didn’t want to make anyone else feel uncomfortable or offend anyone. I didn’t want to cause a rift. 

Here I was, outside of this terrible place, publicly defending my faith. I was here standing up for the truth. Granted, I wasn’t in a heated discussion, arguing about dogma and the Church teachings. That’s never been my strong suit. I’m a theatre major after all. My college courses focused more on diction and emotion than history and the catechism. But, my mere presence in front of this building was eliciting anger from others. Me standing in silence on a patch of dirt in front of a building was making a statement. Is this what standing up for our faith in this day and age looks like? I think many would believe that unless they are having a fiery discussion face to face or on social media, they aren’t making an impact. The devil would have us believe that our efforts don’t matter. He would like us to believe that we need to do something big and monumental in order to be a witness to our faith.

The truth is, all we need to do is show up. I was so incredibly nervous as I drove to the facility that day. I was a sweaty mess, to be honest. But I clearly saw my efforts were not in vain. A man was so angry that he yelled at me! I mean, if that’s not proof of my impact that day, I don’t know what is. God uses us where we are. I believe He can use even more, though, when we are willing to step out of our comfort zones. Don’t wait for the timing to be perfect or for your circumstances to change before you stand up for God. Our culture is in such dire need for people to speak up, or show up. Especially young people. The devil would like us to believe that our faith no longer matters. We mostly hear and see the bad and evil things in our culture. However, the Holy Spirit is moving, and many are on fire for the Lord. The problem is that the opposition is louder. 

Take a look at your life and your surroundings. How can you show up for God? Connect with your parish and with others in your community. Work together to defend the truth. Remember that actions speak louder than words. Edmond Burke once said, “The only thing necessary for the triumph of evil is for good men to do nothing.”

So bring your nerves, your fear, your faith. God doesn’t need you to perfect, He just needs you to show up.