We must have more religious to "wake the world up."
Just yesterday on the radio I heard a former Muslim soldier explain that the only way to stop terrorists was with the use of force. Guns, rockets and bullets.
That may work in the short term. But we know the best answer.
The best answer is Jesus Christ.
Jesus Christ offers the answer to all the hopes and ambitions in the human heart. One who follows Christ lives as He does, and serves God in others.
And who are the premiere witnesses in the world to the love of Jesus Christ, but vowed religious?
Wake the world up
As Pope Francis explained in a now-famous quote in his address announcing the upcoming Year of Consecrated Life, “religious follow the Lord in a special way, in a prophetic way. It is this witness that I expect of you. Religious should be men and women able to wake the world up.”
Yes, wake the world — to the truth of God’s love for mankind.
When I think of the witness of religious, and the horror of 9/11, I think of the Order of the Blessed Virgin Mary of Mercy, founded in the 1200’s to heroically offer themselves as hostages in exchange for Christians held by the Muslims.
Or the courageous St. Francis of Assisi, who challenged the Muslim sultan by offering to prove the true religion by walking over burning coals.
Everyday heroism
And yet, it is more than singular acts of heroism that win the world to Christ. It is the daily, usually ordinary witness of Christians to God’s plan of salvation.
We need more religious to bring this about, and we need to go to the young men and women who have religious vocations.
Reach vocations where they are
What better way to do so today than with social media marketing? Here, you can reach vocations where they are. You can set up a survey with one of the free online services, asking a person’s level of faith and interest in religious life.
And if you are good at taking and sizing photos, you can make up a simple ad on Facebook. Then you direct the ads to good Catholics. These folks are fans of certain Catholic Facebook pages. Can you think of good Catholic colleges and youth groups? Send the ads to them.
When you do it yourself, the only cost you pay is for the ads.
“Come & See Quiz”
Our survey consists of 12 to 15 questions and is called the “Come & See Vocation Assessment Quiz.” For one campaign we ran this summer for a men’s religious community, we got 26 names. Then we ran the ad again, and offered a free book, and got 102 names. The overall cost was the same for the client.
For a cloistered women’s community this summer, we ran one campaign and got 24 names.
Generally, our campaigns cost less per lead than what a business would pay.
When you throw the net into deep waters, you get good candidates. And when you read their comments, you know you’re on the right track. One young woman who took our survey recently wrote that she was Catholic, graduated recently as a homeschooled high schooler, came from a family of twelve children, and was considering religious life.
Connecting young people with religious communities is what we’re all about. And it’s better than bombs and bullets.
