Act heroically this summer – put your faith into action

It is time for the summer blockbusters. Super heroes, super villains, heroic rescues and daring escapes abound. What about us mere mortals? What heroic acts will we engage in today? Most of us won’t rescue a child from a burning building or stop a speeding bullet, at least not today. But acts of heroism needn’t be superhuman feats. In this day and age, a heroic act could be as simple as calling an elected official and pleading the case of someone who cannot do so for themselves. What makes a phone call heroic is not the difficulty of the act — it’s a very simple process — but the unwillingness of so many, including people who claim great faith, to make the effort.

Every Sunday at Mass we hear tales of the prophets, voices in the wilderness, flawed disciples spreading the word of God. There is a very real danger that we hear without comprehension, or we forget that the message is more than just a passive sharing of wisdom, it is a call to action. We all have the ability and the call to be prophetic voices, to spread the Gospel message in our daily lives. This is not a call to stand in the park shouting from a soapbox that the end is nigh. Rather, it is a call to remind one another that those of us with even a basic education, a roof over our heads, food on our table, and clothes cluttering our closets should be speaking up for those without any of these things.

In short, if you are reading this, you most certainly have enough education and resources to be a prophetic voice.

In fact, this August is the perfect time to engage in multiple heroic acts: Not only are all of our United States senators and representatives in town from Aug. 3 to Sept. 8, there are also multiple issues on the table that affect millions of voiceless people. A voter’s two-minute phone call during the August recess could save hundreds of thousands from catastrophic cuts in food assistance programs, protect millions of families from being split up through deportation, or ensure medical care for thousands of Utahns who are currently uninsured and unable to afford health insurance.

One phone call asking Rep. Bishop, Chaffetz, Stewart or Matheson to support an earned path to citizenship for immigrants living in the U.S. may not feel prophetic, or even very useful. But calling to say "I am Catholic, I vote, and I care about this moral issue because I believe in the dignity and sanctity of all life" is preaching the Gospel message.

One call to a state representative or senator, or the governor’s office asking them to support Medicaid expansion is similarly prophetic. One voice saying, "Help our neighbors live meaningful, productive lives despite diabetes or a heart condition that could be managed if they could afford regular doctor visits" puts voice to our beliefs. One voice saying, "Help the working poor receive the same preventative care so many of us rely on as a matter of course" serves the poor, as we have been called to do.

One call to our U.S. representatives to say, "Stop trying to repair the federal budget on the backs of the poor through cuts to the food stamp program" is heroic.

It may seem silly to ask Congress to protect the poor from hunger and malnutrition — shouldn’t they already be trying to do this? — but such acts are necessary.

The prophets’ messages were not always heard or accepted in their time, but their voices mattered, and still matter, profoundly. They are part of our core of heroes. They are people we can emulate in simple, daily acts. And one call from one Catholic, when combined with calls from other Catholics, adds up quickly.