ARE YOU KEEPING A LITTLE TOO QUIET?

One of the biggest sacrifices we can make nowadays is to tell the truth. 

I don’t mean in the sense of talking about others, or "keepin' it real," as they say.
No, I mean to tell the truth about the Catholic faith and morals outside the safe circle of family and friends who share our values.

Its pretty rare for faithful Catholics to find situations where the truth about Christ, the Church, or morality are well-received. Consequently, when others assert incredibly stupid or deliberately negative or antagonistic things about God, the Church or morality..., our usual response is silence.

Of course, not everyone is so reticent about what they believe, however. The other day I was in line at the pharmacy, and the guy ahead kept telling me about himself — how independent and self-reliant he was, how messed up the world is, and how, if anything went wrong with normal services or the economy, he could live off the rats in dumpsters, because he had his trusty knife. When he left, he wished me, “the kind of day you deserve.”

I might have liked him under different circumstances, who knows. But his abrasiveness got in the way.

Character Courage

There may be a lesson here, somewhere, so lets look for it.
First off, my vitriolic queue-mate wasn't all wrong.
He made some righteous observations about just how badly the modern world IS messed up.
For example, he mentioned our cowardly dependence on social norms and political correctness. Or, our inability to act without a government handout or safety net.
He announced that 99% of people, if they were suddenly put back in time a hundred years, would not be able to survive. Which is probably true.
But, he was also standing in a line, waiting for the medicine his government health program was handing out to him.
So there was a disconnect between his words and his own existence.

The point here is he enjoyed sticking out in a crowd, more for being a kook than anything else. He liked being a large and loud character joke....because it took no courage and no one expected him to be anything else.

The problem is that we, as Catholics, are held to a different standard. Once it is known that we ARE Catholic, we must be our own sort of, “character....” one that is courageous enough to be both a judge of character and a good, even noble, character in the face of misinformed belligerence.
It is one thing to be a crackpot - that takes little courage. However, it is another thing to be spiritually challenging — by which I mean, dangerous — to those who are at once self-absorbed and culture-bound.

Of course, Christ told us this would not be easy and being the 'Catholic character' often gives us opportunities to prove that.

St. John Henry Newman once commented on what used to called, “the economy” in the early Church.
This meant it was once common to protect the deep details of the Christian mysteries when speaking with non-Catholics, by answering initial questions in terms they could understand.
Since non-Catholics usually know very little about their own faith's origins, let alone the Church from which they all sprang, this method spared them from confusing doctrinal details which might seem weird or absurd.
This was an iteration of Christs admonition from St. Matthew’s Sermon on the Mount: 

“Do not give dogs what is holy; and do not throw your pearls before swine, lest they trample them under foot and turn to attack you” (Mt 7:6). 

The term “economy”, as discussed by Newman, referred to economy of speech, while being mindful not to tread upon the sin of lying. This is referred to as, "mental reservation."

Another view of the philosophical and theological virtues of mental reservation come from a wonderful anecdote about St. Athanasius, The Enemy of Arianism.

It seems the good saint was in a boat being desperately rowed away from officials following in another boat.
These officials were searching for Athanasius, intent on capturing and killing him - so there was some need for haste!

However, a look came over the saint's face and he instructed his rowers to turn back and draw near his persecutors.
As they approached, his enemies called out, “Where is Athanasius!?” and Athanasius to them, “Keep rowing, you are very close!”
With that, his pursuers rowed on past at double speed, and the boat which carried Athanasius calmly put into shore, where the saint could be hidden among friends.

I Trust All Is Clear

Athanasius was widely known as a strong believer in, and defender of, Christ and the Catholic Faith.

And so must we also be known.

This does not mean to act like the man in my pharmacy line, however, shouting declarations to any within earshot. Indeed, we will do far better to be like Athanasius - clever, perceptive, and inspired.

Indeed, it is most effective to first establish bonds of trust and respect by readily assisting and serving our natural companions through life.
In this way, they may be more willing to discuss the deeper realities of life.
At the same time, we ought to generously support those who engage others, but are beyond the ordinary scope of our own affairs.

So how about those awkward situations?
You know the ones, where nonsense is being tossed around and taken for granted to the detriment of the love of God, The Church...and destroying respect for the ordinances of both?

In those cases, three alternatives arise:

1. Calmly caution others that if they talk either evil or nonsense in your presence, you will intervene with Christian beliefs and sensibilities.
A good way to do this is to let them know that their moral and spiritual well-being is uppermost in your mind, should they be contemplating attitudes or actions that run contrary to that.

2. Seek out those for private discussion who speak morally wrongly or offensively. At that time, point out that there are good ways to bring a more positive result to their way of life and personal integrity.

Then offer your availability should they wish to discuss the issue further.

3. Some occasions may dictate a quiet separation from persons or groups, especially if they constitute a moral danger. In fact, it will eventually be noticed that you do not participate in certain kinds of discussions. 

Responses to these three can vary from outright and hateful rejection, to gentle ribbing..., and occasionally to private discussions with those who notice your unwillingness and who are drawn to know the reasons. 

You might even be surprised that many of those who seem to be on the wrong course are really uneasy about it. These folks may be attracted to an independent figure who is immune to the power of the crowd.

Catholic Identity and Sensibility

To cite St. John Henry Newman again, he also discussed what he called, “Christian memory”. 

This defines the remembrance others will have of your good words or living example, although they may disregard them at first.
Then, when the time is ripe, the Holy Spirit can prompt the recollection, and the remembrance can start the person on the track of truth, goodness, openness to grace, and conversion.
The Holy Spirit can nurture the good seeds we sow, so they may bear good fruit at the appointed time.

For this reason alone, we dare not take the coward’s way out and resort to waffling or silence when it comes to the truth of Christ.

One of the strangest of the strange sects which arose in Europe during the Protestant Schism was a group that hinged on the text about not casting pearls before swine... taking it to mean no outward show of their religious convictions must be seen, whatsoever.

Sometimes called Nicodemists (after Nicodemus, a good man who initially visited Jesus only by night), this group of heretics quickly died out, of course, because they did nothing to pass on their beliefs.
They could not even properly instruct their own children.
Their inaction may have been triggered by threats of persecution or loss of status, but it was naturally self-defeating. It is a wonder we find any references to it at all.

I mention it only to remind you that prolonged silence is not an option.
John the Evangelist quotes Christ as saying, 

“I am the light of the world”
(8:12; 9:5)

Meanwhile, Matthew reports in the Sermon on the Mount that Our Lord said his followers, 

“..are the light of the world,” and, “a city on a hill cannot be hid”
(Mt 5:14). 

Even more to the point, Mark’s Gospel has Our Lord asking all of us: 

“Is a lamp brought in to be put under a bushel, or under a bed, and not on a stand?” 

(Mk 4:21). 

And both Matthew and Luke record the pointed conclusion: Those who light a lamp put it on a stand so that, “it gives light to all in the house...” 

(Mt 5:15)

“so that those who enter may see the light” 

(Lk 11:33).

Testifying to the Light is telling the truth.
But telling the truth in a fallen world such as ours nearly always requires personal sacrifice.
Therefore, remember that genuine prudence is always good, and gentleness is good far more often than not. But cowardice means we do not yet trust our Savior —which is a sin to be confessed.

Edited for brevity from an article by Jeffry Mirus at CatholicCulture.org
https://www.catholicculture.org/commentary/on-sacrifice-telling-truth/