Courage: The best-kept secret in the Catholic Church

The basic message of a workshop I was recently invited to give on “The Benefits of Courage” is that Courage is a ministry that helps men and women who experience same-sex attraction flourish as disciples of Jesus Christ through worship and fellowship for the sake of Christian witness and service.

The annual Courage Conference took place at Villanova University in Philadelphia in July. The conference’s theme was “Faithful to a Mission,” the way in which Father John Harvey, OSFS, the founder of Courage, understood his ministry. At the conference, we reflected on the legacy of Father Harvey, who was born 100 years ago on April 14, 1918.

We began the workshop by pondering that arresting scene from the Last Supper when Jesus washed his disciples’ feet (Jn 13: 1-20). Here Jesus loved his disciples “to the end.” To what end? Jesus wanted to establish an enduring relationship with his disciples grounded in his loving service, which he made their mission. Faithful to Jesus’ mission of self-giving love, we wash each other’s feet. Service and fellowship reveal our worship of God and our witness to his merciful love in Jesus Christ as his disciples.

The five goals of Courage promote the effective Christian discipleship of men and women who experience same-sex attraction. Chastity, the first goal, serves and integrates itself with the other four: the life of grace, fellowship, supportive friendship, and the setting of a good example. The full expression of the second goal, which I have called the life of grace, is “to dedicate our entire lives to Christ through service to others, spiritual reading, prayer, meditation, individual spiritual direction, frequent attendance at Mass, and the frequent reception of the sacraments of Reconciliation and Holy Eucharist.” The five goals make Courage an officially approved apostolate of the Catholic Church.

The first members of Courage formulated the five goals in 1980, when the apostolate began. These pioneers were visionaries, proposing a complete and authentic way of discipleship, faithful to the mission that Jesus entrusted to his first disciples at the Last Supper.

Today we are becoming increasingly aware of the importance of intentional Christian discipleship, rooted in a maturing friendship with Jesus.

The key benefits of Courage are its members and its mission to form Christian disciples, who put on and live Jesus Christ in the Church and in the world. Courage shares this mission with all other ministries in the Church.

Father Harvey said Courage was the best-kept secret in the Catholic Church. At the workshop, we agreed that this ministry deserves to be more widely known and more sincerely appreciated. Courage should not remain a secret. Fear and shame have led to an under-appreciation of Courage. But Jesus proclaims the most often repeated commandment in the Bible: Do not be afraid!

How do we dispel fear and shame? How do we promote the benefits of Courage? Public endorsements and support of Courage from bishops, priests, and deacons will help. So too will support from parish communities and Catholic ministries and organizations.

At the workshop, I pointed out the two most fundamental ways of appreciating the benefits of Courage: sharing stories and living the five goals within the Church. We need to hear and honour the stories of grace, the ways in which Jesus has made and continues to make a difference in the lives of Courage members. In their commitment to a liberating and loving chastity and to the other goals, men and women who experience same-sex attraction invite all of us to embrace the five goals so that along with Courage members we may wash each other’s feet.

With Courage members we pray to God the Father the 2018 Jubilee Prayer of the apostolate. It ends: “Make us truly your sons and daughters, and fill us with your Holy Spirit, that we may live as true disciples of your Son, Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns forever and ever. Amen.” 

For more information about Courage please contact me at [email protected].  

Deacon Hilmar Pabel leads the Courage chapter in the Archdiocese of Vancouver.

For more information visit couragerc.org.