That’s what a popular deacon challenged people attending Saturday’s Worcester Diocesan Catholic Men’s Conference to do.
Dead things go with the flow in a river; salmon fight upstream to give life, noted Deacon Harold Burke-Sivers. The award-winning author from Portland, Oregon, is a popular speaker and has hosted Catholic broadcasts, including the new show Beacon of Truth on EWTN Radio.
“Men, we need to be the salmon ... fighting against the cultural currents,” and if listeners do that, they will see positive changes, he said.
In his two talks at the conference, held at the DCU Center, he illustrated the need for change, connecting Scripture with current realities.
Adam was to protect and defend what God entrusted to him, but he did nothing when the devil tempted Eve, the deacon said, and told listeners Satan is taking their families while they sit back and watch television. He urged them to go to confession and be purified.
“God can still use us for his glory,” he maintained; “we just have to say, ‘Yes.’”
Telling about David fighting the scornful Goliath (I Sam 17), he listed “Goliaths” taunting people today, including alcohol, fear, anger and depression.
David couldn’t fight Goliath with the world’s weapons, but chose five stones, which the deacon connected with the rosary, one of the forms of prayer Catholics can use to respond to evil today.
“We have an arsenal of [spiritual] weapons,” he shouted. “Pick one and fight.”
At Mass, Catholics build spiritual muscle to win in the world, where they’re up against abortion, assisted suicide, redefinition of marriage and youth leaving the Church, among other things, he said.
Addressing transgenderism, Deacon Burke-Sivers said, “We are called to love each ... of our brothers and sisters” with Jesus’ heart. “We judge actions; we never judge people,” and love them enough not to lie to them and must help them feel comfortable in their own bodies.
Jesus said his truth will set people free, the deacon noted, and gave information linked with transgenderism, including children growing out of a desire to change their gender, sex changes being irreversible and suicide rates being higher after transitioning.
Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar tried to brainwash captured young Israelites, the deacon said, likening stories from the book of Daniel to today’s culture, where, he said, mobile devices and education are misused, and youth focus on how many social media “likes” they get.
He told how some Israelites refused to worship a Babylonian idol, even when threatened with death, and God saved them. Then Nebuchadnezzar realized there was no god like their God (Daniel 3).
The deacon called on men’s conference participants to bear witness to their own faith like that.
“We can’t stay here,” he said at one point. “At the end, you have to go home and tell everyone what God has done for you.”