A Companion of the Cross
It was almost a year ago when I ran across an exhibition of relics on the internet that was being sponsored by a community of priests and brothers called “Companions of the Cross.” I don’t know why but at the time I was deeply drawn to them so I started looking over their site at http://www.companionscross.org/. I had been discerning a calling to join a lay apostolate for some time (year’s in-fact) and had tried The Holy Name Society but they are a failing confraternity whose members would not help me in bringing the order to AR. It hurt me deeply to have given almost a year of my life over to them and to have performed services for them yet received no cooperation in spreading the message of Jesus and His Holy Name across Central Arkansas.
A few months later I made my decision to call the Companions of the Cross and see just what they had to say. I first spoke with a woman named Mary and she was a great help in explaining to me just what this Order was all about and she sent me some material from their late founder Fr. Bob Bedard who in my opinion was an extraordinary man. It seems as though he not only left behind a great personal legacy but left everyone whose life he touched forever the better for it. So far in all of the reading I have done I have yet to hear anything negative from this man and all the advice of his has proved to be of great value. I must also compliment Mary on the personal interest she has shown and she truly cares about the lives of our members. Here is another person I have yet to hear anything negative from and believe me, I look closely at people and notice these traits. My paternal grandfather, God bless him and rest his soul never once in my life time ever said anything negative about anyone or about anyone’s life and that’s a hell of a statement to make about someone. There are many things in this life I have aspired to be and these traits are at the top of the list.
Well a few weeks later and many phone conversations with Mary I finally received the phone call from Fr. Terry Donahue and I made my promise as a lay associate and I cannot tell you how overjoyed I was at this. For the first time in my life I felt as though I were a real part of something, a family if you will and I for one plan on making the most of it. I realize I have a lot of reading and learning to do along with a lot of evangelization if I wish the men of my parish and those that I do business with as a sales rep for Lighthouse Catholic Media to stand up and take notice of this wonderful order. So many of us just don’t even know what’s going on around us it’s a crying shame but I am going to do my very best to shine like that beacon on the hill, an example of what it means to be a Companion of the Cross.
I have read that Fr. Bob said “we are going through a crisis of faith” and that the only way to turn this around is through evangelization. Why do the Protestant Churches continue to grow, and to grow into these “Mega-Churches” we see? It is because they are out there involved in the community and they are evangelizing. We Catholics have become so complacent that we rely simply on our shear number to carry us from generation to generation. I am telling you, this will not hold true forever. Pope Benedict IV sees this and has called for evangelization and now it is the duty, the responsibility of every Catholic to do this. Oh I hear many saying that they don’t know where to begin but I am telling you that you can start in your own backyard.
When was the last time you really spoke of your faith with a family member? I do not mean an argument or just words in passing but about the depth of your faith. How about your neighbors, a fellow parish member? Many of us just don’t do this and many of the people we talk to really do not wish to take the time to involve themselves in a deep conversation. We just don’t have time for God anymore do we? So what is it we should do?
First off we must become faithful to the Word of God and to the traditions of Holy Mother Church. Then we must find a place where we can share these things and difficult it may be I promise you it can be done. You can find a Bible study somewhere; you can volunteer at a soup kitchen or food pantry. You can find street missionaries and share your faith or maybe you could just tell someone one day that you care about the and even love them with the eyes of Christ.
I have recently started a Prison Ministry and a Legacy Foundation; I am a stage 4 pancreatic patient/survivor and am very proud to have my family of The Companions of the Cross with me as I go about bringing the Word of God into some dismal places and uplifting the terminally ill. God loves us all no matter what and His love is unconditional. When I begin my preaching of the Word I know that this family is with me in all that I do and this alone gives me, a lowly sinner the power to go on. When they pump me full of chemo and I become ill I know I can go on because of those who stand with me and wish me only the best. I would love to travel to Houston one day soon to see the men there and spend some time with them getting to know them and to gain a deeper understanding of our calling. For me now I must go it alone but I know they are with me and together we can and will spread the Word of God in many places to many people.
I know that this cancer will take me one day and all I can think about are the words of our Lord Jesus Christ when he said: “A man can have no greater love than to lay down his life for his friends.” And this is what I am going to live by until that day comes when I can go on no longer.
Yes, today I have a home and a family and that is what it means to me to be A Companion of the Cross.
May God Bless you all and may your prayers be answered by our Father in Heaven, the author of all of creation.
Sincerely in Christ Jesus
Wm. (Bill) Karabinus
Lay Associate, Companions of the Cross
**The Living Through Faith Foundation**
**Central Arkansas Prison Ministries**
