Love him or hate him, admire him or despise him, everyone who has ever heard of or known Charlie Kirk can agree on one thing: He was a Christian.
Kirk loved Jesus, and he was not afraid to evangelize during his open-air debates on college campuses around the country.
He posted on X, just days before his life was taken from us by an assassin’s bullet, Sept. 10, “Jesus defeated death so you can live.”
“I mean, I’m nothing without Jesus,” Kirk told Russell Brand last year. “I’m a sinner. I fall incredibly short of the glory of God. We all do. I gave my life to the Lord in fifth grade, and it’s the most important decision I’ve ever made and everything I do incorporates Jesus Christ.”
Kirk said, “We are seeing Gen Z go back to church in record numbers. We are seeing a Christian revival that should give everyone in this audience hope. It’s the greatest news happening in America right now.”
Cardinal Timothy Dolan recognized Kirk’s faith in a Friday interview on “Fox & Friends.” He called the assassination of Kirk a spiritual awakening for young people in America.
“He was a missionary, he’s an evangelist, he’s a hero. He’s one I think that knew what Jesus meant when he said the truth will set you free,” Dolan said.
“As St. Augustine said, ‘No, it’s not something missing. It’s someone missing.’ I think that’s what Charlie said. He wasn’t afraid to talk about the Lord. He wasn’t even afraid to say the name of Jesus,” Dolan added.
“The weakest argument is ad hominem. When you begin to attack the person…then you know you’ve lost it… The compelling nature of a rational argument has faded, so you begin to attack the person, ” Dolan said.
The Archbishop of New York compared Kirk to a “modern-day St. Paul.”
Over Labor Day Weekend, Connie and I traveled north to Madison, Wisc. to help our daughter, Abby, settle into a new apartment. She had just moved back from Geneva, Switzerland, where she was working at CERN on her Doctorate in Physics through the University of Wisconsin at Madison.
On Sunday, we attended Mass at Saint Paul’s Catholic Student Center. They hold four masses on Sundays: 9:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 6:00 p.m., and 8:30 p.m. We wanted to start early with a full schedule of work on Abby’s apartment, so we chose the 9:30 Mass to attend.
We arrived about 15 minutes early. That was a mistake. I forgot my experience attending the Newman Center in Columbia during my youth at the University of Missouri. In the early 1980s, if you didn’t arrive 20 to 30 minutes early, you didn’t get a seat.
At St. Paul’s, we were seated in the front row, one of the last open pews. The last to arrive had to stand. The church was packed, and it wasn’t Christmas or Easter.
We were both surprised and pleased. At St. Paul’s, most young ladies were wearing dresses; some wore veils. Many young men wore sport coats and ties. In khakis and a print shirt, I almost felt out of place.
I have never been at a Mass with more reverence than St. Paul’s. Two priests gave out communion, which lasted 15 to 20 minutes. Many students knelt before the priest to receive the Body of Christ.
A large student choir accompanied by a beautiful pipe organ provided the music. Practically everyone in the congregation sang along, with participation comparable to a college football game.
After 90 minutes, the celebrating priest gave the final blessing, and everyone stayed to sing each verse of the recessional hymn. As we exited, we could not help but notice several students still praying in the pews. Before leaving the building, we were met by students entering for the 11:30 Mass, no doubt to get a good seat.
It was powerful. This was not our first experience attending Mass on a college campus.
Our middle son and his wife, Ethan and Hillary, lived in South Bend, Ind., for three years. We were fortunate enough to attend Mass more than once at the Basilica of the Sacred Heart at the University of Notre Dame.
There, we experienced the same reverence and celebration as St. Paul’s.
If you ever worry about the future of Christianity with our young adults, my suggestion is to attend Mass (or another service) at a college, it just might awaken your spirit.
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