Hook, Line and Stinker

From St. Superman
Finding God.

The only way to go.
Many have found Him in spite of the Legion.
Regarding the Legion of Christ
July 14, 2009 by Brian Visaggio

Ah, the Legion. When I joined the Church, I’d heard about ‘em. I heard stellar, amazing things: an order that took Christianity seriously, didn’t mess around, and was growing by leaps and bounds, every single day. To me, at least, they were Norse gods, figures of legend, the bloody Jedi. I was young and inexperienced and barely knew a thing about what it really meant to know and follow God, but as far as I could tell, as far as taking the Gospel at its word, nobody beat the Legion. I contemplated joining them for a period, and was even in contact with their vocations director. He was a nice guy, if I recall, and very earnest. I was amazed at the level of their asceticism, in that the only possession each member had was simply a crucifix. My God, to be so devoted to Jesus that that was all you needed! I was — and am — wrapped up in music and media that I would have difficulty handing over. And so I stopped calling them, stopped responding to emails, because I knew I could never be that hardcore. And doncha know, I still feel guilty over it. I feel guilty at not being able to do it That’s ridiculous, but it’s true.

The Legion really had this elevated place in, at least, the more conservative wing of the Church to which I belonged. In Bud Macfarlane’s books — ya know, that pillar of the Catholic faith who ended up abandoning his wife — the Legion was presented as the last sound order out there, some amazing and stupendous wonder filled with the Holy Spirit. And I bought it. I fell for it. Hook, line, and sinker. And now that it’s been slowly leaking out that the organization was, in fact, vile, I feel like I was personally hoodwinked, hoodwinked by the giant machine built up around it.