Does everyone remember Chuck Norris facts? They came out a few years ago and my brothers and I loved them. Since today we’re talking about men, I thought I’d start off with a few of my favourites:

• Fear of spiders is arachnophobia, fear of tight spaces is claustrophobia, fear of Chuck Norris is logic.
• Chuck Norris has a grizzly bear carpet in his room. The bear isn’t dead, it’s just afraid to move.
• Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming ‘Law and Order’ are trademarked names for his left and right legs.
• Chuck Norris is the reason why Waldo is hiding.
• Chuck Norris once threw a grenade and killed 50 people, then the grenade exploded.
• When someone goes to attack Chuck Norris, the police call it in as a Code 10-56… a suicide.

I bring it up because men are supposed to be strong. Women too are strong, but in a different way; one need only think of child-birth. “Perhaps the only time Hollywood portrays a hero as being unfit is when the movie is a comedy. It seems laughable that a real man would lack strength” (Jason Evert, Theology of His Body, 5).

Just like the beauty of women, our culture recognizes the value and goodness of strength, but doesn’t see it properly. There’s an emphasis on being big and muscular, especially in our upper body and arms, and sometimes we like to show it. Now let me say right away that physical strength is great—it’s a gift from God. If we use it to serve, help and protect people, then that’s great. I believe we should exercise and build our strength, but for the right reasons (not for vanity or selfishness) and not to the neglect of something more important.

But the kind of strength we see in the media is shallow: the classic portrayal of a man is James Bond, who’s smart, tough, got the gadgets and the women. But if we look more deeply, he’s superficial and a womanizer. No one would ever really want to be married to James Bond. Likewise, many of our superheroes are quite often immature boys with powers and weapons; they’re drifters with muscles. They use their strength for themselves or reluctantly for others.

Do you remember the sitcom Cheers? I really enjoyed a lot of the writing and the characters. But, one time, I was watching Ted Danson (who played Sam on the show) talk about his character: he said Sam is really a “superficial” guy. That was a surprise for me because I never thought of the character like this. In my mind, he was funny and enjoyable to watch, and a nice guy! But, when I thought about Danson’s comment, I realized he was right: one of the most popular TV characters is actually shallow and a womanizer.

Today in the Gospel St. John the Baptist sees Jesus and exclaims “Look, here is the Lamb of God!” This refers to the fact that Jesus will offer Himself as a sacrifice for us—this is one of the marks of a man’s strength: he sacrifices himself for others.

Just like we said about true beauty, true masculine strength is interior. If we take the evidence for the shroud of Turin to be authentic, that it’s the actual burial shroud of Jesus, then we know Jesus was 5’11” and in good physical shape. I was reflecting on this and realized that I’m taller than Jesus! (But, of course, He’s stronger than I.) Isn’t interesting that He could have come as 7’0” with a body like the Governator? What’s He trying to tell us by the fact that He came as 5’11”? Maybe He’s saying that true strength is interior, it’s our character.

When we watch the movie “The Passion of the Christ,” we see Jesus’ physical strength: no man could take such a beating except Jesus: add to that, the abandonment, the betrayals, the sweating of blood, the taking on of our sins. More importantly, we see His interior strength: did He respond in anger or resentment, did He give up trust in His Father? No. He had complete confidence.

Two of my favourite quotes from St. John’s Gospel show Jesus’ strength. 1) Jesus says, “For this reason the Father loves me, because I lay down my life, that I may take it again. No one takes it from me, but I lay it down of my own accord. I have power to lay it down, and I have power to take it again” (Jn 10:17-18). 2) During Jesus’ interrogation, Pilate says to Him, “Do you not know that I have power to release you, and power to crucify you?” And Jesus responds with absolute strength: “You would have no power over me unless it had been given you from above” (Jn 19:10-11).

I’ve been with my spiritual director for 14 years. He’s not at all athletic or physically strong (I once saw him throw a very wimpy punch), but he is strong. Despite the fact that he’s brilliant (speaking five languages or so) and wise, he isn’t a show-off; on the contrary, he’s very humble. He’s also very gentle: I’ve told him almost every bad thing I’ve ever done and he has never condemned me. If I say something that’s not quite right, he’ll call me on it in a real gentle way (e.g. “That doesn’t make sense.”). And he’s not afraid of telling people things they don’t want to hear.

It takes strength to be gentle, strength to do what’s right even when most people don’t do it. You see, we’re usually worried about what others think about us. For example, we’re afraid of talking about abortion or sexuality because we might hurt people’s feelings or be politically incorrect. We’re more interested in being liked by others than being liked by God, more interested in doing what’s popular than what’s right.

If you read “Rediscover Catholicism,” there’s a great section on St. Thomas More, who was a brilliant lawyer, tutor to King Henry VIII, and Lord Chancellor of England. In 1534, he was imprisoned at 56 for refusing sign Act of Supremacy. “Henry VIII wanted to divorce his wife, Catherine of Aragon, and marry Anne Boleyn, so he petitioned the Pope for an annulment. But… the request was denied … As a result, Henry decided to separate the Church in England from the Church in Rome, and by an Act of Parliament, appoint himself the Supreme Head of the Church in England. It was this Act that Thomas More refused to sign and support” (99). Why did the King want St. Thomas’ approval? He had others’, but did he want More’s? It was because their approval was useless, because they have no character; they followed the crowd and said what’s popular. Everyone, however, knew St. Thomas to be a man of character and virtue and so his approval would have been worth something.

Most people would have given in to the king, but St. Thomas “refused to compromise himself. The greatest possession a person has is his own immortal soul … The oath of a man willing to perjure himself is not worth having, because we sense that he has no self to commit … Most men and women can be bought and bought quite cheaply… with money, power, status, or possessions… pleasure… knowledge, or fame” or peer pressure.

The movie about St. Thomas, A Man for All Seasons, has two great scenes showing his character. In one scene, his friend, the Duke of Norfolk, who had already given in to the pressure of signing the oath, tries to persuade St. Thomas to give in as well. He says to Thomas, “Why can’t you do as I did, and come with us, for fellowship?” And St. Thomas replies, “And when we die, and you are sent to heaven for doing your conscience and I am sent to hell for not doing mine, will you come with me, for fellowship?”

In the second scene, even his daughter Meg tries to persuade him to give in. She suggests to him a possible way of saving his neck: “Say the words of the oath and in your heart think otherwise.” But he can’t do this: “Listen, Meg. When a man takes an oath, he’s holding his own self in his own hands like water. And if he opens his fingers then, he needn’t hope to find himself again. Some men aren’t capable of this, but I’d be loathed to think your father one of them.” This is real strength: to do what’s right even when everyone gives in. To die for truth. I wish I had this kind of strength.

It’s fitting that since we started off with Chuck Norris jokes, we should end with some:

• Chuck Norris has already been to Mars; that’s why there are no signs of life.
• Chuck Norris once got bit by a rattle snake. After three days of excruciating pain and agony the rattle snake died.
• Chuck Norris turned down the Terminator role because he hates chick flicks.
• Chuck Norris destroyed the periodic table because he only recognizes the element of surprise.
• There is no theory of evolution, just a list of creatures Chuck Norris has allowed to live.

When Chuck was interviewed about the popularity of the jokes, he said this: “The life you see on this planet is really just a list of creatures God has allowed to live … There is a God… who made you and me … By the way, without Him, I don’t have any power. But with Him, the Bible tells me, I really can do all things—and so can you.”

I want to affirm the men here: you have what it takes; with God’s help, we can be truly strong. Real strength is interior.