Plants vs. Zombies… The Living Dead… Resident Evil… Zombie Tsunami…
Warm Bodies and World War Z… Why is there such a craze over zombies or living ‘dead people?’ Why would something gross, distasteful and terrifying be so marketable to the general public?
As far as movies and video games are concerned, battling aliens and other imagined-of-creatures are not as strangely appealing as fighting a more familiar ‘being’ that is human except that they are living-dead and brain-eating villains. Moreover, a zombie scenario isn’t supposed to offend our sensibilities since we won’t be shooting or slaughtering anyone we personally know or love.
Horror for zombies isn’t so much for what they are, but what they represent: that is, inevitability of death. Although this isn’t what movies and games attempt to market, these monsters represent our greatest natural and unavoidable fear of dying. Oh, they also show what the expensive funeral make-up and tuxedo attire will look like after a few days.
Christians should not fear death because our Lord assures us with His own Resurrection that death has only a temporal and physical effect on man. The effects of Death has been healed with our Lord’s sacrifice on the Cross. We now possess the hope of rising spiritually again with Christ, and one day physically resurrect on the Last Judgment.
Genuine Christians are like soldiers who are prepared for the moment of death. This moment, however, is not the mere event of death itself, but more importantly what occurs after it: our entry into everlasting life as a reward for our love and faithfulness, or condemnation into hell-fire if we have chosen to love ourselves over God and neighbor instead. This is what we must be prepared for more than just the fact of dying itself.
We prepare for this through what is we call the ascetical life. It is the loving engagement to the task of dynamically and fruitfully living one’s faith through prayer, sacrifice, work and the sacraments. All these are simultaneously carried out with a sportive, cheerful and optimistic spirit that launches one to bring others to the same love of Christ and His Church. Unfortunately, there are the so-called Christian zombies. If we define zombies to be living-dead because they are supposed to be ‘dead’ but are alive due to some evil life-force, then Christian zombies are those who are ‘living in the world’ but are ‘dead’ in their faith because they lack the vitalizing works faith and love.
St. Paul, admonished the early Christian community against this ‘zombie existence’ when he referred to self-indulgent widows. In his first letter to Timothy he says: “Honor widows who are real widows.
(…) She who is a real widow, and is left all alone, has set her hope on God and continues in supplications and prayers night and day.”
However, he said, “She who is self-indulgent is dead even while she lives.”
Perhaps, these are the zombies that we ought to really fear because they endanger our faith and can also transform us into ‘zombies’ if we are not vigilant. It is not easy to detect their ‘undead state’ of faith, because they have many manifestations. But how does one reach this point of a ‘living-dead faith’? Or what could have infected them to live their faith in a lukewarm or external manner?
I believe, among other principal causes, it can be traced to what we can call ‘alpha Christian zombies.’ These are Christians who claim to have a profound spiritual experience and theological formation.
Externally they display great piety, sobriety, wisdom and even an inexhaustible charity towards their lesser brethren. They have unfortunately taken a presumptuous position of not faithfully binding themselves to the true and enlightening teachings of the Church’s
Magisterium.
Their ideas and advice are meant to only ‘inspire’ because they fear that giving clear doctrinal and moral directives may only hamper the Christian beginner’s personal journey of faith. Thus, for example, they would say that being Catholic is compatible with practicing contraception, or that for pastoral reasons certain immoral acts may be simply tolerated, that there isn’t really any mortal or grave sin as long as we are convinced of God’s love and mercy for us, and that what matters more are our ‘feelings,’ etc.
Simple Christians who approach such ‘alpha zombies’ for counsel are easily led astray and in turn start to live a lax faith. They then resign themselves to a half-baked commitment and to the external practice of religion. These naturally then infect their families and professional colleagues who also lack formation and fall prey to a ‘zombie Christian lifestyle.’
Since these lack the true foundations and ingredients for a fruitful life of faith, they are immediately consumed by the materials concerns of the world and the flesh. They become like the self-indulgent widows St. Paul warned the first Christians, who can easily corrode the unity of the community’s faith and compromise apostolic endeavors.
The cure? Luckily, this zombie-like condition of a Christian is immediately annulled by a sincere practice of one’s faith and especially by having constant recourse to the sacrament of reconciliation. The direct grace of Christ through this sacrament truly enlightens the intellect, inflames the will and heals the heart.
And the person will also receive the proper advice to gradually arrest the symptoms of lukewarmness in his soul. Finally, they must put themselves to the urgent task of ‘walking in their faith’ and ‘waking’ up others with the light of the faith and love of Christ in their lives.