St Christopher and I, The Marked Man

I've been working on the Knights of Columbus Faith Formation Home Study Course this year.  It's a free correspondence course for everyone.  You do not need to be a Knight for enrollment (though I'd encourage any man to join).  https://www.kofc.org/en/contact/correspondence-course.html

When I received my Eagle Scout award, that was the first time I heard the expression "A Marked Man".  It came during the part of the ceremony where the presenter reminds you of your duties to God, Country, Others, and Self; because as an Eagle Scout, people will expect more of you.  They'll expect you to be an ethical person, who lives life following the Scout Law.

This phrase appeared again in Lesson 6 of this series.  "The one who reads this booklet is most likely a marked man."  People expect more of godly men, and that is not an unfair burden.  It's one thing to proclaim Christ, but unless you live your life for him, your words will ring hollow to others ears.

I am a marked man, I bear a burden of responsibility to others and myself.  This is a burden upon which I'm named, Christopher, meaning the bearer of Christ.  Just as Reprobus carried Christ across a river, I carry Christ in my heart.  When the burden seems to heavy, the words of Christ in Matthew 11:28-30 reminds me:

Come to me, all of you that labour, and are burdened, and I will refresh you.  Take up my yoke upon you, and learn of me, because I Am meek, and humble of heart: and you shall find rest to your souls.  For my yoke is sweet and my burden light.