Isn't that a little...extreme?

A woman, kneeling down to pray as she took part in the vigil today, was accosted by a driver.

"Isn't that a little...extreme?" asked the driver. "What about the Resurrection? You should stand up!"

Then she pressed down on the accelerator and drove off.

In a world where suffering is something we medicate, and prayer is something allocated to the deepest corner of private life, far from the public eye so that no one be made to feel uncomfortable -- horror of horrors! -- is it to be wondered at that we be urged not to kneel?

By "extreme", do we mean "the greatest or highest degree"? By "extreme", do we mean "drastic"? What is the scale on which we measure? Shall we not measure it against the Cross? We cannot understand the Resurrection without the Crucifixion. Nor can we have any hope of victory in this battle against evil unless we recognize that the Cross is itself our victory. A bloody, painful victory. An EXTREME victory.

Gaze upon the crucified Lord, with the suffering of the infant martyrs held close upon your heart. Is not life itself worth a few knee callouses?

"I am now rejoicing in my sufferings for your sake, and in my flesh I am completing what is lacking in Christ’s afflictions for the sake of his body, that is, the church. I became its servant according to God’s commission that was given to me for you, to make the word of God fully known, the mystery that has been hidden throughout the ages and generations but has now been revealed to his saints." (Colossians 1:24-26)