One of my most moving moments of the year came the Saturday morning I interviewed Father Douglas Bazi. It was just before he would celebrate Mass in the Chaldean rite, mere yards from the White House, in a chapel at the Catholic Information Center in Washington, D.C.

Born in Iraq, he prayed the Mass, including the Lord’s Prayer, in the language Jesus spoke, Aramaic. He did so after explaining to me that religious faith is not just about where one worships, as some politicians have been wont to say in recent years. “It is not just about … worshipping God in the churches, but showing our Christianity outside the churches,” he told me. It’s about risking your life if that’s what circumstances call for, because that is the call of the Gospel.

Bazi had wanted to be a pilot growing up, but when he saw a friend follow the call to the priesthood, he realized he might do the same. He’s always loved people, he told me, and the great privilege of his life is to be and “instrument” of God in helping others do the same. He is hesitant to talk about himself in these terms, so humbled he is that God would choose him for love in this way.

Listening to Father Bazi, I was reminded how crucial it is that Christianity and its influence remain in the Middle East region if peaceful coexistence, as they say, is ever going to have a shot.

It so happened that I found myself in the position of having to apologize to Bazi, for the reactions of Americans to the plight of Christians in his homeland. Bazi himself was tortured at the hands of Islamic militants during a nine-day captivity in 2006. I also thanked him for remaining strong and steadfast in his faith.

He said two things in reply: “When people tell me, ‘You are really living the real faith,’ I explain to them that we are simply following our path.” Looking me in the eye, he said, “You would do the same.” This a reminder that God can do amazing things if we trust Him to. That faith is the “most important thing,” as Bazi puts it.

Listening to him, I was reminded how crucial it is that Christianity and its influence remain in the Middle East region if peaceful coexistence, as they say, is ever going to have a shot.

“I never blame God for what has happened,” he told me, echoing so many conversations I’ve had with Christians who have faced the reality of Islamic extremism face-to-face. “Who am I to complain about myself? Who is going to give me a right to complain to God? I’m not saying that I deserve (this treatment). But this is the cost to be Christian; to follow Jesus is not just carrying the cross.

“Jesus was smart,” he reflected. “He said carry the cross and follow.” To follow means action, he explained; to follow means perseverance and trust. And, clearly reflecting about his own time of torture as well as the uncertainty that so many who have fled the Islamic State are facing, he said: “When you are living through that bad event or tragic experience, the only thing that can make you survive is faith. In that moment, you will not remember how many certificates you have” or other accomplishments or credentials. He explains how you won’t question why you’re there, or where God is. Rather you will realize that in your faith He has made you “bigger than the situation.” Bazi recalls only desiring for his family and friends not to suffer in the same way or because of how he was suffering.

Bazi chooses love. And if more of us do that, and encourage and support others who do, some of the anger and accusation we’ve seen so much of might be alleviated. We might find ourselves rising above it and leading something beautiful. Bazi wouldn’t cause me to walk away feeling in any way responsible for his situation, but rather overwhelmed by his gratitude. There doesn’t seem an ounce of bitterness about him, this person who doesn’t present himself as anything special, anything more than a created being loved by his Creator, walking the walk set out for him in trust. Here at home, we could do more of the same.

Kathryn Jean Lopez is senior fellow at the National Review Institute, editor-at-large of National Review Online and founding director of Catholic Voices USA. She can be contacted at klopez@nationalreview.com.

COPYRIGHT 2016 United Feature Syndicate