In thinking about homosexuality and Catholic teaching it is critical to make the distinction between a person’s sexual orientation and a set of activities that two persons of the same sex might engage in.
Sexual orientation refers to which sex one is most strongly sexually attracted to. To the extent that sexual orientation is beyond someone’s control, sexual orientation by itself cannot be sinful. A person can be powerfully attracted to others of the same sex, and still be a good Christian, a thoroughly holy human being.
With respect to activities, marriage is the only context in which any kind of genital sexual relations between individuals can be morally appropriate. To engage in such relations outside of marriage is to commit a grave sin. As such, it endangers one’s relationship with other human beings and with God.
It amazes me how many people resist making the distinction between orientation and activities, but I have been in several conversations in which people have fought hard to ignore or blur it. They insist that to judge acts wrong is to judge other people or even that to call acts sinful is to engage in hate speech. To say that excessive drinking is wrong is not hate speech against alcoholics. To say that speeding through school zones is wrong is not hate speech against distracted people in a hurry. To uphold biblical and traditional Catholic teaching on sexual morality is not judging anyone or hate speech against anyone.
A person who has a homosexual orientation, has a particular kind of temptation toward a particular kind of sin. A part of their Christian walk is to deal with that temptation among the many others that everyone faces. We all pray for God’s help in dealing with temptation, and we all beg for God’s forgiveness should we succumb. We are all called to carry our particular crosses and to unite our sacrifices with that of Jesus.
Under no circumstances is it right to discriminate against someone with a homosexual orientation. Nor does it help to hang labels on people. You could label me "male," "overweight," workaholic," or many other things, but I hope you don’t. I don’t want to be a category. I want to be a person. Everybody has a right to be treated as a person, not a category, not a thing.
I know a number of Catholic people who have a homosexual orientation. Each of the people I know works hard to be a good Christian, struggles with issues of right and wrong, has a life filled with happiness and sorrow, pain and joy. Each deserves to be treated like every other Catholic.
Monday, June 29, 2009
Thursday, June 25, 2009
A Priest's "Powers"
A week or two ago I received an e-mail from someone seeking to debunk the idea that Jesus is really present in the Eucharist. It started out by explaining that Catholics believe priests have the "power" to turn bread and wine into the body and blood of Jesus.
Such a statement hints at a quite basic misunderstanding of sacraments and of the role of the priest in the Catholic faith. But it's a misunderstanding that some Catholics may share, so it's really worth thinking about carefully.
In Matthew 18:20 Jesus is quoted as saying, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Does that mean that any two or three of us has the power to force Jesus to be present in a particular place at a particular time? Well, in a sense it does, but that doesn't mean we have power over Jesus. It means that Jesus is faithful, and we can depend on him to do what he has promised. In the sense that we serve a powerful God and have been sent a powerful savior, it might be useful at times to think of ourselves as powerful. Our love can be powerful. Even our suffering can be powerful when we join it with Jesus’ suffering. But it would be a terrible misconception to think of priests or any Christians as having occult powers – powers to do magic, to direct God, etc.
When a priest speaks for us the words of consecration, "This is my body" and "This is my blood," Jesus, who asked us to "do this in memory of me," (Luke 22:19) makes the priest's words true. It is the priest speaking the words, but it is Jesus acting. It is the faithfulness of Jesus, even the power of Jesus, not any "power" the priest has that changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord.
The ordination of a priest makes him special more in the sense of being given special responsibilities – for example, it is the priest and only the priest who will serve the community by celebrating the Mass and by extending God’s forgiveness for sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation – than in the sense of being given "powers."
Faith that Jesus is really present in the consecrated bread and wine is one of the oldest and most fundamental of Christian beliefs. It is amazing that Jesus gives himself so completely for us and gives himself so completely to us. It is amazing that Jesus gives to the Church, with all our imperfections, the "power" to make him present in the world, but he does just that. In that sense, we are incredibly powerful, but only because we have a God who is so faithful and so wonderful.
Such a statement hints at a quite basic misunderstanding of sacraments and of the role of the priest in the Catholic faith. But it's a misunderstanding that some Catholics may share, so it's really worth thinking about carefully.
In Matthew 18:20 Jesus is quoted as saying, "For where two or three come together in my name, there am I with them." Does that mean that any two or three of us has the power to force Jesus to be present in a particular place at a particular time? Well, in a sense it does, but that doesn't mean we have power over Jesus. It means that Jesus is faithful, and we can depend on him to do what he has promised. In the sense that we serve a powerful God and have been sent a powerful savior, it might be useful at times to think of ourselves as powerful. Our love can be powerful. Even our suffering can be powerful when we join it with Jesus’ suffering. But it would be a terrible misconception to think of priests or any Christians as having occult powers – powers to do magic, to direct God, etc.
When a priest speaks for us the words of consecration, "This is my body" and "This is my blood," Jesus, who asked us to "do this in memory of me," (Luke 22:19) makes the priest's words true. It is the priest speaking the words, but it is Jesus acting. It is the faithfulness of Jesus, even the power of Jesus, not any "power" the priest has that changes the bread and wine into the body and blood of our Lord.
The ordination of a priest makes him special more in the sense of being given special responsibilities – for example, it is the priest and only the priest who will serve the community by celebrating the Mass and by extending God’s forgiveness for sins in the Sacrament of Reconciliation – than in the sense of being given "powers."
Faith that Jesus is really present in the consecrated bread and wine is one of the oldest and most fundamental of Christian beliefs. It is amazing that Jesus gives himself so completely for us and gives himself so completely to us. It is amazing that Jesus gives to the Church, with all our imperfections, the "power" to make him present in the world, but he does just that. In that sense, we are incredibly powerful, but only because we have a God who is so faithful and so wonderful.
Monday, June 15, 2009
Reflection on Manhood for National Man Day
Today has been designated by a group on Facebook, National Man Day. The effort is a bit tongue-in-cheek, and in addition to some intended silliness about blowing things up and slugging each other for no reason, there is some mention about living up to your responsibilities and being a good father. Good job as far as it goes, but it needs to go a lot farther.
The biggest mistake people make when they think about what it means to be a man is to contrast manhood with womanhood. To be a man, one says from this perspective, is not to be a woman.
This whole approach is misguided. To be a man is not to be a boy, especially an adolescent boy. To be a man is to say what you mean, to make commitments and live up to them, to do what is right even when it is inconvenient. To be a man is to have your hormones well enough under control that you can see women as human beings and not as objects. Thus, to be a man is to be beyond pornography, beyond sexism, and beyond exploitation of women because you’ve outgrown immature attitudes and behaviors.
Adolescent boys can be manipulated easily into spending money they don’t have to buy cars, beer, vacations, anything that will make them feel "like a man." Political leaders find it easy to sell war to adolescent boys. What could make you feel more "like a man" than making loud noises and engaging in combat?
Whole industries are at work seeking to keep boys from becoming real men. Anyone who has become a real man has fought to gain that status and has had a lot of help from good men giving manly, adult examples.
Thanks to the men’s groups at St. Mark’s, St. John’s, Our Lady of the Rosary, and others like them who are working so hard to become good, adult men and to provide good examples to others.
The biggest mistake people make when they think about what it means to be a man is to contrast manhood with womanhood. To be a man, one says from this perspective, is not to be a woman.
This whole approach is misguided. To be a man is not to be a boy, especially an adolescent boy. To be a man is to say what you mean, to make commitments and live up to them, to do what is right even when it is inconvenient. To be a man is to have your hormones well enough under control that you can see women as human beings and not as objects. Thus, to be a man is to be beyond pornography, beyond sexism, and beyond exploitation of women because you’ve outgrown immature attitudes and behaviors.
Adolescent boys can be manipulated easily into spending money they don’t have to buy cars, beer, vacations, anything that will make them feel "like a man." Political leaders find it easy to sell war to adolescent boys. What could make you feel more "like a man" than making loud noises and engaging in combat?
Whole industries are at work seeking to keep boys from becoming real men. Anyone who has become a real man has fought to gain that status and has had a lot of help from good men giving manly, adult examples.
Thanks to the men’s groups at St. Mark’s, St. John’s, Our Lady of the Rosary, and others like them who are working so hard to become good, adult men and to provide good examples to others.
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