Homily

About a week ago a man, who was once an editor of a respected and largely Catholic magazine, came out with an essay that was published in Commonweal Magazine. Now this writer has always been considered to be an orthodox Catholic man so his piece surprised many people. He wrote about a friend he has, or had, in New York who will no longer see him or return his messages because the friend is homosexual and the writer is Catholic. The "friend" is so angry at the Catholic Church because of, he says, its treatment of gay people that he can't even stand anyone who would belong to such a Church. I am assuming this former friend of his was not a big believer in tolerance or diversity.

But where the author really caught my eye was when he wrote,

"We are now at the point where, I believe American Catholics should accept state recognition of same-sex marriage laws simply because they are American. And because campaigns against such laws are hurting the church, offering the opportunity to make Catholicism a byword for repression, in a generation that, even among young Catholics, just doesn't think same sex activity is worth fighting about."

In a later interview, he said:

"What's changed is my encounter with young people, or what has changed me is my encounter with young people. My reading of the rising generation of Catholic bloggers...these are 20-somethings. They're out of college, they're serious Catholics [...] and they're saying, "Look I understand the theology and I accept the theology but I have a [...] crisis, because here in front of me are these people who are growing [...] to see the Catholic Church as the image and the focus[...] for all oppression of homosexuals."

Absolutely astounding! I would love to talk with these young people who are serious Catholics and, according to the writer, understand the Church's theology and accept it, and ask why they are only worried about how some people either misunderstand, or do not know, or do not care to know, or do know but totally reject the Church's teaching on this issue, and not only this issue, but are totally negative on many, if not all the Church's teaching on sexual behavior, and not only that but also the Church's teaching on marriage, family life and even the understanding of the true dignity of the human person. I do not understand why popular opinion is considered to be so very important that if it runs counter to the teachings of Christ, we should probably keep quiet about it, or even maybe deny it so that people won't be angry at the Church, or end up hating the Church. It seems as though in the era of Facebook, if people aren't willing to click on, "Like," how can it be true or important? Popular opinion has often become the primary source for deciding whether or not something is true or good. You can see that on a daily basis on the internet where countless articles are accompanied by little boxes that seek your opinion about the event the article described, because the goodness or the truth of everything depends on popular opinion.

Now, dear friends, is it possible that popular opinion can be molded and shaped by influential people and their ability to use the media to spread and reinforce their ideas? I think it is. I could run through a number of issues with you and I'm pretty sure you could all tell me how you are "supposed" to think about them if you want to be considered smart, compassionate and not a hateful bigot. These forces who work popular opinion as a tool to be manipulated are so successful that a large section of America cannot say when human life begins, or they cannot say that unborn human beings are as important and as equal to the women who carry those lives within them. That is a pretty important shaping of public opinion and it has been largely effective for the past 40 years.

Then there are those who reject the teaching of Christ because it goes against how they want to live, or else it goes against how a family member, relative or friend is living. The question is not about whether my behavior is in line with Christ's truth. Instead Christ's truth must correspond to my behavior, or my loved one's behavior, no matter what 2,000 years of understanding and preaching tell us. How is it that we have come to a place where ethics, morality and the understanding of what a good life is all about, are not to be found in the teachings of Christ, but rather in my own personal opinion and fleshed out in my personal desires. How is it that we have come to a place where, in an ever-increasing number of areas, if you hold a different moral value, you must be labeled as a hateful bigot who has lost credibility in the public square? I do not believe in the Gospel because, in my opinion, it is true. I believe in the Gospel because that is where I find truth. I think there is a difference.

I bring this up again because I realize the pressure that you are under all the time out there, in so many different ways to conform to and accept ideas and behaviors that are contrary to faith—and that if you will not accept them, at least you should keep your mouths shut about them.

I think of the persecutions that took place in the first two centuries of the Church. Many thousands were killed, others were tortured and imprisoned, others had their lands and properties stolen from them, and there was often a great deal of prejudice and even hatred for Christians especially among the educated and the wealthy because Christians just would not accept all the behaviors that the general public thought were acceptable and good. In fact the Church itself was often portrayed as a secret, blood-thirsty sect of depraved and immoral people who were enemies of the state and the "normal people" of the empire.

The Church did not continue to grow because it changed its message to conform to the values of those who were in power. It did not grow because it kept quiet about moral truth that might have rubbed people the wrong way. The Church did not grow because it worried about popular opinion. The Church grew because it preached the Gospel of Christ, and because it guided and helped its members to live within that divinely revealed truth, despite opposition and even in the face of public trials and executions.

The writer and his gay friend—why is he more concerned about what the man thinks about the Church than he is about how he can win him over to the Church? The young people he is concerned about—why are they more concerned about people calling the Church oppressive than they are about helping people see the freedom we have in Christ?

It seems to me that Our Lord was not concerned about public opinion or what the leading figures in Palestine thought about Him or His teaching. It seems to me he faced a certain amount of hostility, that some called Him an agent of Satan and that the highest authorities in the land had Him executed. We risk criticism, rejection and even hatred for our beliefs. Then let us face it, and not turn away; because our goal is to continue to spread His work throughout the world. And what is His work? He says in today's Gospel,

"The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring glad tidings to the poor. He has sent me to proclaim liberty to captives and recovery of sight to the blind, and to let the oppressed go free, and to proclaim a year acceptable to the Lord."

And, my friends, there is no shame or hatred in that—only life and truth which the world cannot give. Let us continue to stand with Our Lord, Jesus Christ and follow Him alone.