Homily
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time B
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
When it comes to sexuality, there can be little question that the Catholic Church has the most natural, organic view of sexuality that is out there. Even those who would say that same-sex marriage is natural, based in genetics and biology, must admit that there is no natural, organic way for a same-sex couple to have children. Not every marriage entails children, to be sure, but neither can children be eliminated as an important component of the definition of marriage. We see same-sex couples all the time in the news getting married in order to try to have children. Yet in a same-sex marriage, children can only be manufactured artificially. Such children, without saying anything negative about their beauty or dignity, which of course is not decreased whatsoever by how they were conceived, cannot be conceived in a completely natural way.
Somehow we've gotten to the point in our moral thinking where chastity has become the most unnatural thing imaginable, even though the virtue of chastity, which is having sex only in the most self-sacrificial and most fruitful way possible, entails no artificial processes whatsoever. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that popping hormones and wrapping ourselves in prophylactics is more natural and organic than saving sex for marriage. There are too many who feel comfortable in a world where it is taboo to eat artificial foods but increasingly necessary for all people to use artificial contraception.
Trust me, it's not the most fun thing for a preacher to revisit the same issues of abortion, artificial contraception, and same-sex marriage, over and over and over. Yet it does more damage, I'm afraid, to pretend that these issues will go away, or to pretend that our Church will eventually cave-in to the moral norms of the culture. It perhaps cannot be said enough that the Church cannot and will not change her moral teaching on abortion, artificial contraception or same-sex marriage, as grounded as her moral tradition is in the law of nature and in the law of Christ. It should be easy to see that these three issues are organically and naturally tied together, and if we can count on anything in the future, we can count on the Church being consistent and strong in her moral teachings. There is no way for the Church to be anything else. The Church will never stop demanding that children have a right to be conceived and nurtured in the most organic way possible, within the loving and natural embrace of a man and woman who have pledged sacrificial fidelity to each other and to their children for life, and withinin a society where such a family is encouraged and supported. The Church refuses to cave in to a worldview that insists that its food is more organically conceived and nurtured than children.
This should not be a news flash to anyone who is trying to live the Church's teaching - being Catholic is not going to get any easier in the near term. I'm not predicting great persecutions or anything like that, but it doesn't take a genius to see that the Church and the culture are on a collision course. It is a battle that the Church didn't pick, but one that she can't shy away from either. By the Church of course I mean not only the magisterium, but also all of us, who must decide if we dare remain Catholic whether we are ready to weather the storm inside the Church or to actively know and promote the culture of life as part of the new evangelization of our Church. As Moses said and Jesus repeated - would that we would all be prophets - the more the better - and whoever is not against us, is for us. Jesus' hard sayings at the end of the Gospel show that in teaching hard things, and standing up for the truth about sex and marriage, requires pruning of ourselves and our Church. We must cut off those parts of ourselves that are afraid of being unpopular, for there seems to be no other choice. As we stand for these truths however, we do so as sinners ourselves, never passing judgment on another person. Being a Catholic means now, as much as ever, to stand with the truth in love, never compromising in the least, on either one. Amen.
26th Sunday in Ordinary Time B
St. Lawrence Catholic Campus Center at the University of Kansas
Daily Readings
When it comes to sexuality, there can be little question that the Catholic Church has the most natural, organic view of sexuality that is out there. Even those who would say that same-sex marriage is natural, based in genetics and biology, must admit that there is no natural, organic way for a same-sex couple to have children. Not every marriage entails children, to be sure, but neither can children be eliminated as an important component of the definition of marriage. We see same-sex couples all the time in the news getting married in order to try to have children. Yet in a same-sex marriage, children can only be manufactured artificially. Such children, without saying anything negative about their beauty or dignity, which of course is not decreased whatsoever by how they were conceived, cannot be conceived in a completely natural way.
Somehow we've gotten to the point in our moral thinking where chastity has become the most unnatural thing imaginable, even though the virtue of chastity, which is having sex only in the most self-sacrificial and most fruitful way possible, entails no artificial processes whatsoever. Somehow we have convinced ourselves that popping hormones and wrapping ourselves in prophylactics is more natural and organic than saving sex for marriage. There are too many who feel comfortable in a world where it is taboo to eat artificial foods but increasingly necessary for all people to use artificial contraception.
Trust me, it's not the most fun thing for a preacher to revisit the same issues of abortion, artificial contraception, and same-sex marriage, over and over and over. Yet it does more damage, I'm afraid, to pretend that these issues will go away, or to pretend that our Church will eventually cave-in to the moral norms of the culture. It perhaps cannot be said enough that the Church cannot and will not change her moral teaching on abortion, artificial contraception or same-sex marriage, as grounded as her moral tradition is in the law of nature and in the law of Christ. It should be easy to see that these three issues are organically and naturally tied together, and if we can count on anything in the future, we can count on the Church being consistent and strong in her moral teachings. There is no way for the Church to be anything else. The Church will never stop demanding that children have a right to be conceived and nurtured in the most organic way possible, within the loving and natural embrace of a man and woman who have pledged sacrificial fidelity to each other and to their children for life, and withinin a society where such a family is encouraged and supported. The Church refuses to cave in to a worldview that insists that its food is more organically conceived and nurtured than children.
This should not be a news flash to anyone who is trying to live the Church's teaching - being Catholic is not going to get any easier in the near term. I'm not predicting great persecutions or anything like that, but it doesn't take a genius to see that the Church and the culture are on a collision course. It is a battle that the Church didn't pick, but one that she can't shy away from either. By the Church of course I mean not only the magisterium, but also all of us, who must decide if we dare remain Catholic whether we are ready to weather the storm inside the Church or to actively know and promote the culture of life as part of the new evangelization of our Church. As Moses said and Jesus repeated - would that we would all be prophets - the more the better - and whoever is not against us, is for us. Jesus' hard sayings at the end of the Gospel show that in teaching hard things, and standing up for the truth about sex and marriage, requires pruning of ourselves and our Church. We must cut off those parts of ourselves that are afraid of being unpopular, for there seems to be no other choice. As we stand for these truths however, we do so as sinners ourselves, never passing judgment on another person. Being a Catholic means now, as much as ever, to stand with the truth in love, never compromising in the least, on either one. Amen.
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