If you've been anywhere on the internet the past few days, you have no doubt seen the firestorm of comments that have arisen from both sides of the aisle over the Supreme Court's Decision to strike down parts of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA), thus allowing, among other things, same-sex couples to qualify for the same benefits that heterosexual married couples qualify for. While leaving the decision up to the individual states as to whether to legalize Same-sex marriage, this does show a significant change in our Country's policy towards same-sex Marriage.
When the Deacon at the Mass we went to today mentioned this decision, he said, quoting New York Archbishop Cardinal Timothy Dolan (who is also the President of the US Conference of Catholic Bishops) that the day the Supreme Court struck down parts of DOMA "A tragic day for marriage and our nation."
I for one, am not happy with this being the message that is being proclaimed to the world from the Catholic Church, because in my humble opinion, there are a lot of things that this soundbyte does not take into account. Yes, it is true that the Bible and the Catechism of the Catholic Church teach that Same Sex Marriage goes against the natural created order. But it is also true that in the Gospel of John, 13:34, Jesus gives us the Command to "love one another as I have loved you." And statements such as the one made by Cardinal Dolan do very little to make people who do not share the Catholic Church's viewpoint feel loved.
It's amazing to me that every time secular society makes a decision that contradicts Church teaching, many of the members of the Church heirarchy seem to be thrown into a panic. Granted, some issues (such as the HHS mandate) deserve such attention, because there is a lot more at stake than even I probably realize. But at the same time, we must look back into our own history and realize that for 2000 years, the Church has existed among cultures that did not share their views, practiced pagan religions, and so on. This is evident when we read Saint Paul's Letter to the Romans. In Chapter 12, He instructs the Church at Rome: "Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that you may prove what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect." These are words that are still just as true as they were when they were written almost 2000 years ago.
And yet, despite all this struggle, the Church continues to thrive, even though many of the cultures and societies that have threatened the Church have long since disappeared. Why is this? It's simple. Because God is bigger than any government, or court decision, or law that does not conform to "our" set of values. In saying this, I'm not trying to say that we shouldn't make our viewpoint known, because as Christians, we have a duty to stand for what we believe in. However, it MUST be done with LOVE!
Christ did not command us to put down and condemn others who did not share our beliefs. He called us to love them. He did not call us to judge the sinner- he called us to love them. He did not call us to hide behind our doctrines and our teachings and use that as a basis of not reaching out to others- he called us to "get our hands dirty" and love and serve others. When we become a follower of Christ, there is only one place that leads us- to the cross. We are called to share in the sufferings of Christ by helping those who suffer to know that they matter- to know that Christ loves them and cares about them, and wants to call them to greater holiness. Too often we condemn the person and not the act. It's high time that we start becoming witnesses of the Gospel by our lives- NOT by just speaking empty words that we don't put into action ourselves. When we begin to do that, we begin to see that LOVE truly is at the heart of the Gospel Message.
The saying "you'll catch more flies with honey than with vinegar" couldn't be more true. If we show people that we love them, regardless of how they are living their lives, then we can inspire them by OUR actions to greater holiness. If we just condemn others because what they are doing is wrong, why should we expect them to change? How is the Gospel going to speak to them if it is preached in hatred?
Too many battles have been fought, too many lives have been lost, because the Church has failed to see the primacy of Love in the Gospel. So to answer the question I posed in the title of this blog, the Supreme Court decision means that now more than ever, we MUST work to ensure that the Gospel we preach is one of Love. It must not be a Gospel of Acceptance, because Christ is always calling us to Greater Holiness, and telling us that we cannot be content with just staying where we are. But he does it by giving us a model to follow, and inviting us to come after him. And we are called to do the same.
May we always strive to let the Love of Christ shine forth in all we do. AMEN!
Sunday, June 30, 2013
Sunday, June 23, 2013
If anyone would be my Disciple...
In the Gospel we read at Mass today, (Luke 9: 18-24) We hear Jesus say to his disciples "If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself, and take up his cross daily and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it." This little saying comes right after Peter's confession that Jesus is the "Christ of God" and Jesus' first prediction of his Passion, death, and Resurrection.
What does this saying of Jesus mean? Admittedly, it is very difficult to understand, but let me begin by saying that Jesus is NOT calling us to carry a physical cross. No, I believe that the real meaning of this statement goes much deeper.
Jesus, in calling us to daily take up our cross, is driving home the point that Discipleship is a choice- one that must be made every day. We must choose TODAY to put Christ first. We must choose TODAY to let go of our addictions, our fears, our hatreds, and serve God alone. We must choose TODAY to be Christ to and for others. And the choice we make today does not carry over into tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, we must forget about everything that went wrong in the previous day, and make a new commitment to follow Christ. This is what Discipleship is all about.
But what of Jesus' calling us to "deny ourselves" or "lose our lives" for his sake? Doesn't that seem kind of harsh and impersonal? On the surface is kind of does seem that way, when we try to interpret it with our definitions of what it means to deny ourselves or to lose our life. But it goes so much deeper than that.
Again, Jesus is not calling us to starve ourselves, or allow ourselves to be killed for the Gospel- What Jesus is saying to us is something radical. He is calling us to let go of (to deny) the self that is only interested in the "I, me, my" and to draw closer to God by reaching out to others, and allowing Christ to live through us. This again is a choice that MUST be made every day. How? We must ask God for the grace to live the Gospel every day. God's grace, and our discipleship, are not one shot, you get all that you need to live the Christian Life deals. I can tell you that 5 years ago, I did not have the Grace to be walking the path to Priesthood. God only gives us the Grace when he knows we are ready for it. But at the same time, a person cannot receive something that they are not open to receive.
So why is being a true Disciple of Christ so hard? There are many possible speculations and ideals about this, but I believe that at the root of it all is the fact that we live in a culture which pays lip service to God, but does not allow the Gospel to penetrate deep in to the core of our being. We don't like to feel pain, so instead of letting the Gospel pierce our hearts and move us into action, we just sort of gloss over the difficult parts of the Gospel, and turn it into something that makes us "feel good" about God and Jesus. But as Christians, this will get us nowhere. We must allow our lives to be shaped by the Gospel, and realize that when we hear something difficult, it is God calling to us, and leading us on to greater holiness.
Once we begin to allow God to lead us to greater holiness, then we can become Christ to others. I'm going to close this post with something written by St. Theresa of Avila.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Let us all strive to follow Christ daily, and be his Hands and feet to the world. May this Radical following of Christ inspire others to greater holiness. AMEN!!
What does this saying of Jesus mean? Admittedly, it is very difficult to understand, but let me begin by saying that Jesus is NOT calling us to carry a physical cross. No, I believe that the real meaning of this statement goes much deeper.
Jesus, in calling us to daily take up our cross, is driving home the point that Discipleship is a choice- one that must be made every day. We must choose TODAY to put Christ first. We must choose TODAY to let go of our addictions, our fears, our hatreds, and serve God alone. We must choose TODAY to be Christ to and for others. And the choice we make today does not carry over into tomorrow. When tomorrow comes, we must forget about everything that went wrong in the previous day, and make a new commitment to follow Christ. This is what Discipleship is all about.
But what of Jesus' calling us to "deny ourselves" or "lose our lives" for his sake? Doesn't that seem kind of harsh and impersonal? On the surface is kind of does seem that way, when we try to interpret it with our definitions of what it means to deny ourselves or to lose our life. But it goes so much deeper than that.
Again, Jesus is not calling us to starve ourselves, or allow ourselves to be killed for the Gospel- What Jesus is saying to us is something radical. He is calling us to let go of (to deny) the self that is only interested in the "I, me, my" and to draw closer to God by reaching out to others, and allowing Christ to live through us. This again is a choice that MUST be made every day. How? We must ask God for the grace to live the Gospel every day. God's grace, and our discipleship, are not one shot, you get all that you need to live the Christian Life deals. I can tell you that 5 years ago, I did not have the Grace to be walking the path to Priesthood. God only gives us the Grace when he knows we are ready for it. But at the same time, a person cannot receive something that they are not open to receive.
So why is being a true Disciple of Christ so hard? There are many possible speculations and ideals about this, but I believe that at the root of it all is the fact that we live in a culture which pays lip service to God, but does not allow the Gospel to penetrate deep in to the core of our being. We don't like to feel pain, so instead of letting the Gospel pierce our hearts and move us into action, we just sort of gloss over the difficult parts of the Gospel, and turn it into something that makes us "feel good" about God and Jesus. But as Christians, this will get us nowhere. We must allow our lives to be shaped by the Gospel, and realize that when we hear something difficult, it is God calling to us, and leading us on to greater holiness.
Once we begin to allow God to lead us to greater holiness, then we can become Christ to others. I'm going to close this post with something written by St. Theresa of Avila.
Christ has no body but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
Compassion on this world,
Yours are the feet with which he walks to do good,
Yours are the hands, with which he blesses all the world.
Yours are the hands, yours are the feet,
Yours are the eyes, you are his body.
Christ has no body now but yours,
No hands, no feet on earth but yours,
Yours are the eyes with which he looks
compassion on this world.
Christ has no body now on earth but yours.
Let us all strive to follow Christ daily, and be his Hands and feet to the world. May this Radical following of Christ inspire others to greater holiness. AMEN!!
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