As I read this article I repeatedly found myself pausing and thinking to myself, "She doesn't really understand her faith." And after the third or fourth time, it dawned on me, at her age, I didn't either. Some of that is due to the catechesis I received, some our culture, some my youth, and some my selfish desires and concupiscence. I drifted as a "Catholic" going to Mass on Easter and Christmas Day, getting my kids baptized in a Church I rarely ventured into except for the occasional pancake breakfast or youth activity that was using the social hall. I thought, the Church just isn't relevant, it's archaic, it needs to update itself in a number of areas and get with the times. But, slowly, over time God worked His way into my mind and then my heart and through pain, suffering, life experience, truly exploring and really searching for Truth, I came to realize that there is nothing wrong with the Church's teachings. They are teaching the authentic Truth handed to us by Jesus Christ, God become Man.Sure, the Church has sinners and those sinners have done wrong. But, that doesn't change the Truth. Rail against the molestation of the 60's and 70's all you want, rail against the Church's initial response, ignore the way they have taken a leadership role in creating safe environments for children, convict the Church as you will. But first realize that it's is the acts of individual men, not the teaching Church that is at fault and second that without the Truth that the Church teaches, you have nothing to accuse those men of.
But, I'm digressing from the point I really wanted to focus on. Ms. Selak's largest paragraph begins with the quote that is the title of this post. She then proceeds to observe how Jesus was always reaching out to the marginalized, the outcast and drawing them to Him, presumably she is referring to the lepers, the blind, the tax collectors, the adulterers and the other sinners He drew to Him as apostles and disciples. And I agree, Jesus was remarkable in that He did reach out to those that had been shunned or rejected by society either due to their sinful choices or due to their condition that was beyond their control. Ms. Selak links Jesus' ministry to those to groups she sees being outcast in the modern world, homosexuals and those desiring female ordination. I'm going to skip discussing the latter and focus on the former. For two reasons, first while there is no conclusive proof one way or the other homosexuality is often times presented as being a biological state, not a choice. Second, the actions that result from the desires, whether the orientation is a choice or not, are taught as being sinful. So, in addressing homosexuality, from a Catholic perspective, we may be dealing with an afflication (like leprosy) or we may be dealing with a sinful choice (like adultery or tax collecting in the Roman era) and the result is both being an outcast and a sinner.
Before we consider the Church's approach to homosexuality, however, let us go back and examine in more detail how Jesus drew in the outcast. In the case of the lepers, he recognized that they were outcasts due to an affliction, an ailment, a condition. They were in need of healing. And, most interestingly prior to Him doing a thing, before He welcomed them, spoke to them, invited them into His company, or healed them they came to Him. They came to Him seeking Truth, seeking compassion, and most importantly seeking healing. They did not come to Him seeking desiring to remain a leper and seeking to be accepted, loved, and left suffering. They recognized they were imperfect, they recognized that He would have compassion, and they came to Him trusting His in His love and ability to make them whole.
Now, while the sinners (Levi, the adulterous woman, Mary Magdalene, etc.) did not necessarily come to Him seeking acceptance or healing, we must look at what happened in every single encounter with those that had chosen a life contrary to God's law. In every single case He asked them to give up their attachment to sin, to repent, to follow His teachings and God's law. He was quite direct with the adulterous woman, go and sin no more. While with Levi, he just approached Him as he was collecting taxes and said, "Come follow me," implicit in that request was leave behind your sinful occupation. Others were more or less subtle in the encounter, but all followed the same principle, recognize your sinfulness, repent, join Jesus and allow Him to give you the healing you require. And, also, we cannot forget the story of Jesus and the wealthy young man or what takes place after the bread of life discourse in John 6. In the case of the wealthy young man Jesus saw in Him an attachment to His wealth, an occasion for sin and He asked him to trust in Him, to give up his attachment to wealth. The young man went away sad and Jesus didn't stop him. Similarly, after the bread of life discourse, a very difficult teaching for the Jews to accept, difficult for many modern Christians to accept, many refused to accept and walked away, Jesus let them go. Jesus presented the truth and left it to each individual to accept or not accept, to be a disciple or to not be a disciple. The truth is absolute, you can accept it, trust in Him, and be made whole, or you can reject it and walk away from Christ. It's all or nothing and Jesus is fine with that and wasn't wishy-washy. But, if you accept it, He will embrace you, He will make you one with Him. He will heal you and reward you.
Now, turn to this modern criticism of the Church, that it does not embrace homosexuals the way Jesus embraced the outcast. The problem here is that those making that argument look at Jesus, see that He took lepers and sinners into His midst and miss the transformation. They miss the repentance and the healing that occurred when the afflicted or sinful acknowledged Christ, accepted Him, and chose to follow Him. They also seem to miss that while Jesus did attract many followers, He also attracted a lot of haters. He didn't end up nailed to a Cross because He was universally loved. Those choosing to follow Him? They knew that doing so came with risk of being ostracized by some while embraced by others. It had to be a hard choice. Again, looking at John 6 we see that in Jesus' exchange with Peter after many left, Peter acknowledges it's hard to accept, but he sees the greater truth and is willing to trust Jesus on the things that make no sense to him, make him look like a fool to some, endanger him with authorities, etc.
The Church wants to embrace all sinners, homosexual's included. I'm not a homosexual, I'm a heterosexual. I have sexual desires as strong as any homosexual man. I am married, but estranged from my wife for several years now. I have strong sexual desires, lustful desires. And I have had opportunity to act on them, strong temptations. Even with my wife, I had strong temptations to have "protected" sex because I wanted the pleasure but wasn't desiring another child at the time. The Church has the same message for me that it has for homosexuals: God created sex to be a loving act engaged in between one man and one woman bonded in marriage, an act that would simultaneously bring them together and bring them closer to God by allowing them to participate in creating life. It is designed to be a unitive and procreative act, and while it will not always result in unity or procreation, when we engage in the act we are not to try to exclude either purpose. Engaging in sex with no intention to be united with your partner for life (in marriage) or engaging in the act and willfully preventing the possibility of procreation is sinful.
I can choose to accept this truth about my sexuality, and try to live chastely or I can walk away from Jesus. The Church will continue to speak the Truth about sexuality, about murder, about all sin. If I choose to repent, embrace the Truth, and follow Christ, the Church is there to bestow all the sacraments and graces I require to follow through on my choice. If I choose to walk away, it will simply point out the choice I am making.
Yes, in the town square it will speak the truth, it will call sin sin and truth truth. Not with condemnation, but with a loving call to repent and come to Christ who can heal all our wounds, cure all our afflictions, make us whole again. The Church embraces homosexuals. It embraces adulterers, it embraces drug addicts, and porn addicts, liars and cheats. It embraces anyone that recognizes they are flawed, imperfect and in need of a healer, a savior, a loving and merciful God to fix sickness, illness, brokenness that is beyond human capacity for correcting.
Like Jesus, it reaches out to those that have yet to hear the Gospel and proclaims to the Truth for all to hear. And leaves it to the individual to choose their master. God or their selfish desires.
