This is a hard teaching. Who can accept it? (John 6:60)
I know I have quoted this scripture passage before. (I do tend to repeat myself on the same themes, if you haven’t noticed. But sometimes, things bear repeating.)
I share below an excerpt from a recent readers’ question to blogger Mark Shea:
In short, I think that if we are asking homosexuals to adopt the heavy cross of chastity, we can’t be taken seriously when at the same time we oppose efforts to protect them from discrimination….Would it be better to be obedient even if I believe the bishops are wrong?
http://www.ncregister.com/blog/mark-shea/a-reader-has-a-question-about-conscience-vs.-bishops/
Mark’s quite long response is very worth your time to read. It is one of the best researched answers to the question from the Catechism of the Catholic Church about how to form one’s conscience that I’ve seen.
My response to this reader will be much more succinct than Marks’. Firstly, our church opposes ALL discrimination against people with same sex attraction. The only thing our church is trying to get across is a “true” understanding of the definition of “marriage.” This definition is something that cannot be changed, because marriage was created by God.
Prayerfully consider the following scripture passages:
Genesis 1: 27 — God created mankind in his image; in the image of God he created them; male and female he created them.
Genesis 2: 24 — That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife, and the two of them become one body.
Ephesians 5:32 — This is a great mystery, but I speak in reference to Christ and the church.
Matthew 19: 6, 12 — So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate. Some are incapable of marriage because they were born so; some, because they were made so by others; some, because they have renounced marriage for the sake of the kingdom of heaven. Whoever can accept this ought to accept it.”
For those who “cannot accept it,” as Mark Shea discusses and this reader laments, I suggest they take some time to form their conscience and learn what the Catholic Church teaches about marriage, and why. (I suggest any of the myriad of resources on John Paul II’s Theology of the Body.)
These people did (by the way, they have same-sex attraction) and their testimonies are featured in a very enlightening video, The Third Way, which everyone should watch.
http://www.blackstonefilms.org/films/the-third-way/
Anyone familiar with Jesus’ words knows He never told His disciples that His way would be an easy one. Remember?
Pick up your cross, and follow me. (Matthew 16:24)
