I am a Catholic and this is my take on homosexuality. I believe in the ‘”corporal works of mercy” which Jesus spoke of on the “Sermon on the Mount”
But, we also have the “spiritual works of mercy”
Comfort those who are suffering
Console those who have suffered loss
Forgive those who ask for pardon
Forbear with those who hurt us
Admonish the sinner
Educate the ignorant
One day we will all stand before the Lord and have to give an account of how we fulfilled these directives.
The last two necessarily involve making judgements concerning the actions of others which in this day and age is considered anathema. So, involving homosexuality, we are to admonish this action as is spelled out in our faith as being immoral. But, we are to do it with love and compassion. We are not called to judge the individual, only the actions which we believe are sinful. We have a duty as Christians to do this at the peril of their and our own soul. We should never judge, discriminate or degrade another individual as we are all children loved by God. All we can do is educate the individual on what is the real and absolute truth and let the Holy Ghost perform what it is He does. What we can never know nor judge is the inner motives of others in this respect because God alone knows the hearts of men and this judgement is reserved for Him alone.
-- David Burkovich
Macon
3 comments:
I'd like to hear (or, read) what Father Kavanaugh has to say about this.
As for judgement, at least as understood by the Church, the judge does not enact or repeal laws, but merely determines whether or not someone is guilty of violating an established law or a private contract, applying a satisfaction when needed. Bishops have the right to make temporal judgments and apply temporal satisfactions, but Christ alone is the Last Judge.
How wonderful that the Spiritual Works of Mercy were published in a newspaper! That alone is wonderful, because I am sure many, many people have no clue how Catholics are guided to take action in the world they face.
God bless David Burkovich for thinking to do this. I am glad his comment got published. This is true evangelization.
"Admonish the sinner" Yes. For many Catholics this is probably the most difficult one. One must discern and make the appropriate judgement of the best way to do this according to whatever the particular situation happens to be. One who is in public life or well known to the public will almost certainly have to endure harassment,scornful reproach and contempt when it comes to admonishing someone or some group for being involved in or advocating the active homosexual lifestyle. In can even be a challenge to do this within a family. Admonishing someone for other kinds of sinful behavior (such as gossiping)can be difficult.
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