I had just gotten out of one of my classes that focuses on oppression. So far, we had focused on racism, poverty, and gender. Next, we reached our unit on homophobia. Now, the mention of homosexuality can automatically be uncomfortable for many Christians and many Catholics--actually, for anyone. After all, rumor has it, the Catholic Church teaches that homosexuality is a sin. Well, for a quick summary, the Catholic Church doesn't believe that being a homosexual is a sin. The Church does not teach that being gay or lesbian is sinful. For homosexuals, the attractions, thoughts, feelings, and love that one has is in no way sinful--just as it is not sinful for heterosexuals to have attractions, thoughts, feelings, and love. The Church teaches that the act of homosexual sex (aka having sex with someone of the same gender) is a sin. Note that the Church also teaches that there are several heterosexual acts of sin such as birth control and pre-marital sex. All in all, every human commits sin (acts against God), whether they are homosexual, heterosexual, or whatever. For some more information on the Church's stance on sexuality, I would look at usccb.org. Now, it was brought up in my class that one of the factors of oppression of homosexuals is the Church teaching that homosexuality is a sin. I personally was disturbed and felt like my faith was being oppressed and called out as "the bad guy." I felt like I was being targeted as a Christian for not being accepting and understanding of homosexuals--for targeting them as giant sinners. As a giant sinner myself, I believe that my Christian faith was presented incorrectly. If we are Catholic or Christian or anyone who encounters threats to our faith, what do we do? How should we act and respond to what threatens our beliefs? Should we speak up and say, "Hey! Liar! What you say is false! How dare you!" Should we keep our opinions to ourselves? Here are some suggestions based off of bible verses: 1. Pray regularly. Even better, "pray without ceasing" (1 Thessalonians 5:17). You have to pray often so you can recognize the voice of the Holy Spirit. Learn to recognize the movements of the Holy Spirit. The fruits and gifts of the spirit are signs of God's voice. The vices and all that is evil are the voice of Satan. Now the works of the flesh are obvious: immorality, impurity, licentiousness, idolatry, sorcery, hatreds, rivalry, jealousy, outbursts of fury, acts of selfishness, dissensions, factions, occasions of envy, drinking bouts, orgies, and the like. I warn you, as I warned you before, that those who do such things will not inherit the kingdom of God. In contrast, the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, generosity, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. (Galatians 5: 19-23) 2. Be at peace. Before raising your hand in class, take a quick moment to recognize the presence of God within you. Know that He is with you. Your hands might be shaking like mine from the excitement of such touchy discussions, but you can interiorly ask the Lord for peace of mind and heart so you don't say anything rash or make obvious gestures like rolling of the eyes. "Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give it to you. Do not let your hearts be troubled or afraid" --Jesus (John 14:27). 3. Trust the Holy Spirit. He will tell you if you need to speak and He will tell you if you need to remain silent. Don't get super prepared for what you are going to say because the Holy Spirit will totally be at work. "Do not worry about how or what your defense will be or about what you are to say. For the holy Spirit will teach you at that moment what you should say" --Jesus (Luke 12:11-12). How do you know if the Holy Spirit is prompting you are not? Trust. You won't necessarily hear a voice in your head, but if you pray regularly like I said in Step 1, you will know when the Holy Spirit is asking you to speak or not. 4. "Jesus looked at him, [and] loved him" (Mark 10:21). Look at those around you. If someone is saying something contrary to your belief, love them! You don't have to feel it, but will it--will that love. Even if you think they are lying or blasphemous or totally wrong, love them. Love conquers all. "Love never fails" (1 Corinthians 13:8). 5. When the Spirit prompts you, go! Say what He puts on your heart and say it with gentleness, peace, and even with joy. "Get up, let us go" --Jesus (Matthew 26:46). Jesus actually says that several times in the gospels. The verse I just mentioned takes place when Judas comes to betray Jesus. See how Jesus in this moment tells His disciples to get up and confront the betrayal. 6.. After you have spoken, or have debated/discussed with a teacher/classmate, be at peace once again. Don't worry about what you said or how they reacted. Don't analyze if you said the right words--remember that if you trusted the Holy Spirit, He gave you exactly what you needed to say, so be content with the fact that the Holy Spirit just spoke through you. Don't be afraid, because God has conquered all the world. "I have told you this so that you might have peace in me. In the world you will have trouble, but take courage, I have conquered the world" --Jesus (John 16:33). 7. Pray. This is how we begin and this is how we end. Before calling your mom or telling a friend about the heated discussion you just had, speak to Jesus first. He's the leader in all of this, so you gotta look to Him! Jesus even said to come to Him with all that heavy stuff. “Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest" --Jesus (Matthew 11:28).
1 Comment
Chris Beltowski
11/17/2017 03:37:46 am
Jackie,
Reply
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorJacqueline St. Clare: I spent six months in a cloistered convent, and now I'm a college student! Archives
April 2021
SpiritualityVocationMental ILlnessSeasonalADVENT LENT
Unexpected Church MembersAll words that are underlined can be found on the "Glossary" page
|