Why is it that every time that the topic of homosexuality is taken up by the Boston Globe or The New York Times (as it seems to be these days with tiresome frequency), I feel as though I am treading water in the shallow end of the intellectual swimming pool?
And why is it that when the subject is addressed within the context of Catholic teaching (as it is in the latest string of articles in the Boston Globe concerning the "All Are Welcome" theme of St. Cecelia's Church in the Back Bay), I then really feel as though I am being left high and dry?
An example is yesterday's above-the-fold front page article entitled "Worship In The Face Of Rejection": "http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/southend/articles/2011/06/27/gay_catholics_find_community_despite_hurtful_words_from_rome/?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:78daaf17-a931-46a3-aa88-99f3e09f5eb3
Look. The doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church are nourished and supported by a root system that is intellectually and metaphysically rich and compassionate. Far from imposing blind obedience, the Church invites, indeed encourages, all to explore the “Why” as well as the “What” of Catholic teaching. (If only more of those critical of the Church - particularly the Catholic ones - would accept the invitation to do so in good faith.)
Nevertheless, “at the end of the day” (as the Great Phrasemaker, Charlie Baker, might say), the Roman Catholic Church is not a debating society. Nor does it offer as doctrine that which is merely opinion, particularly the easy and popular opinion of men.
How much easier for everybody were it to do so! Then we Catholics could all do just as we pleased. Gays could marry in the Church. Women could be ordained. Priests could marry. Members of NAMBLA could marry too! Best of all, ignorant, bigoted posters wouldn’t call us names like “poopie face”. Hey, we married people might even be able to get away with adultery every now and then, so long as we were “tolerant”, loving, non-judgmental, and “not hurtful.” And, if nothing else worked, given our capacity for self-deception in our own cases, I am sure that all sorts of currently proscribed conduct – theft, lying, cheating, slander, even murder - could be justified by the rationale that the ends justify the means.
But the Church doesn’t offer believers the easy opinions of men. It offers the hard standards of revealed truth. And it is for everyone; even for those who don’t think it is.
And why is it that when the subject is addressed within the context of Catholic teaching (as it is in the latest string of articles in the Boston Globe concerning the "All Are Welcome" theme of St. Cecelia's Church in the Back Bay), I then really feel as though I am being left high and dry?
An example is yesterday's above-the-fold front page article entitled "Worship In The Face Of Rejection": "http://www.boston.com/yourtown/boston/southend/articles/2011/06/27/gay_catholics_find_community_despite_hurtful_words_from_rome/?plckFindCommentKey=CommentKey:78daaf17-a931-46a3-aa88-99f3e09f5eb3
Look. The doctrines of the Roman Catholic Church are nourished and supported by a root system that is intellectually and metaphysically rich and compassionate. Far from imposing blind obedience, the Church invites, indeed encourages, all to explore the “Why” as well as the “What” of Catholic teaching. (If only more of those critical of the Church - particularly the Catholic ones - would accept the invitation to do so in good faith.)
Nevertheless, “at the end of the day” (as the Great Phrasemaker, Charlie Baker, might say), the Roman Catholic Church is not a debating society. Nor does it offer as doctrine that which is merely opinion, particularly the easy and popular opinion of men.
How much easier for everybody were it to do so! Then we Catholics could all do just as we pleased. Gays could marry in the Church. Women could be ordained. Priests could marry. Members of NAMBLA could marry too! Best of all, ignorant, bigoted posters wouldn’t call us names like “poopie face”. Hey, we married people might even be able to get away with adultery every now and then, so long as we were “tolerant”, loving, non-judgmental, and “not hurtful.” And, if nothing else worked, given our capacity for self-deception in our own cases, I am sure that all sorts of currently proscribed conduct – theft, lying, cheating, slander, even murder - could be justified by the rationale that the ends justify the means.
But the Church doesn’t offer believers the easy opinions of men. It offers the hard standards of revealed truth. And it is for everyone; even for those who don’t think it is.
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