This is a difficult topic for me. No! It is not a sin to be a heterosexual. It is a sin to practice heterosexuality if a couple is not married. Jesus was tested in our Gospel today.
Matthew 19: 3-12 Some Pharisees approached him, and tested him, saying, “Is it lawful for a man to divorce his wife for any cause whatever?”
He said in reply, “Have you not read that from the beginning the Creator ‘made them male and female’ and said, ‘For this reason a man shall leave his father and mother and be joined to his wife, and the two shall become one flesh’? So they are no longer two, but one flesh. Therefore, what God has joined together, no human being must separate.” They said to him, “Then why did Moses command that the man give the woman a bill of divorce and dismiss [her]?” He said to them, “Because of the hardness of your hearts Moses allowed you to divorce your wives, but from the beginning it was not so. I say to you, whoever divorces his wife (unless the marriage is unlawful) and marries another commits adultery.” [His] disciples said to him, “If that is the case of a man with his wife, it is better not to marry.” He answered, “Not all can accept [this] word, but only those to whom that is granted. 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.”
Myself, I love my wife, Anna, with all my heart. I have never commited adultery. It just never crossed my mind. Marriage for me is a vow. It would be a sin to break that vow. Ezekiel says, For I will re-establish my covenant with you, that you may know that I am the Lord, that you may remember and be covered with confusion, and that you may be utterly silenced for shame when I pardon you for all you have done, says the Lord God.
What I do want to focus on today is homosexuality and what Jesus called unlawful marriage. Again, it is not a sin to be a heterosexual unless we practice without benefit of Holy Matrimony. It is not a sin to be a homosexual unless a person practices. So before we go off on too many tangents. Let us focus on how we treat people who are sinners.
How do we tell sinners that there is pardon for sin and show mercy?
This reflection is only meant to reflect on how we treat a human with a different orientation than ourselves.
My boss in the Deli that I work just recently died. He was an openly gay man who was “married” to another man. My boss taught me a great deal about food service and was a hard working man. He graduated from the New York Institute of Culinary Arts many years ago. He had a same-sex union with another man and not something that the Catholic Church or myself would consider “matrimony”.
When he was diagnosed , I told him that I would pray for him. I did not throw a stone. I didn’t condemn him. I tried to show him the mercy that Jesus would have shown him. He was in an unlawful marriage but he needed to receive the mercy of Christ and pardon for his sins. I could only offer him my prayers.
How do we as a Catholic Community treat as an individual person who are openly homosexuals or adulterers ?
How do we treat sinners ?
How do we love them?
God does not make junk. He also hates sin. He also wants us to shown mercy, even if we are judgmental of others. Jesus is in the judgement seat and we are not.
Luke 6: 37-38 “Stop judging and you will not be judged. Stop condemning and you will not be condemned. Forgive and you will be forgiven. Give and gifts will be given to you; a good measure, packed together, shaken down, and overflowing, will be poured into your lap. For the measure with which you measure will in return be measured out to you.”
Lord, how many times have I received mercy and pardon from my sins?
Lord, how many times have I tried to sit in your Judgement Seat?
I don’t hate anyone. How do I show love and defer judgement to Jesus?
In our Gospel today, Jesus was being tested. So are we today in how we treat others. 1Corinthians 6:9-10 says that such sins will not inherit the Kingdom of God. Jesus is saying today because we are also sinners that we cannot condemn them. We have to show mercy as Jesus did.
This was a hard subject for me. There are members of my family tree that fall into these catagories. Obviously, I don’t have all the answers, but Jesus does.
God Love You Always
Bob Burford
PS: Please pray for all Cancer victims and their caregivers. Pray for peace in the Ukraine>
