An Open Letter To Local Catholics

From the Rev. Christian McShaffrey, M.Div.

Dear Catholic neighbor,

Last Monday, the Vatican approved the practice of blessing sin. What are you going to do now?

As a brief aside, I was once a Catholic. I was baptized, catechized, and confirmed. Some of my sweetest memories as a child involved spending time at my grandparent’s house after Mass each Sunday. The roast was always overdone, but all the aunts, uncles, and cousins were there. The family ties that were there forged remain to this day.

I learned to believe in God in the Roman Catholic Church. I learned his name – Father, Son, and Holy Ghost – as well as the principles of basic morality. No one in my family was divorced, they all went to church, and some even sent their children to private school. I am thankful for many aspects of my Catholic upbringing.

At the same time, and obviously enough, I did not remain a Catholic. I began to doubt my faith as an adolescent and pursued alternative spiritualities for several years until God brought a quick end to my wanderings through something the scriptures refer to as conversion.

Conversion is a saving grace that God works in the heart of a sinner by his Word and Spirit. He first gives the sinner a sight and sense of the danger of sin, but also of the heinousness of it. Once humbled, the Lord grants an apprehension of his mercy in Christ, so that the penitent soul grieves for and hates his sins, turns from them all to God, purposing and endeavoring to walk in all the ways of new obedience.

These “new ways of obedience” are revealed in the holy scriptures which become to the Christian a lamp for his feet and a light for his path. Though no convert ever learns to walk perfectly, he does make progress in sanctification as he abhors and avoids sin, and endeavors to keep God’s commandments.

One of God’s commandments (which brings me to the purpose of this letter) is to maintain sexual purity. This includes avoiding a wide variety of sexual sins, but some sins are worse than others. Some even earn the designation: Abomination.

Homosexuality is one such sin and the Catholic Church has been right in teaching that it involves “acts of grave depravity” and is therefore “intrinsically disordered.” Further, the Church has maintained that because homosexual acts are “contrary to the natural law… under no circumstance can they be approved” [Catechism of the Catholic Church, Sec. 2, Ch. 2, Art. 6, Par. III].

The Vatican has always prohibited the approval of such behavior and defended its stance with the simple observation that God “does not and cannot bless sin” [Responsum of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to a dubium regarding the blessing of the unions of persons of the same sex].

True, included in the Church’s new position are certain conditions which are designed to give the appearance of continued disapproval of gay marriage, but in the end of the day, practicing homosexuals may now receive a blessing from the Roman Catholic Church. That is where we are now, so again, what are you going to do?

This change is but one more example of your Church’s willingness to ignore what scriptures teach in order to gain the world’s approval. Just this morning, in fact, I read the Pope’s warning  about how holding to rigid ideological positions, even under the guise of good intentions, can “separate us from reality and prevent us from moving forward.” Forward toward what? How far forward does he plan to lead you?

Rather than taking one more step forward, I would suggest that it is time rather to stop and remember what the prophet said, “Stand ye in the ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your souls.” This is, indeed, a sweet promise, but the prophet also reminds us of the sad response of many: But they said, “We will not walk therein” (Jeremiah 6:16).

I do not have all the answers, but I do know where to find them, and so I affirm with Saint Augustine that “the sacred canon of Scripture, both of the Old and New Testament, is confined within its own limits, and that it stands so absolutely in a superior position to all later letters of the bishops, that about it we can hold no manner of doubt or disputation whether what is confessedly contained in it is right and true…” [On Baptism, Book II, Ch. 3, Par. 4].

Where, then, will you take your stand? Upon what will you build your hope? Will it be upon the solid ground of the sacred canon of Scripture or will it be upon the sinking sands of “later letters” from the bishops?

Sadly, many have been faced with this decision over the centuries and it has been due to no fault of their own, so do not plague yourself with unnecessary guilt over “Leaving the Church” when, in fact, it might just be the Church that is leaving you.