In an earlier blog, I detailed how some of the strange philosophies expounded by The Missionaries of the Precious Blood, a religious order which will soon staff Most Holy Redeemer Parish in The Castro, are contrary to most of the Church’s teachings on homosexuality (see: http://www.josephsciambra.com/2014/06/missionaries-of-precious-blood-take.html). All those previous observations were based upon the recommendations set down in the Missionaries’ “Pastor Resources” section of the LGBT ministry on their web-site. Now, I will examine some of the other erroneous claims made in their newsletter. In chronological order, from the February 2012 issue of “The New Wine Press,” in an article titled “A Place at the Table: Just Say the Words” by David Matz, C.PP.S., it goes as follows:
“Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgendered. You can’t believe how powerful a message is sent when people just say these words. In just speaking these words we validate these persons’ realities and the one who hears these words who is LGBT validates their inner most being.” Following on this celebration of self-identification as gay, which in their words, will validate “their inner most being,” he continues:
“In ‘saying the words,’ we begin the journey of faith and healing – from stereotypes and prejudices to welcoming and hospitality. We begin the journey from being ‘objectively disordered’ to created in the image of God.”
First off, the LGBT orientation is not something central or crucial to the inner soul of the individual: it is a psychological wound; it is not a validation for living. And, as “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” states: “constitutes for most of them a trial.” It is a Cross, and only through “the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.” This will not occur if one succumbs or capitulates to the orientation.
Furthermore, there is also some derision here, as Matz states that gays must go beyond a state that is “objectively disordered;” as if that statement from “The Catechism” is only a hindrance to full realization of the homosexual orientation. It is not. It is truth. No matter what mental gymnastics the person tries to perform in order to rationalize things in their own head, the orientation will always be disordered, as stated in a The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith’s “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons:”
“Although the particular inclination of the homosexual person is not a sin, it is a more or less strong tendency ordered toward an intrinsic moral evil; and thus the inclination itself must be seen as an objective disorder.”
From the April 2012 issue of “The New Wine Press,” in an article titled: “A Place at the Table: From Water to Wine” by Nathan Hess, in which he describes some the presenters from The Seventh National Symposium on Catholicism and Homosexuality. He praised Bishop Geoffrey Robinson, who has been publicaly censured by the Australian Bishops Conference for his views on homosexuality; of his talk, Hess wrote: “God is not angry when people, regardless of sexual orientation, long for and fulfill their desires. On the contrary, God is glorified when our human needs are met! This does not exempt anyone from living and loving responsibly, but it does present a significant shift from the usual hierarchical reminder that homosexuals are to be celibate.” This statement is in direct opposition to “The Catechism” which unequivocally states: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that “homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.” They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
Another presenter at the same event was Patricia Beattie-Jung, a “Catholic” moral theologian and Professor of Christian Ethics at Saint Paul School of Theology, and recommended author on the main Missionaries’ web-site, who gave a presentation entitled “Faithful Sexual Relationships and Marriage.” She argued that Catholics “should promote marriage, for queer and straight alike, because promising to be steadfast and sexually exclusive serves society, life and love. Withholding marriage from a segment of the population encourages promiscuity, increased risky behavior, and even violence.” These statements are opposed to what was clearly stated in The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith’s “Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons” that says: “Legal recognition of homosexual unions or placing them on the same level as marriage would mean not only the approval of deviant behavior, with the consequence of making it a model in present-day society, but would also obscure basic values which belong to the common inheritance of humanity. The Church cannot fail to defend these values, for the good of men and women and for the good of society itself.”
From the March 2013 issue of “The New Wine Press,” in an article titled: “Sexuality: Precious Blood Style” by Sister Diana Rawlings, A.S.C., she wrote, concerning her recovery from a serious illness and her contemporaneous acceptance of latent homosexuality: “When I drank from the Cup, I visualized the healthy cells of Jesus flowing thru an blessing every part of my body. Drinking from the Cup was making all things new again, bringing life to darkness – integrating my [sexual] orientation with my whole self.” And, here, the implications are clear: that Christ Himself is somehow blessing and sanctifying her lesbianism. This bizarre embracing of homosexuality is again conflicting as to what was stated in “…Pastoral Care of Homosexual Person” which eloquently made clear: “The human person, made in the image and likeness of God, can hardly be adequately described by a reductionist reference to his or her sexual orientation. Every one living on the face of the earth has personal problems and difficulties, but challenges to growth, strengths, talents and gifts as well. Today, the Church provides a badly needed context for the care of the human person when she refuses to consider the person as a ‘heterosexual’ or a ‘homosexual’ and insists that every person has a fundamental Identity: the creature of God, and by grace, his child and heir to eternal life.”
From the “Commentary” section of the February 2014 issue of “The New Wine Press” a Missionaries’ associate argued, and priest-shamed, a brave Catholic pastor who refused Communion to an openly gay lesbian couple, yet, the Missionaries believe that: “One can only hope that this event [the denying of Communion to an openly lesbian couple] stirs the consciences of Catholics everywhere to recommit themselves to the belief that all blood is Precious Blood, that all of us are sinners and unworthy except by the Blood of Jesus to receive the Eucharist; that we do not choose our sexuality any more than we choose eye color; that people are lonely and crave relationship with someone who loves them; that all are made in the image and likeness of God…”
Again this is contrary to what was stated in Church documents, namely The USCCB’s “Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message To Parents Of Homosexual Children And Suggestions For Pastoral Ministers:” which states:
“…all homosexual persons have a right to be welcomed into the community, to hear the word of God, and to receive pastoral care. Homosexual persons living chaste lives should have opportunities to lead and serve the community. However, the Church has the right to deny public roles of service and leadership to persons, whether homosexual or heterosexual, whose public behavior openly violates its teachings.” Nowhere does it state that there is a right to receive Holy Communion. In addition, The USCCB’s “Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care,” states that: “the Church does not support so-called same-sex ‘marriages’ or any semblance thereof, including civil unions that give the appearance of a marriage. Church ministers may not bless such unions or promote them in any way, directly or indirectly.”
Lastly, at a “gay” Mass (see picture above) celebrated by the Missionaries, there is prominently displayed a despicable icon of Saints Sergius and Bacchus. The icon was written by the talented, but incredibly confused, Brother Robert Lentz, who is also a publicaly self-declared homosexual. The image has been used by several Catholic and Christian homosexual groups as a symbol of ancient Christian acceptance of homosexual unions. Brother Robert said of the icon and the two Saints: “Sts. Sergius and Bacchus are ancient Christian martyrs who were tortured to death in Syria because they refused to attend sacrifices in honor of Jupiter. Recent attention to early Greek manuscripts has also revealed that they were openly gay men and that they were erastai or lovers.”
In conclusion, I think the Missionaries have failed to live-up to these wise words taken from the “…Pastoral Care of Homosexuals Persons:”
“We encourage the Bishops, then, to provide pastoral care in full accord with the teaching of the Church for homosexual persons of their dioceses. No authentic pastoral programme will include organizations in which homosexual persons associate with each other without clearly stating that homosexual activity is immoral. A truly pastoral approach will appreciate the need for homosexual persons to avoid the near occasions of sin.”