Dear Reverend Know-It-All,

I noticed that my old alma mater, University of Illinois, Circle Campus got an interesting award issued by Illinois Safe Schools Alliance. They were the only school to get an “A” for incorporating sexual orientation in school anti discrimination policies and their teacher preparation programs include gender identity programs along with other components of diversity. Should I be alarmed?

Homer Feaubick

 Dear Mr. Feaubick

Alarmed? By no means! I am more surprised that our own DePaul University did not receive this coveted award for its renowned “Queer Studies Program.” (Just go to the DePaul University home page and type “queer studies” in the search box. You can’t miss it. How proud we should all be of this, the largest Catholic University in the US of A! )

You may be alarmed that I am saying don’t be alarmed.  Let me explain. First of all the Catholic Church is opposed to discrimination on any grounds, gender, ethnicity, social class. etc.  The only requirement for membership in the Church is that one be a sinner, albeit a repentant sinner. There is not a person on earth for whom the Blood of Christ was not shed, and thus all should receive our respect, simply out reverence for the image of God, hidden though it might be. There is no ethnicity, religion or even orientation that gives the Catholic the right to hate or to persecute.

But let me remind you of the old saying, “It is a fine thing to have an open mind, but it’s quite another thing to let geese fly around in there.”  If what I am saying is true, why do we Catholics get so hot under the collar about gender issues, and why does the modern world increasingly hate us for our stand?  Simple. God describes his relation to humanity in terms of a very specific relationship: marriage. God is the Bridegroom of His people, Israel (which is another way of saying the of the Church,) and the Church is the Bride of Christ. The well being and even the salvation of human beings depends on the reverence in which marriage is held.

UIC may get an “A” from Illinois Safe Schools, but just about everybody,  including most Catholics would get an “F” from the Almighty. All have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. (Romans 3:23) Face it. The society is going down the oubliette, and most of us are going down the same hole, because, well, everybody’s doing it and it’s none of it’s anybody’s business anyway, what with privacy rights and all.

No, dear Homer, don’t be alarmed. Let me explain a little history. This country is increasingly a foreign land to citizens of the Kingdom of God. In years past, the United States had whole political parties dedicated to keeping Catholics in their place. Believe me, though a Catholic may be elected to high office, Catholics who agree with what the Church teaches are still kept in their place. I am not alarmed that the educational establishment is increasingly opposed to Catholic moral teaching. I am alarmed that the Congress is full of pro abortion Catholics. (Oh no, here we go again!) The other day, I saw our pro-abortion Vice President on TV and of course he had his smudge of Lenten ashes prominently displayed. It reminded me of something that Mahatma Gandhi once said to a Christian, “I see the waters of baptism on your forehead, but you are not a Christian. Why then should I be baptized?” Let me paraphrase his words for Vice President Biden, “I see the ashes of repentance on your forehead, yet you are no different than any other unprincipled politician in the land. There is no difference between you, a Catholic, and a thousand other power hungry politicians who would sell their soul for a political office. Why then should I be a Catholic?”  To be a Catholic makes no difference, and if it makes a difference it is to be hounded from the public discussion. Thus has it been in the Anglo-Saxon world since the days of Henry the VIII and Ann Boleyn, the founders of our republic.

(TO BE CONTINUED.....)