Thought for the Day
Jose Paul (New Delhi)
Jesus Christ came into this world because of His love for humanity
and wanted to save it from all the vices. So, he was not on the lookout for the
saintly gentlemen who are already endowed with great virtues. He was looking
for people who needed his help to take them out from the sinful life. He did
hate sins, but he loved the people who fell into the trap of sin. He searched
for those who were sinners and tried to transform them into their divine self.
He forgave their sins without conditions and gave them a good life. Hence, the
first duty of the followers of Jesus is to keep off from sins but at the same time give
sympathy, empathy, forgiveness and love to the persons who have fallen in the
traps of sins.
Whatever may be the sinful trap a person has fallen in, we are
supposed to love the person as the child of God while we keep evading sins. That is why when he was asked about his opinion on
gay people, Pope Francis asked, “Who am I to judge?” Bring the people closer
to church by welcoming them, nay, as Pope Francis said “go in search of them”
as Jesus himself spoke of searching for the lost sheep.
Worldly nature is to label these people as thieves, liars,
cheats, gay, lesbian, divorced and so on. And then deal with them with
contempt. I am not in a position to
state what should be done or what should not be done. But here is a question
for us Catholics. What will be Jesus wanting to do to their life. He said to the crowd “one who has not
committed any sin may first throw the stone at the lady whom they called a
Prostitute” This is exactly what People Francis said “Who am I to judge?” The
Catholic Church is not a judge. It’s very essence is “Love”, “Love one another as I have loved you.” Let
this be the core of every one named Catholic either lay person, clergy or as an
organization such as Church. Avoid sin but not the sinner.
The church has to think before it bars some people from the
church or refusing to allow them to participate in the spiritual activities.
The church is not a place only for saintly people to participate. If this is
the case, the very incarnation of Christ, His life on earth and His sufferings
and crucifixion has had no meaning. Let us all, the lay as well as the clergy,
search for ways and means for making this Church of ours a real nest of love.
I could not agree more on this point. The fact that church does not offer sacraments to divorcees is so reprehensible that it violates all standards of humanity! In biology they say humans follow sequential pair-bonding, we live as couples and we might separate and form new bonds. To dictate that one is allowed only one chance at marriage is incomprehensible for a church that does not allow premarital relationships and cohabitation.
ReplyDeleteWhile the issue of divorce shows the strong patriarchy and paternalism still prevalent in the church, the issue of homosexuals really shows its true moral standards. Like many other animals (great apes, sheep, etc) homosexuality is a fact in humans. It prevalent in 5-10% of the population and it is NOT a matter of life style choice. The love between a homosexual couple is not in any way less dignified than a heterosexual one. But the issue is church would like to place sex before love. Its fundamental character is defined by sex (a true Augustinian heritage). It does not matter what it says in the Bible, there are so many things in the Bible, "take no thought of the morrow", you never hear it in a sermon!
As a boy I was taught masturbation is a sin, and I had tremendous pain in dealing with my urges and emotions. I shamelessly confessed many times about my private vices!, yes they are vices!. It SICKENS me!! Church should get out of its followers sex life.
The Galilean roamed around with the marginalized. If he was alive today he would not have been attending a church mass, but you will see him in the streets with gays, bisexuals, transgenders, divorcees, fighting for their rights!