When I refuted an inference that I may have dallied with a former boyfriend by saying I never look back on relationships I left behind, plus, I do not believe in pre-marital sex, T said I was born in the wrong era and was like Rapunzel in an ivory tower, and she would buy me a chastity belt for my birthday. I found her remarks pejorative and mildly hostile although they were couched in 'humour'.
It never ceases to amaze me how strong a reaction others have to my personal decision to live out my Catholic faith actively, especially in the matter of chastity. What is it that makes others do their utmost to change my mind or mock me? Why is sexual abstinence so socially unacceptable?
Is it so unimaginable that I can be a sexually vibrant and fulfilled woman (yes, I do see myself as such), just because I abstain from sexual relations? Is it so hard to believe that I am no slave to my sexual urges, nor do I feel desperately and unhappily incomplete or defective as a woman if I lack the attention of men?
A recent address by Robert P. George* to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast caught my attention. He opened by saying:
The days of socially acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. It is no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an authentic witness to the truths of the Gospel. A price is demanded and must be paid. There are costs of discipleship—heavy costs, costs that are burdensome and painful to bear.
He went on to say:
The question each of us today must face is this: Am I ashamed of the Gospel? And that question opens others: Am I prepared to pay the price that will be demanded if I refuse to be ashamed, if, in other words, I am prepared to give public witness to the massively politically incorrect truths of the Gospel, truths that the mandarins of an elite culture shaped by the dogmas of expressive individualism and me-generation liberalism do not wish to hear spoken? Or, put more simply, am I willing, or am I, in the end, unwilling, to take up my cross and follow Christ?
Powerful forces and currents in our society press us to be ashamed of the Gospel—ashamed of the good, ashamed of our faith’s teachings on the sanctity of human life in all stages and conditions, ashamed of our faith’s teachings on marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife. These forces insist that the Church’s teachings are out of date, retrograde, insensitive, uncompassionate, illiberal, bigoted—even hateful. These currents bring pressure on all of us—and on young Catholics in particular—to yield to this insistence. They threaten us with consequences if we refuse to call what is good evil, and what is evil good. They command us to conform our thinking to their orthodoxy, or else say nothing at all.
George covered the usual sticky issues of what Gospel living means in the context of Catholic doctrine such as the dignity of the human person (abortion and contraception violate that dignity) and the nature of sexual morality and marriage (chastity before and after marriage, plus the sanctity of the marital covenant is valid only for couples of the opposite sex, no such thing as same sex marriage, an oxymoron if there ever was one). He went on to say:
To be a witness to the Gospel today is to make oneself a marked man or woman. It is to expose oneself to scorn and reproach. To unashamedly proclaim the Gospel in its fullness is to place in jeopardy one’s security, one’s personal aspirations and ambitions, the peace and tranquility one enjoys, one’s standing in polite society. One may in consequence of one’s public witness be discriminated against and denied educational opportunities and the prestigious credentials they may offer; one may lose valuable opportunities for employment and professional advancement; one may be excluded from worldly recognition and honors of various sorts; one’s witness may even cost one treasured friendships. It may produce familial discord and even alienation from family members. Yes, there are costs of discipleship—heavy costs.
He likens this period that Catholics who seek to live out their faith in fullness as Good Friday, a time of trial and testing and encourages us not to forget that the Easter of our lives is coming and therefore not to be ashamed of the Gospel, and to keep hoping.
Today's Gospel from John 15:18-21 reminds us:
If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
To be a follower of Christ is seriously scary. Every day Christians are persecuted and killed, their homes destroyed, their places of worship violated. Christianity is also under siege by the world for espousing the Gospel values George talks about.
As a Christian living in a city that promotes racial and religious harmony, I am grateful that I can express my faith freely. Perhaps because I don't have to fight for my faith, I tend to be a little more complacent, my faith not tested to the fullest extent.
I can only pray that if I deny Jesus as Saint Peter did (and I know I will) that, when it really counts, I would be willing to be crucified upside down as he was. In the meantime, may I be granted the grace to live and sing the Gospel with pride.
* To read the transcript of this rousing speech, go to http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/ashamed-of-the-gospel
It never ceases to amaze me how strong a reaction others have to my personal decision to live out my Catholic faith actively, especially in the matter of chastity. What is it that makes others do their utmost to change my mind or mock me? Why is sexual abstinence so socially unacceptable?
Is it so unimaginable that I can be a sexually vibrant and fulfilled woman (yes, I do see myself as such), just because I abstain from sexual relations? Is it so hard to believe that I am no slave to my sexual urges, nor do I feel desperately and unhappily incomplete or defective as a woman if I lack the attention of men?
A recent address by Robert P. George* to the National Catholic Prayer Breakfast caught my attention. He opened by saying:
The days of socially acceptable Christianity are over. The days of comfortable Catholicism are past. It is no longer easy to be a faithful Christian, a good Catholic, an authentic witness to the truths of the Gospel. A price is demanded and must be paid. There are costs of discipleship—heavy costs, costs that are burdensome and painful to bear.
He went on to say:
The question each of us today must face is this: Am I ashamed of the Gospel? And that question opens others: Am I prepared to pay the price that will be demanded if I refuse to be ashamed, if, in other words, I am prepared to give public witness to the massively politically incorrect truths of the Gospel, truths that the mandarins of an elite culture shaped by the dogmas of expressive individualism and me-generation liberalism do not wish to hear spoken? Or, put more simply, am I willing, or am I, in the end, unwilling, to take up my cross and follow Christ?
Powerful forces and currents in our society press us to be ashamed of the Gospel—ashamed of the good, ashamed of our faith’s teachings on the sanctity of human life in all stages and conditions, ashamed of our faith’s teachings on marriage as the conjugal union of husband and wife. These forces insist that the Church’s teachings are out of date, retrograde, insensitive, uncompassionate, illiberal, bigoted—even hateful. These currents bring pressure on all of us—and on young Catholics in particular—to yield to this insistence. They threaten us with consequences if we refuse to call what is good evil, and what is evil good. They command us to conform our thinking to their orthodoxy, or else say nothing at all.
George covered the usual sticky issues of what Gospel living means in the context of Catholic doctrine such as the dignity of the human person (abortion and contraception violate that dignity) and the nature of sexual morality and marriage (chastity before and after marriage, plus the sanctity of the marital covenant is valid only for couples of the opposite sex, no such thing as same sex marriage, an oxymoron if there ever was one). He went on to say:
To be a witness to the Gospel today is to make oneself a marked man or woman. It is to expose oneself to scorn and reproach. To unashamedly proclaim the Gospel in its fullness is to place in jeopardy one’s security, one’s personal aspirations and ambitions, the peace and tranquility one enjoys, one’s standing in polite society. One may in consequence of one’s public witness be discriminated against and denied educational opportunities and the prestigious credentials they may offer; one may lose valuable opportunities for employment and professional advancement; one may be excluded from worldly recognition and honors of various sorts; one’s witness may even cost one treasured friendships. It may produce familial discord and even alienation from family members. Yes, there are costs of discipleship—heavy costs.
He likens this period that Catholics who seek to live out their faith in fullness as Good Friday, a time of trial and testing and encourages us not to forget that the Easter of our lives is coming and therefore not to be ashamed of the Gospel, and to keep hoping.
Today's Gospel from John 15:18-21 reminds us:
If the world hates you, realize that it hated me first.
If you belonged to the world, the world would love its own;
but because you do not belong to the world,
and I have chosen you out of the world,
the world hates you.
Remember the word I spoke to you,
‘No slave is greater than his master.’
If they persecuted me, they will also persecute you.
If they kept my word, they will also keep yours.
And they will do all these things to you on account of my name,
because they do not know the one who sent me.”
To be a follower of Christ is seriously scary. Every day Christians are persecuted and killed, their homes destroyed, their places of worship violated. Christianity is also under siege by the world for espousing the Gospel values George talks about.
As a Christian living in a city that promotes racial and religious harmony, I am grateful that I can express my faith freely. Perhaps because I don't have to fight for my faith, I tend to be a little more complacent, my faith not tested to the fullest extent.
I can only pray that if I deny Jesus as Saint Peter did (and I know I will) that, when it really counts, I would be willing to be crucified upside down as he was. In the meantime, may I be granted the grace to live and sing the Gospel with pride.
* To read the transcript of this rousing speech, go to http://www.zenit.org/en/articles/ashamed-of-the-gospel
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