Many Catholics do not believe what the Church teaches. There lies much of the problem. If they did believe what the Church teaches, they wouldn't be "making distinctions among themselves" - "showing partiality" as the Letter of St. James says. Nor would Catholic queer theorists be busy re-inventing gender identities.
As Michael W. Hannon noted in a recent essay: "I am not my sin. I am not my temptation to sin. By the blood of Jesus Christ, I have been liberated from this bondage."
I think I understood his essay - but I'm still not sure.
I am not sure , either....what DOES he mean by that exactly....I can be liberated from sin as in be made clean but my concupiscence remains and my cleanliness usually doesn't.
ReplyDeleteI think any time we firmly attach ourselves to some strong identity/group apart from a "creature of God, and by grace, his child and heir to eternal life" that we then open a crack for demons to exploit. The inner logic of that identity and its worldview pulls us in by a kind of centrifugal force, and we end up having an unhealthy attachment or regrettable bias.
ReplyDeleteI used to put great store in my history as a "solid con", "horse" on the rugby pitch and weight room, and as an academic. Now I'm indifferent to all of those old identities (along with "traditional Catholic") since each has been used by demons to slow my growth in humility, simplicity and mercy. But I am happy to share these experiences when I evangelize--they are a great tool!
I paint, but I'm not an artist.
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