Did Jesus approve a same sex relationship?
That's how Today's Gospel has been interpreted in contemporary gay exegesis, based upon translations and meanings of the original Greek words, pais and doulos - used for servant or slave in different accounts - which can have a sexual connotation. A Roman might have a slave used for sex, or a young male concubine. The interpretation makes sense, but I'm not sure the Fathers would have understood it exactly in that way. Even if they had, homosexual acts can never be approved, therefore it could never be interpreted as approval of a gay union.
Regardless of how it is understood, it's absurd to imagine Jesus giving his blessing upon a same sex relationship in either account from Luke or Matthew. The Centurion prayed for a cure for a beloved servant-slave, no mention is made of their relationship or domestic situation. Some suggest that the Centurion didn't want Jesus to enter under his roof because he was afraid the young servant would fall in love with Jesus and leave him. Where do people get this?
When Christ said he would come and heal the servant,
The centurion said in reply,"Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof;
only say the word and my servant will be healed."
We say that before the reception of Holy Communion.
It is an acknowledgement that we are unworthy to Have Jesus enter under our roof, our soul. It is an act of faith, a sort of confession of sin, and/or of our unworthiness. It can't be a pretense or something to hide behind to feign humility. The faith of the Centurion in the power of Christ is detailed by the soldier as he describes how he commands those subject to him and attributes the same power of command to Christ. Our Lord healed the servant because of the Centurion's faith. What their relationship was is never part of the narrative. Perhaps it was a homosexual relationship - how would anyone believe from the narrative that Jesus approved of it? In the case of the Samaritan woman, he didn't show approval for her relationship with a man who wasn't her husband. neither did he approve of the sins of the woman caught in adultery - he told her to go and sin no more.
If anything, Today's Gospel demonstrates that salvation is available to the Gentiles, even those in sinful relationships, and Jesus shows us once again that His mercy is for everyone. Perhaps the Centurion didn't want Jesus to come to his house simply because he was ashamed? Maybe he really meant what he said, "Lord, I am not worthy that you should come under my roof." Maybe when he returned home and found the servant healed, they both became followers of Christ? That's a more reasonable interpretation. So imagine what you will, Christ came to call sinners, so it doesn't matter if the Centurion and his servant were straight or gay. When we follow Christ, we leave behind our former way of life, we repent of our sins.
Anyway. Today concludes gay-pride month, and I want to try and make this my last post on the subject. I think I have become more and more irrelevant on this and many other subjects and I need to leave it be.
I could be wrong, but I do not think the Romans or the Greeks, or any of the people in that time period for that matter, had the same mindset that we have today on this subject. The most important job of a
ReplyDeleteprofessional historian is to understand the thinking of historical people as much as knowing the dates and facts. We are being ethnocentric and arrogant to assign ours to theirs.
An act of faith and complete trust in who Jesus is smeared and sullied by those who would deem it WHAT IT IS NOT.
ReplyDeleteI was going to refrain from commenting but it irks me that this testament of faith by the Centurion is being twisted and perverted just to get the homosexual agenda accepted by folks of faith. Ain't gonna happen unless one is swayed by which way the wind blows.
I remember when Father G preached about this wonderful testament of faith. He preached about the Roman Empire being the center of the world and how if you were a Roman citizen, nothing could touch you. He then spoke about how our Lord must have been impressed by the faith expressed by the Centurion since to be a Roman officer was a source of great pride and prestige. The humility, the trust, the surrender, all captured our Lord Jesus's heart.
Don't insult our Lord and the miracle he performed for the noble Centurion.
*Exactly*, Yaya. The Word of God is Truth and is unchanging. It is especially despicable when it is rewritten and purposefully misrepresented in order to justify modern political correctness and to excuse sin.
DeleteThe same thing happened the day after this past Christmas. PBS aired a "docudrama", "The Sultan and The Saint", with commentary from "educated" Franciscan scholars, promoting the view that the noble, courageous mission of St. Francis to the Muslim forces during the Crusades was for the purpose of St. Francis to "learn from the Muslims" and to "adapt their prayer life to his new Order." This was a patent, intentional lie. St. Francis risked his life, which did not belong to him but to God, armed only with a rosary and the Good News, to in fact bring a peaceful end to the fighting and to bring Jesus to the Muslim forces and to hopefully convert them. And the idea that Francis appropriated Muslim prayer practices is equally false - the Liturgy of the Hours was in use by the Benedictines for 2 centuries before this took place. Anyone who viewed this dreadful film and who did not know the real truth would believe this to be fact. Shamefully, this was promoted, produced, and paid for by certain Franciscans. As a Secular Franciscan, I was appalled and horrified.
God will *never* abandon us. But Satan is at work, making what is ugly appear beautiful, and making what is a lie appear as a glorious truth. As is his nasty habit, Lucifer is turning everything upside-down in order to pull souls away from God and the Truth.
Please pray hard - Susan, OFS