Back in June we celebrated the nativity of St. John the Baptist, the only birth we observe on the liturgical calendar, other than those of Jesus and Mary. John is the last of the Old Testament prophets, and his life is intimately intertwined with our Lord's from the time of their respective conceptions. John's, in Old Testament style, was miraculous in so far as God guided nature, taking one who was thought to be baron (St. Elizabeth) and allowing her to be her fertile, causing surprise and wonder in the people. With Jesus, he shows that he is the master of nature, intervening in human affairs in such a way as to totally surpass people's expectations.
In his death we see that John was a true prophet, suffering and dying for the Word he professed. It is no accident that the first reading from today's Mass is from the book of Jeremiah. This past Sunday we heard that he was thrown down a well by the officials of Jerusalem because he was preaching against war and foreign alliances that would lead to doom. Tradition tells us that he left the city as it was falling to the enemy, only to be murdered in Egypt. He accepted the call to preach as we heard today, but professing the Word of God came at a great personal cost.
John also was fearless in his preaching of the Word. He preached justice, equity and personal repentance. His words were strong, calling those who came out to him a "brood of vipers" who needed to repent and so avoid the great wrath that was to come. It was not for these things that he was beheaded though. John told Herod, the puppet ruler of Galilee, that it was not lawful for him to have Herodias, his sister-in-law, as his wife while his brother was still alive. John was defending the sanctity of marriage, and touching upon something so personal to Herod's way of life that it excited his ire. He had John arrested, and Herodias manipulated a situation to effect his execution.
Today the Church is called to be prophetic. She is vocal on issues of economic justice, racial equality, immigration reform and other social issues as seen through the lens of the Gospel. When we do we are sometimes criticized, sometimes lauded and mainly, it seems to me, ignored. But when we get up and say that marriage is a union of one man and one woman, for the good of the couple and the raising of a family we are accused of every vile epitaph imaginable. We are called bigots and homophobes. The former Archbishop of Buenos Aires was heavily criticized by that country's president for preaching that core doctrine of the faith (for those who don't know who I'm referring to, the archbishop in question is now the much lauded Pope Francis). When we preach these truths we are touching to core of the human person. Economics and politics can seem distant to us, especially in this age when the news has been dumbed down to such a large extent. But our sexuality is tied to our inner self and identity, and so if we are told that maybe we are misusing it we react, sometimes violently, to the messenger. But preach the truth we must in season and out, no matter the cost.
We do not preach this out of hate, but out of love. I don't want to see people persecuted or abused because of their sexual orientation. I believe that what goes on in the privacy of people's homes is none of my business, unless lives are in danger or they want to make it my business by way of the confessional. I believe who people choose to live with is none of my business, for that matter. But I can't believe in same sex marriages because it can never be a marriage in the way the Christian community has always understood it. And just so gays don't think that I'm singling them out, straight couples who purposely exclude the possibility of children from their lives are in relationships that fall short of Christian marriage as well.
I'm not judging if the partners love each other. I'm not questioning their mutual devotion. But marriage, at a certain level, transcends these things. It's a commitment made for life that must endure many hardships, including the possibility of falling out of love, and the dimming of the sexual appetite. It has it's feet planted in the here and now, with eyes fixed on the future, all the way into eternity.
John the Baptist was put to death for defending the truth of marriage, in his case it's exclusive and indissoluble nature. We are called to preach the manifold truths of the Gospel, whose implications touch every aspect of our personal, social, cultural and political lives. We must profess it even when it is hard; Always with clarity, always with charity. Ready to accept any consequence that may come.
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