Sanctuary: Why I am Catholic

‘We are more important to God than all the sins we commit. But He does not and cannot bless sin. He blesses sinful man, so that he may recognize that he is part of His plan of love and allow himself to be changed by Him. God takes us as we are but never leaves us as we are.’

-On Why the Catholic Church Cannot Bless Same-Sex Unions, CDF, Feb. 22nd, 2021

Headlines howled like hot wind around the Catholic Church’s official response to why she cannot bless same-sex unions: ‘Stop the Archaic Rhetoric!’ ‘Love is not a Sin!’ ‘Elton John Slams Catholic Church!’ ‘Setback for Gay Catholics!’

Setback? I surged into the sanctuary that morning and partook of the richest of fare--Jesus raised high at Calvary, assuming all our sin and shame, then offering His very blood and body for our new life. The readings: Ezekiel describing the waters rising in the sanctuary so that ‘everything might live’; (Ez. 47:9) Jesus stirring those waters and restoring the crippled man who was so accustomed to ‘his truth’ that Jesus had to ask him: ‘Do you want to be whole?’ (Jn. 5)

Yes, Jesus! You freed me 45-years-ago and You are still liberating me through this sanctuary where Truth sets me free, over and over! I lament that no freedom exists for a generation hell-bent on celebrating one’s own truth in opposition to the self-evident Truth which shelters and fortifies us.

By this I refer to the Catholic Church’s once-and-for-all insistence that sex gives an answer for itself. God designed us to feel our aloneness and to connect to a member of the opposite sex, consummate marriage, and share bodies and lives in expectancy of new life. Children deserve commitment so no divorce--no moving on--the Church requires lifetime marriage for Jesus’ sake and the dignity of children.

That’s why the Church cannot bless same-sex unions, or any sexual bond outside real marriage--it defies the answer sex must give for itself, as clearly and consistently revealed in Scripture and the 2000-year-Tradition of Catholic interpretation of Scripture.

Beautiful. Simple. Profound. The Rock that does not roll. I lingered in the sanctuary that morning and reluctantly went out into the storm. Awaiting me in the tempest was a worldly, confusing position piece on homosexuality written by a church elder and friend, Time Magazine’s cover story on Ellen Page’s new persona ‘Eliot’ who now ‘aspires’ to look like an anorexic 10-year-old boy, and an update on the Gender Equality Act now primed for the US Senate with the hope of mainlining LGBTQ+ everything--mandating every person’s right to his or her or ‘their’ truth while criminalizing the Truth of Jesus regarding human sexuality.

I grieve for the deceived. I rejoice in my sanctuary and pray that thousands would join Church ranks as winds howl and storms rage. She will not be moved. Her Head is sure; she was, is, and will be His sanctuary for every broken, seeking soul.