6/26/2017
"A Letter to Fr. James Martin in Response to 'Building A Bridge'"
It has now been over a year and a half since I published a blog on here. I've written a few through the Diocese, but it feels good to put something together on my own accord, and speak to something that has been on my heart for quite a while. Recently, as many of you might be aware, Fr. James Martin, SJ, wrote a book titled, "Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion and Sensitivity." I just finished the book and decided I want to write a two-part blog entry hitting on my thoughts.
For part-one, I have decided to write an open letter to Fr. Martin, a letter I'm sharing here, but also sharing with Fr. Martin myself. In my short time of working for the church, I've come to recognize the importance of dialoguing. Although there are parts of the faith that in teaching are very black and white (natural law), the way we go about proclaiming them will not be. Here I hope to let the Holy Spirit speak through me. The second part, which will hopefully come soon, will hit on my thoughts of the book more specifically.
A quick note - My intention for this post is not to bash Father Martin, or say anything negative about him. My intention is to speak from the heart, and hit on what I find helpful in his book, and also what I think is missing to some extent. All fraternal correction done in charity. I would love to hear your thoughts on my letter/on the book if you have any.
God bless you and know I'm praying for you. To God be all the Glory!
Now, to the letter:
Dear Fr. Martin,
May the light of Christ shine on you
this day and always! Before I begin this letter, I want you to know
of my sincere prayers for you and your ministry! Before I began
writing this, I was in adoration, reading and finishing your book,
along with praying for you and the work that God has laid out. I pray
that you bring many souls to heaven, and that the Holy Spirit guides
you in all that you say and do.
I want to also say sorry for the many
comments that came out recently/in the past, that are hurtful,
defaming, rude, uncharitable, etc. It is one thing to disagree with
someone/want clarification/dialogue, but it is another thing all
together to say the things I've heard/read. We both know that
speaking like this goes against everything Jesus taught. Let us pray
that we can do all things in charity.
I now would like to do what I've just
mentioned, openly dialogue with you and anyone who reads this, with
charity at the forefront. I work for the Church Father, specifically
working with young adults, and I realize to some extent the
challenges that our Church faces today, the brokenness of people
throughout our world, and the secularization of our culture. I'm not
a Theologian Father, although I've taken my fair share of Theology
classes. No, I studied communications. To give you an understanding
of who I am, I share with you the last superlative that I was given,
which was, “Most likely to use social media to evangelize.” I
feel as if many people buy into what our secular media places before
them (myself included). We are told to leave God for Sunday's only,
seek pleasure and worldly comforts, and that our feelings are the
most important aspect of our lives. Maybe you agree? Maybe you don't?
Now we both know that we are made for so much more, that God has a
plan for all of us, and if we listen to Him and follow Him, it will
lead us to heaven. What a great joy and comfort!
All this being said, I want to put this
into context with your book, share my thoughts, and ask a question or
two. To start Father, I need to say thank you for all the work that
you do and are trying to do. I know that you are, in your words,
looking to “bridge the gap.” I was talking to a priest friend of
mine who has partaken in ministries similar to the ones you have
discussed, and through that dialogue, I have come to better
understand the difficulty of defending truth while loving as Jesus
taught us to love. My priest friend spoke to me about a ministry he
has started as his college for people who are attracted to people of
the same gender. He loves these college students, and realizes that
Christ is in them, but he also has never stepped away from the truth.
I think we are called to do this, and I think you agree.
Now I want to ask a question.
I do realize that your book is more of
an “Essay” (your words, not mine), but I have to ask as to why
the call to virtue was not more specifically mentioned? You speak a
great deal about how we need to meet the person where they are at,
realizing that before we can ever get someone to listen to what the
church teaches, much less believe it and try to follow
it, there has to be some sort of relationship. I'm not at all
disagreeing with any of that. I do think though, that to write a book
like this, one that will be read by thousands, if not millions, it
seems to be a missed opportunity, in my humble opinion. Venerable
Fulton Sheen said, “There
are not one hundred people in the United States who hate The Catholic
Church, but there are millions who hate what they wrongly perceive
the Catholic Church to be.” This book will be read my so many
catholics and non-catholics, and that is so beautiful, but I feel as
if that is all the more reason to proclaim truth and hit on the
teachings of the Church.
What
virtue/truth am I speaking about? I'm talking about the call to live
chaste lives! We both know that this isn't supposed to be a burden on
anyone, but instead an opportunity to trust God. The language here
has to have charity at the forefront, but it still can be stated.
Sexual relations with someone of the same sex is not how God intended
it, just as sexual relations outside of marriage between a man and a
women is not how God intended it. There is a reason I am a virgin,
Father! As a single man, I know that God is calling me to be just
that, and I have to trust that He has a plan for me. And I know that
everything I'm saying you've heard hundreds of times; I just think
that what we focus on here is what makes the difference. What if we
switched our efforts, and instead of focusing mostly on how poorly
LGBT people are treated, we instead turned the focus towards the
opportunity to suffer for the Lord, and offer up their struggles for
the sanctity of others? I'm not saying we just tell the LGBT
community to suck it up, but lets not forget that for every suffering
that is presented, there is also an opportunity to offer it up for
the Lord, an opportunity to be a saint!
I'm
not naive enough to think that this will work for everyone. You
mentioned many times that Jesus first meets the sinner (myself
included) where they are at, and only later does the call to
conversion come. This is so true, and I think the best thing we can
do is just love unconditionally. All that being said, we still should
want to speak to another thing Jesus said, which is, “I will show
you a more perfect way.” There is a more perfect way for all of us,
and it begins by picking up our crosses and following Him.
In
conclusion, I agree with you Father that we are called to love, and
love unconditionally. But I must say, lets challenge one another, in
this situation and in all situations, and if we can speak to the
truth all the while loving people where they are at, all the better.
To God be all the Glory Father!
God
Alone and To Jesus through Mary,
Brendan
