Leprosy of Honesty
I do not take for granted any of the support that you all give me on this blog, and on my social media platforms. I love receiving your messages, talking with you, giving advice where I can, and offering up my prayers for you all.
I am beyond thankful; that fact I can't reiterate enough.
There is a downside to creating content on this subject, though. As I'm sure you can all imagine, I do come across people who get very upset with me about one thing or another in relation to my stance on Catholicism and homosexuality.
It hasn't gotten seriously bad just yet, which I'm incredibly thankful for! Still, I tend to expect it nowadays.
And yet, there is still some backlash, both in general and towards me directly, that I didn't expect to see so much of.
Backlash for Church leaders.
By far, my most popular article was one that I wrote to Jesuit priest Fr. James Martin, SJ titled, "You're Hurting Me, Fr. James Martin." Before beginning my blog back in May, I had heard certain things about Fr. Martin, but I didn't want to make assumptions or put out any public statements before I knew more.
I wrote that blog post after reading his book. After this post gained some traction, I started looking around for other people who might've felt the same way that I did.
I came across a fair few.
I came across people like author Daniel Mattson, blogger, author and speaker Joseph Sciambra, even the Courage Apostolate of which I am now a member. These heroes talked about leading chaste lives, and living out the teachings of the true Catholic Church not solely about homosexuality, but about chastity altogether.
Finally, I felt like I really belonged somewhere, and that's an incredible feeling.
Still, I know several people who feel ostracized, neglected, and even descriminated against by Church figures like Fr. James Martin simply for living out the truth upheld by the Catholic Church.
It seems as though we are modern day lepers, afflicted in a way by the leprosy of honestly and truth.
In the first reading this Sunday from the book of Leviticus, if someone showed any signs of having leprosy, he had be declared unclean by the priests and made to shout, "Unclean, unclean!"
I rather immediately began to think about some of the comments I'd gotten on my posts in the past, how strangers, old friends and even family would chastise and ridicule me, making me out to be some kind of beast to be tossed to the side and marked as one to be feared or even disreguarded.
I've been called hateful and cruel, a disgrace to the Church, and someone who "needs to catch up with the times."
Fortunately for me, most of the harsher comments haven't gotten to me or hurt my feelings, and I also don't see all of them. Still, it's sad to see that I get taunted and teased for speaking about something that I know full well to be true.
In spite of all this, I am confident. I am confident in Christ, and I take joy in His promises.
If I give my life over to Him, and I follow in the footsteps of Our Lady and give my "Yes!" to God each day, I know that my work can bear good fruit, even if I can't see it.
I will continue to fight the good fight to the very best of my ability, no matter what others might say of me.
So many of these commenters and nay sayers know of my content, but know nothing about me. They fork their tongues in my direction and attack me with vicious words, yet the vast majority of them don't even know my name.
But Christ knows my name, and He knows my heart; because of this, I will submit myself and my work to Him, and those who love Him that He has placed in my life to help me return to Him.
This is a battle that I am willing to fight, my dear friends. I shout my battle cry, and I am not ashamed. I will be not afraid, and I will fight on for His Name's sake.
I hope that you will fight alongside me; pray for me, my dear friends, and pray fervently.
And know that whatever good that I may do, I do it because of God within me.
"All the glory of the King's daughter is within." (Our Lady of the Divine Indwelling)