SUNDAY, April 25th Jn. 10: 11-18 “I am the good shepherd. A good shepherd lays down his life for the sheep. A hired man, who is not a shepherd and whose sheep are not his own, sees a wolf coming and leaves the sheep and runs away, and the wolf catches and scatters them.”
- Parents are called to be good shepherds guarding their sheep – their children. Are we aware of the modern wolves that want to catch and scatter our sheep? Fr. Ed opens our eyes to the latest, most insidious and pernicious modern wolf! Parents, Grand-parents, Aunts and Uncles, take note! The battle for the innocence and purity of our children is on! We are fighting for the souls of our children!
- Let us recall Jesus’ own words: “If anyone causes one of these little ones to sin, it would be better for them to have a large millstone hung around their neck and to be drowned in the depths of the sea.” (Mt. 18:6)
LET US AVOID THE SEXUAL IDENTITY CRISIS!!! By Fr. Ed Broom, OMV
Everything that God created in the world is good. After creating, in the Book of Genesis, God says that it was good. The stars, the moon, the earth, the seas, the animals, the night and the light—all that God created was and is good.
Now the crowning summit or apex of creation was when God decided to create man and woman, and He created them in His image and likeness. Of all that God created, the human persons, man and woman, are the greatest in the natural world. So much is this the case that God created all other beings subordinate to the human persons—man and woman. Furthermore, God created all other lower beings as a means to help both man and woman to arrive at their final destiny and that is the eternal bliss of Heaven.
In other words, all created reality God brought into existence so that the human persons—man and woman—could use creation as a ladder by which to ascend to Heaven. Put succinctly, man and woman must use creation for its proper end and purpose so as to arrive at Heaven, and not to abuse created reality.
Never have we lived in a world with so much information. With the proper use of the Internet, we can learn about almost anything in a matter of a few seconds. However, it also must be stated that never have we lived in a world with so much confusion.
Therefore, this short article will present a clear and concise explanation of the identity, purpose and destiny of human persons. We must know where we come from, who we are, and where we are headed in our short earthly sojourn. Clarity of purpose, identity and destiny is indispensable for human persons!
1. CREATION IS GOOD. As mentioned earlier, all that flows from God’s creative Hand is good—from the most simple of all creation to the highest—human persons: man and woman! Evil comes from abuse of God’s good gifts; this we call sin!
2. GOD CREATED MAN AND WOMAN IN HIS LIKENESS. The Bible states unequivocally that God created man and woman in His image and likeness. Quite simply the following: there are vestiges in the human persons—man and woman—that reflect attributes that are qualities of God. Three would be the following: intellect, will, and soul. The human persons have intellect to know the truth; they have the will to love God; they have an immortal soul so as to live beyond the grave and to be united with an Immortal God for all eternity.
3. TWO DIFFERENT, DISTINCT SEXUAL IDENTITIES. Now in the midst of the chaos and confusion of the sexual-identity crisis, it must be stated with the utmost clarity that from the very beginning God created two different human persons with different sexual identities. There is no admixture or confusion.
4. MALE AND FEMALE. The distinction is very clear: male and female. God created male and female, man and woman in His image and likeness. (Read Gen. 3:18-25). “So, the Lord God cast a deep sleep on the man, and while he was asleep, he took out one of his ribs and closed up its place with flesh. The Lord God built up into a woman the rib that he had taken from the man. When he brought her to the man, the man said: ‘This one at last is bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh; this one shall be called woman for she was taken out of man.’” (Gen 2:21-23)
5. NAMES OF FIRST MAN AND WOMAN: The Bible gives the names of the first man and the first woman: the first man’s name, Adam, meaning taken from the earth; the first woman, Eva, meaning the mother of all the living.
6. MATRIMONY: NATURE AND PURPOSE! From the beginning, God, who is the author and origin and lover of life, desired life and the multiplication of life, especially human life. The means by which God, from the very start, desired new life to have its origin is through the loving union of man and woman, male and female (two separate and distinct sexes). This realizes its purpose and perfection in the oldest of institutions in the Bible—Holy Matrimony! The bond of Holy Matrimony takes place between man and woman, and the first union was Adam and his union with Eve. Adam, the husband, and Eve, the wife.
7. KEY BIBLICAL PASSAGE: DISTINCTION OF SEXES AND MARITAL UNION. A key passage for the distinction of sexes and the purpose of Marital union is the following: “That is why a man leaves his father and mother and clings to his wife and the two of them become one flesh.” (Gen. 2:24) Jesus confirms this and adds: “And what God has united let no man rent asunder.” (Mt. 19:6) These few words give a foundation for both Holy Matrimony and its indissoluble character and permanence.
8. THE TWO DIFFERENT AND DISTINCT SEXES AND COMPLEMENTARITY. God created male and female, man and woman, Adam and Eve as distinct human persons. However, it must be stated with utmost clarity that there is no superiority between man and woman. Rather, there is equality but complementary. That is to say, both man and woman are different physically, biologically, emotionally, affectively and in their differences they complement and complete each other by their loving union.
9 .NAME IT, CLAIM IT, TAME IT AND CORRECT IT. It must be asserted with utmost clarity that there exists today a Sexual-identity crisis that sad to say is spreading far and wide like wildfire. This manifests itself by promoting the practice of homosexuality, lesbianism, bisexuality, transgenderism. Not only that, but also the legal approval and promotion of surgical sex changes. All of this goes totally against the above Biblical explanation, as well as the Natural Law written in the heart of every human person, and mere common sense. Still more, if this aberrant and erroneous sexual agenda grows, it will militate strongly against the family which is the basic cell of society, the primary and foundational institution of society. History has proven it true: when the family unravels in a society, than that society and civilization are placed in jeopardy, and will decline and end in debacle and ruin. So we must name it, claim it, tame it and correct it.
10. ACCEPT GOD’S DESIGN AND WILL FOR YOU. God loves you with an eternal and infinite love and His love never changes. We must humbly and with great gratitude accept the way that God created us. He created us male or female, either a boy or a girl, man or woman. There is no other option. Let us thank God for His love and goodness and be proud of our distinct sexual identity. In the words of Saint Paul, let us strive to glorify God with all our being, with our body, mind, and soul in this life so as to glorify Him forever in heaven.
In conclusion, my friends, brothers and sisters in Christ, let us pray for the grace to have utmost clarity as to our own distinct sexual identity—our male identity or our female identity and live according to this identity. As adults and parents, let us also do all in our power to help our children, our teens to avoid falling into this pernicious, poisonous and toxic sexual identity crisis. Let us learn the Truth about God and ourselves—our distinct sexual identity. Let us live the Truth, let us love the Truth, and let us teach the Truth. Indeed, Jesus is “THE WAY, THE TRUTH AND THE LIFE AND THE TRUTH WILL SET US FREE!”
Copyright 2021 Oblates of the Virgin Mary, St. Peter Chanel Church, Hawaiian Gardens, CA
