![The Cross of Infertility With Amanda Teixeira (Part 2 of 4)]()
by Catherine | Dec 28, 2013 | Everything Else, Faith, Marriage
If you’re just stumbling upon this series, please do yourself a favor, and read Part 1 of The Cross of Infertility With Amanda Teixeira. In Part 1, I introduced the series, and Amanda stole the show with her captivating love story with her husband, Jonathan. We got to hear all the good stuff! I want you to get a glimpse into my beautiful friend’s life before you read on, so please read Part 1 if you haven’t already. I am so humbled and honored that Amanda is sharing her story with us!
In Part 2 of The Cross of Infertility, Amanda will help us to understand what infertility feels like. My questions appear in red italics, and Amanda’s responses appear in regular type.
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Part 2 of The Cross of Infertility
Understanding How Infertility Feels
When did you start to think that infertility might be a possibility?
I became a patient at the Pope Paul VI Institute while I was still single and in college. I ended up having surgery to correct some issues with Endometriosis and PCOS. I started a variety of medications to help with severe PMS. It all helped with my quality of life tremendously. With that said, I pretty much knew what I was up against going into marriage. Yet, I was still hopeful.
Our wedding day was my “day of ovulation” according to my Creighton chart. On our 10-day long honeymoon, I even stopped drinking alcohol at our all-inclusive, because of course, I was likely pregnant. I even felt pain in my abdomen which I took to be “implantation pain.” Two weeks later, I got my period, and I didn’t get to join the “pregnant-on-my-honeymoon-Catholic-club.” I knew in my gut we were in for a very long ride ahead. And then I was pissed that I missed out on drinking those delicious mixed drinks while sitting ocean-side for nothing. Oh, and months later I found out that pain that I thought was a baby was actually a giant cyst growing on my ovary that had to be removed by surgery.
What does it feel like as a woman to be told that you are infertile? How do you think what you are feeling is different than what Jonathan is feeling?
Well at this point in the game, we aren’t 100% positive that all our issues lie with my health. Jonathan has some issues of his own, so we are a bit unique in that sense. This quote has been powerful for me in summarizing how I feel so often:
“…Part of the pain of infertility, however, is that it is an invisible sign. The physical and spiritual suffering caused by infertility is usually hidden. To use an analogy, the generosity of the couple who chooses to have a large family is like a brightly burning sun whose beams produce beautiful flowers that everyone can see and admire. While their love might shine just as brightly, the infertile family has no flowers of its own. Yet, as Fulton Sheen perceives: ‘There is no sign unless something happens contrary to nature. The brightness of the sun is no sign, but an eclipse is.'”
I’ve never been told I am “infertile” since my Doctor really believes we have a shot and it just hasn’t happened yet…but I coin myself as infertile. I mean it’s been 25 months since we’ve gotten married and we’ve been open to life the whole time. I don’t know what else to call it but infertility. I feel like a big fat failure. A loser. A let-down to the Church. A fake married woman.
Jonathan feels none of that. He’s hopeful. He’s tremendously trusting of God’s will. I am tremendously suspicious, manipulating, doubtful, and hateful. This has been hard to reconcile for us. I can’t see how he can be happy or content with our life. He can’t see how I don’t re-focus on other blessings. He can’t see why a child matters SO much to me. Of course he wants kids, but they aren’t as intrinsically tied to his identity as it is mine, being a woman, made by God to welcome, bear, and nurture life.
To sum it up – I have felt like I will never be happy in life as long as we’re infertile. Jonathan feels sad but it doesn’t take over his life like it does mine.
How did your background in nursing and knowledge of NaProTechnology play into your journey?
I mentioned previously I had already been a Napro patient and knew what I was up against. This was good in the sense I had treatments readily available and knew what we were fighting from day 1. I am glad we didn’t have to spend years getting treatment from all the quacks out there in Reproductive Health. I know many other couples have to run that gauntlet before getting to Napro, and I am thankful we didn’t.
Do you think there was a day when you accepted infertility as an official diagnosis? How can a doctor come to an official diagnosis of infertility? Is it still a day-to-day journey?
I think after taking the 4th or 5th pregnancy test during the first few months of married life and seeing them ALL come back negative, I accepted we were infertile. Actually, I think the word “accept” is something I still haven’t done. I identify as being infertile but accepting to me means coming to terms with or some level of peace. That’s fleeting for me. Most of the time I am rejecting that as God’s will for us, kicking and screaming, being depressing, sad, borderline desparing, etc. I have a while to go I think before I “accept” it.
Our Doctor has never labeled us as “infertiles.” She still believes we have like a 50% chance at becoming pregnant. I look at that stat and choose to think we will probably be the 50% that never get pregnant. Infertility has brought out my pessimism in full throttle. But to come to our current diagnoses, I’ve had 3 surgeries, many ultrasounds, dozens of blood draws and lab tests, and a series of hormone profiles. Jonathan has had a few tests of his own. That’s how they gathered the medical evidence to give us our current diagnoses:
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Endometriosis
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PCOS
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Insulin-resistance
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Bicornuate Uterus
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Endo
mitritis
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Low post-peak estrogen and progesterone
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Luteinized Unruptured Follicle Syndrome
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Low T3 levels
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Adrenal Fatigue
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Viscosity issues and a Varicocele (Jonathan)
I am convinced that Satan’s #1 target is the family, and I am sure infertility puts major stress on a marriage. How has infertility impacted your relationship with Jonathan? How do you prevent infertility from defining your marriage?
As mentioned earlier, we are both reacting to infertility very differently. Many days Jonathan’s positive attitude just pisses me off. I need to see that he hurts too. It was then that I discovered that it does hurt him…just not to the core like it does me. What makes him cry is seeing me hurt so badly and being able to do absolutely nothing about it but beg God for a miracle only to see the miracle never come and my pain grow as the months pass us by.
Infertility has certainly been a cause for fights in our marriage, and I totally see how Satan has attempted to use it to drive a wedge between us to make us grow away from one another. There have been times that Jonathan didn’t feel like he was “enough” simply being a loving husband. That I only loved him if it meant he could give me a baby, or something crazy like that. Thankfully God has poured out his grace and used infertility to bring us closer to one another. We pray every single day about it and have a plethora of devotions to many saints to carry us through this together.
We have a lot of sadness but more often than not, we maintain a spirit of humour in the midst of it all and that has been life-saving for our marriage.
What were your conceptions of infertility before being in these shoes yourself? Did anything change?
Honestly, I knew infertility was really hard and I’ve always had compassion for those going through it. Of course, I couldn’t fully grasp what it was like to live it. I guess I used to naively think things like “Oh, Naprotechnology will fix ANYTHING, so these friends will eventually get pregnant if they simply use it.” or “They can just adopt, right? Then it will all be OK.” Now I understand it and know better.
* * *
Amanda’s last lines are a perfect segway to Part 3 of The Cross of Infertility. In Part 3, Amanda and I will discuss what NOT to say to your loved one experiencing infertility. I love this section of the series. Not only does Amanda identify the insensitive things people often say, but she explains why the things people say are hurtful.
In Part 3, Amanda answers these questions:
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What are some of the most hurtful or least helpful things you and Jonathan have been told? How do these comments make you feel, and what makes them so hurtful to hear?
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What do you think are the common misconceptions people have about infertility?
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Within your own relationship, I am sure you and Jonathan had to figure out the best ways to support one another. What did you learn were the worst things you could do or say to each other?
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I imagine there is some tension in some of your relationships with friends not struggling with fertility. What are the worst moves for friends with children to do?
Come back tomorrow to read Amanda’s powerful responses!
![The Cross of Infertility With Amanda Teixeira (Part 1 of 4)]()
by Catherine | Dec 27, 2013 | Everything Else, Faith, Marriage
Part 1 of The Cross of Infertility
Introducing The Series & My Dear Friend, Amanda
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| Amanda & her husband, Jonathan |
I imagine we all know someone suffering with the cross of infertility in their marriage. My longtime dear friend, Amanda Teixeira, recently decided to write about the cross of infertility on her blog, TRUEGOODANDBEAUTIFUL. I am so proud of Amanda for opening up about their challenges and for showing the rest of us how to carry a cross gracefully.
After I read Amanda’s blog, I felt God putting it on my heart to ask her if she might be willing to share a little more. I reached out and asked Amanda if she would be willing to do a 4-part series on the cross of infertility. Selfishly, I wanted to do this series so that I could learn how to be a better support for my loved ones who have experienced, are experiencing, or will experience infertility. Who knows, maybe down the road Philip and I will join the couples experiencing secondary infertility.
I told Amanda that I experienced a lot of awkwardness after we miscarried Thérése. Our loved ones sometimes just didn’t know what to do or say, and some people stayed away for fear of doing or saying the wrong thing. I imagined people suffering anything, including infertility, experience the same awkwardness.
Amanda and I decided we’d do an e-mail interview to discuss the questions most people aren’t asking their friends facing infertility. We want this to be an opportunity to bless both those facing infertility and the people who love them. We want this series to be a source of blessing for the infertile couples needing a microphone and their loved ones that don’t know what to say or do.
Here’s a road map of what our 4-part series on infertility will look like:
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Introducing the series and Amanda (& Jonathan!)
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Understanding how infertility feels
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What NOT to do when your loved one is facing infertility
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How to encourage and lift up a couple facing infertility. Encouragement and resources from Amanda.
From here on out, my questions will be in red italics, and Amanda’s responses will be in regular type.
Please introduce yourself! Give our readers the beautiful abridged history of your relationship with Jonathan up t
o present day. Give us the good stuff–how you met, dating, engagement, marriage, what you two have done and are doing for a living, hobbies, interests, etc.
Hello! We are Jonathan and Amanda Teixeira. We are both missionaries with FOCUS – Fellowship of Catholic University Students. Amanda hails from Nebraska, and Jonathan grew up in Pennsylvania. Currently, we reside in Denver, Colorado as we tackle different projects with FOCUS out of the Support Center. We are opposite in personalities and like to joke that Amanda “makes our life happen” and Jonathan “makes our life fun.” For as different as we are in temperament, we have many similar interests – Jesus and His Church, outdoor adventures, watching great movies, learning to cook, playing with animals, traveling, reading, all things Dave Ramsey, and all sorts of games.
Before diving into the main topic of this blog series, here is a brief introduction to our Love Story!
Jonathan and I met during the summer of 2008 at our first FOCUS New Staff Training in Belmont Abbey, North Carolina. We were fresh college graduates filled with zeal, excitement, and fear as we entered into missionary life. My very first impression of Jonathan was that he looked sketchy. His hair was longer than mine…down to his elbows to be exact. Immediately he was filed into the “friend” category. My second impression was while walking to our first fundraising class. I came prepared and ready to get. to. work. I was serious about this…aka seriously stressed out. As I am marching along to class, here came Jonathan…blaring “Money, Money, Money” from his laptop propped on his shoulder like a boom-box as he danced down the sidewalk. At that moment I was certain he was a complete goof-off who couldn’t take things seriously.
Despite the first impressions, Jonathan and I got to know one another through various FOCUS interactions over the years. He was always good for a laugh and some pleasant conversation, and that was the extent of our interactions, mostly in group settings.
Our 3rd year on staff we both ended up serving in leadership at FOCUS New Staff Training. Here, in a smaller group of people, we were able to have more one-on-one conversations. I overheard him praying to the Blessed Mother one evening, and that sealed my interest! His interest came after we saw a lightning bolt in the sky one night and both screamed at that same time about how cool it was. Over the next couple weeks we both kept trying to join activities the other was participating in. I jumped into a soccer game he happened to be going to. He jumped into a rafting excursion I was going on. Finally, one evening Jonathan walked up and requested we go to ice cream together…just us…later that evening. I said “sure” and Jonathan proceeded to high five me and run away. I ate the fastest dinner of my life so I could go upstairs, celebrate with my roommates, and have them help me get prettied up.
We went out on ice cream that night and talked for hours. The following weeks were filled with late-night walks, dancing on rooftops, getting caught in the rain, random adventures, and hours of energetic conversations. By the end of June, we decided to officially start dating. He was going to live in NYC, and I was living in Champaign, IL but we wanted to give it a chance.
We spent that year trading off visiting one another on a monthly basis. Dating in NYC was a blast! We saw shows, had the most random encounters with people, drank wonderful coffee, ran on the Highline, and visited dozens of beautiful Churches. In Champaign, we had good ole Midwestern fun with great people. We drank beers on rooftops, ate amazing Chicago deep dish pizza, and played in the snow. We visited one another’s families in Nebraska and Pennsylvania. We fell in love that year and on April 21, 2011 we got engaged.
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| Photo from Amanda & Jonathan’s engagement photo shoot |
Our engagement was 6 months and seriously a whirlwind. We entered a wedding contest with WOWT Channel 6 in Omaha, NE. There isn’t time to go into the craziness of that contest but it was a WILD RIDE.. When all was said
and done, we won the dang thing, thanks to amazing friends and family! Again, we were at yet another FOCUS New Staff Training, and I spent my life in complete chaos that summer as I kept up with the schedule and planning a wedding long distance. We ended up having 2 weeks in Omaha to more or less plan EVERYTHING. It was the only 2 weeks I could actually plan the wedding in Omaha. God bless my mother for carrying a seriously heavy load of the wedding planning.
Jonathan moved to Champaign, IL and joined our FOCUS team at University of Illinois that Fall. A month before our wedding, the Alpha Phi House Mother at U of I went on a European vacation…so as Chapter Advisor I moved into the house to serve as the interim House Mother. As if I didn’t have enough on my plate! Then we found a townhouse to live in, but the move in date happened to be the same exact weekend Jonathan was a groomsman in another wedding that happened to be in California. So, I moved our stuff by myself. That month was a hot mess to say the least. On a highlight, we were consistently working out with Shaun T’s Insanity, so we looked really good and were in the best shape of our lives.
Finally, it was time to get hitched! We got to Omaha a few days prior to the wedding, and Jonathan locked himself in the basement building a kneeler for our wedding and spending 17 hours designing our wedding program. I ran around Omaha getting all the last minute details wrapped up and dealing with our SCAM ARTIST wedding dress lady. Another long story we don’t have time to delve into. On Saturday, October 22, 2011 we got married at Mary Our Queen Church in Omaha, NE. The day was rainy but it didn’t matter – our hearts were full and we were surrounded by 400 beloved family and friends.
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| Amanda & Jonathan’s wedding day |
The next morning we stupidly decided to fly out for our Honeymoon at 10am – which meant we needed to attend a 7am Mass in town. Don’t do this. Ever. The early flight thing, not the going to Mass on Sunday thing. Sleeeeeep in after your wedding. You will need it. We got on the flight, red-eyed and crazed with sleep deprivation accumulating from weeks on end but we were married by golly. We had our honeymoon in Cancun Mexico, and it was amazing. It was filled with stories that still make us laugh today and some seriously wild adventures since we were joined by a HURRICANE the night we landed, but again, we were married and that is all that mattered. We were committed to having a great time despite the circumstances. Little did we know what emotional hurricanes awaited us in the months to follow.
* * *
If THAT doesn’t keep ya hooked, I don’t know what will!
Tomorrow, I will share Part 2 of our 4-Part series on The Cross of Infertility. Part 2 will help you to understand how infertility feels. Amanda answers these questions:
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When did you start to think that infertility might be a possibility?
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What does it feel like as a woman to be told that you are infertile? How do you think what you are feeling is different than what Jonathan is feeling?
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How did your background in nursing and knowledge of NaPro Technology play in to your journey?
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Do you think there was a day when you accepted infertility as an official diagnosis? How can a doctor come to an official diagnosis of infertility? Is it still a day-to-day journey?
-
I am convinced that the devil’s #1 target is the family, and I am sure infertility puts major stress on a marriage. How has infertility impacted your relationship with Jonathan? How do you prevent infertility from defining your marriage?
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What were your conceptions of infertility before being in these shoes yourself? Did anything change?
Come back tomorrow to read Amanda’s answers. You won’t want to miss it!
![Duck Dynasty & Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water]()
by Catherine | Dec 20, 2013 | Everything Else, Faith
The way I see it, the gist of the Duck Dynasty fiasco is this: Phil Robertson, patriarch of a very successful family in Louisiana, recently gave an interview to GQ Magazine. Some of his responses were very, uh, colorful. His remarks on homosexuality (among other things) are getting a lot of press, especially in light of his indefinite suspension from production on his A&E show Duck Dynasty.
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Here are my two cents:
Phil Robertson is a self-proclaimed born-again Christian. He believes that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. The inerrant Word of God (compiled as the Bible) teaches that homosexual acts are sinful. (Notice how I underlined the word acts?) Therefore, as a Christian, Phil Robertson believes that homosexual acts are sinful. He said so very coarsely in his interview.
He sure didn’t say it how I would have. He sure didn’t say it how Pope Francis did. Yet, they both said the same thing. They preached the same message that it’s the mission of the Christian to condemn the sin (homosexual acts) and love the sinner. The content of their messages is the same, but one is Time Magazine’s person of the year, and the other is being crucified in the public square. As Brandon Ambrosino’s article in Time says, “The ‘Duck Dynasty’ Fiasco Says More About Our Bigotry Than Phil’s.”
This isn’t a first amendment issue. As a Christian, I’m not up in arms over the issue of free speech. Phil Robertson can (and likely will) continue saying whatever he chooses. However, he can’t say whatever he chooses without consequence so long as he’s in contract with a kowtowing network.
The biggest issue in my eyes is that our culture’s knee-jerk response to these scenarios is to throw the baby out with the bath water. Remember Paula Deen? We couldn’t handle what she said, so we made her go away. It looks like Phil is experiencing the same fate. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I agree with Bill Maher’s assessment of the Paula Deen fiasco, and I see history repeating itself with Phil Robertson. Bill Maher is quoted in the above Brandon Ambrosino article as saying, “Do we always have to make people go away?” It seems we’re incapable of doing anything else.
Our culture is incapable of actually engaging the issues. Rather than take Phil to task on the claims that he made, they are putting Phil away. Instead of discussing what the Bible and the Church teach on homosexuality, the answer is to reject everything that Phil stands for–including Jesus Christ.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, I’d point you to an article from the blog Rage Against the Minivan titled “Duck Dynasty, first amendment rights, and Christian values.” It is all over my Facebook newsfeed. The core message of the post is summed up in this image from the blog:
Because some people think Phil Robertson is a backwater know nothing hick who proclaims to be Christian, they are going to “have another look at the life of Jesus.” I don’t think this second look means a thorough study of Scripture and the Church. Instead, I think this means that Christ is being declared guilty by association with Phil Robertson. Because Phil Robertson coarsely proclaimed that homosexual acts are sinful, some are rethinking this whole Jesus and Christianity thing. Again, I repeat: People are walking away from God because of something one man said.
We need to get something straight. Jesus is God. The rest of us are sinners. So long as sinners make up the Body of Christ, Christ is gonna have some ugly cleaning up to do. We’re all imperfect, and we’re going to keep imperfectly representing Christ and His Church. That GQ interview is creating some ugly clean-up, but Phil Robertson was right on the money when he called sin sin. Period. He was also right on the money when he said this:
“We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”
Phil knows it’s not his job to do the judging. Pope Francis knows it’s not his job to judge either. They just said it differently. Like Pope Francis? You’ll love Jesus. Love Jesus? If Jesus had it His way, we’d learn to love Phil–even if we don’t like him. If
we’re Christian, we’re not going to abandon Christ and His Teaching because of the way one of his disciples articulated his beliefs. I don’t particularly like the way Phil Robertson talked about homosexuality or blacks in his GQ interview, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon Christ or try to throw Phil away.
Let’s talk about that whole judging business, too. We can talk about actions as being morally bad, good, or neutral. That’s not judging. What we can’t judge is where another person is going to spend their eternity. All we can do is learn everything we can about what Christ and His Church teaches, and then do our best to actually do it. We have to know what’s good, bad, or neutral in order to learn how we ought to live our lives.
The trouble is, our country likes to divorce individuals from their religious beliefs. Freedom of Religion has been reduced to Freedom of Worship. We can do whatever we like within the four walls of our worship spaces, but we better not act like a Christian in the public square if we don’t want any trouble.
While I admire Phil Robertson for being unapologetic in his Christian beliefs, the reality is that much of our country won’t embrace his abrasive delivery. Phil’s Christian brothers and sisters need to recognize this problem and help him to understand why his words were hurtful to those with same sex attraction. Christians always need to share Truth in love. Without love, sharing the Gospel is fruitless.
If Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful (and it does), then the problem wasn’t Phil’s core message. The problem was his delivery. We don’t need to make Christ’s message palatable to the world, but we need to find a way to get the world to hear it. Pope Francis is catching more flies with honey than his predecessors, and Phil Robertson should take notice. Pope Francis isn’t changing anything in the Teaching of the Catholic Church; he’s just tweaking the delivery so that the world will hear it.
The trouble with the dictatorship of relativism is that the people that buy in walk around like individual tyrants. “Everyone is right until they disagree with me.” The solution to opposition is to keep “throwing away” people like Phil Robertson for articulating something other than the belief de jour. The choices seem to be: jump on the bandwagon or persist in silence. I’d like to propose a third way: engage the world with Love and share Truth whenever possible, following in the footsteps of Pope Francis. The world might still try to throw you away, but at least they’ll be more likely to hear you when you lead with love. There is always Love in Truth.
Jesus wasn’t interested in making His Word palatable. (Remember the whole table-turning scene in the Temple?) Yet, He led with love. Heck, He is Love. The world tried to throw Him away by crucifying Him, but Love prevailed, and Love continues to prevail more than 2000 years later.
![Duck Dynasty & Throwing the Baby Out With the Bath Water]()
by Catherine | Dec 20, 2013 | Everything Else, Faith
The way I see it, the gist of the Duck Dynasty fiasco is this: Phil Robertson, patriarch of a very successful family in Louisiana, recently gave an interview to GQ Magazine. Some of his responses were very, uh, colorful. His remarks on homosexuality (among other things) are getting a lot of press, especially in light of his indefinite suspension from production on his A&E show Duck Dynasty.
|
|
Here are my two cents:
Phil Robertson is a self-proclaimed born-again Christian. He believes that the Bible is the inerrant Word of God. The inerrant Word of God (compiled as the Bible) teaches that homosexual acts are sinful. (Notice how I underlined the word acts?) Therefore, as a Christian, Phil Robertson believes that homosexual acts are sinful. He said so very coarsely in his interview.
He sure didn’t say it how I would have. He sure didn’t say it how Pope Francis did. Yet, they both said the same thing. They preached the same message that it’s the mission of the Christian to condemn the sin (homosexual acts) and love the sinner. The content of their messages is the same, but one is Time Magazine’s person of the year, and the other is being crucified in the public square. As Brandon Ambrosino’s article in Time says, “The ‘Duck Dynasty’ Fiasco Says More About Our Bigotry Than Phil’s.”
This isn’t a first amendment issue. As a Christian, I’m not up in arms over the issue of free speech. Phil Robertson can (and likely will) continue saying whatever he chooses. However, he can’t say whatever he chooses without consequence so long as he’s in contract with a kowtowing network.
The biggest issue in my eyes is that our culture’s knee-jerk response to these scenarios is to throw the baby out with the bath water. Remember Paula Deen? We couldn’t handle what she said, so we made her go away. It looks like Phil is experiencing the same fate. I can’t believe I’m going to say this, but I agree with Bill Maher’s assessment of the Paula Deen fiasco, and I see history repeating itself with Phil Robertson. Bill Maher is quoted in the above Brandon Ambrosino article as saying, “Do we always have to make people go away?” It seems we’re incapable of doing anything else.
Our culture is incapable of actually engaging the issues. Rather than take Phil to task on the claims that he made, they are putting Phil away. Instead of discussing what the Bible and the Church teach on homosexuality, the answer is to reject everything that Phil stands for–including Jesus Christ.
If that sounds like an exaggeration, I’d point you to an article from the blog Rage Against the Minivan titled “Duck Dynasty, first amendment rights, and Christian values.” It is all over my Facebook newsfeed. The core message of the post is summed up in this image from the blog:
Because some people think Phil Robertson is a backwater know nothing hick who proclaims to be Christian, they are going to “have another look at the life of Jesus.” I don’t think this second look means a thorough study of Scripture and the Church. Instead, I think this means that Christ is being declared guilty by association with Phil Robertson. Because Phil Robertson coarsely proclaimed that homosexual acts are sinful, some are rethinking this whole Jesus and Christianity thing. Again, I repeat: People are walking away from God because of something one man said.
We need to get something straight. Jesus is God. The rest of us are sinners. So long as sinners make up the Body of Christ, Christ is gonna have some ugly cleaning up to do. We’re all imperfect, and we’re going to keep imperfectly representing Christ and His Church. That GQ interview is creating some ugly clean-up, but Phil Robertson was right on the money when he called sin sin. Period. He was also right on the money when he said this:
“We never, ever judge someone on who’s going to heaven, hell. That’s the Almighty’s job. We just love ’em, give ’em the good news about Jesus—whether they’re homosexuals, drunks, terrorists. We let God sort ’em out later, you see what I’m saying?”
Phil knows it’s not his job to do the judging. Pope Francis knows it’s not his job to judge either. They just said it differently. Like Pope Francis? You’ll love Jesus. Love Jesus? If Jesus had it His way, we’d learn to love Phil–even if we don’t like him. If we’re Christian, we’re not going to abandon Christ and His Teaching because of the way one of his disciples articulated his beliefs. I don’t particularly like the way Phil Robertson talked about homosexuality or blacks in his GQ interview, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to abandon Christ or try to throw Phil away.
Let’s talk about that whole judging business, too. We can talk about actions as being morally bad, good, or neutral. That’s not judging. What we can’t judge is where another person is going to spend their eternity. All we can do is learn everything we can about what Christ and His Church teaches, and then do our best to actually do it. We have to know what’s good, bad, or neutral in order to learn how we ought to live our lives.
The trouble is, our country likes to divorce individuals from their religious beliefs. Freedom of Religion has been reduced to Freedom of Worship. We can do whatever we like within the four walls of our worship spaces, but we better not act like a Christian in the public square if we don’t want any trouble.
While I admire Phil Robertson for being unapologetic in his Christian beliefs, the reality is that much of our country won’t embrace his abrasive delivery. Phil’s Christian brothers and sisters need to recognize this problem and help him to understand why his words were hurtful to those with same sex attraction. Christians always need to share Truth in love. Without love, sharing the Gospel is fruitless.
If Christianity teaches that homosexual acts are sinful (and it does), then the problem wasn’t Phil’s core message. The problem was his delivery. We don’t need to make Christ’s message palatable to the world, but we need to find a way to get the world to hear it. Pope Francis is catching more flies with honey than his predecessors, and Phil Robertson should take notice. Pope Francis isn’t changing anything in the Teaching of the Catholic Church; he’s just tweaking the delivery so that the world will hear it.
The trouble with the dictatorship of relativism is that the people that buy in walk around like individual tyrants. “Everyone is right until they disagree with me.” The solution to opposition is to keep “throwing away” people like Phil Robertson for articulating something other than the belief de jour. The choices seem to be: jump on the bandwagon or persist in silence. I’d like to propose a third way: engage the world with Love and share Truth whenever possible, following in the footsteps of Pope Francis. The world might still try to throw you away, but at least they’ll be more likely to hear you when you lead with love. There is always Love in Truth.
Jesus wasn’t interested in making His Word palatable. (Remember the whole table-turning scene in the Temple?) Yet, He led with love. Heck, He is Love. The world tried to throw Him away by crucifying Him, but Love prevailed, and Love continues to prevail more than 2000 years later.
![Christmas Mass and the Prodigal Son's Older Brother]()
by Catherine | Dec 8, 2013 | Faith
You can find my monthly column over at CatholicMom today. It’s called “Christmas Mass and the Prodigal Son’s Older Brother.” Head on over to check it out!
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| The Prodigal Son, sketch by Rembrandt |
