You might have seen the news this week. It has been big news on all the channels, a prospect for the NFL, if drafted, would become the league’s first openly gay football player. This is such important news because .  .  . ? Well, actually I don’t know, apparently the news directors in all the American venues consider it important. Other commentators have rightly pointed out, which we in New England can appreciate, that to say this is controversial and for example that drafting an alleged gang member who is now charged with several murders is not, is confusing.

What makes people think it is news is the moral question, some are trying to make the gay lifestyle completely acceptable in society and others reject it in society as well. As Catholics we believe that any sexual activity outside of a procreative. sacramental,  marriage is gravely sinful.  This goes well beyond the narrower issue of whether someone is or is not gay.

Our morality comes from wisdom, so the real issue is never what morality one is living, the first question is what is the base of this morality.

The base of our morality is that our relationship with God gives us a wisdom that teaches our morality. If we eliminate our relationship with God, which many in the world do, then the basis of our morality is not anchored in anything that is deeper than we are.

Many in the world, whether they know it or not, base their morality in the teachings of Friedrich Nietzche who taught that God is dead and, therefore, we can create our own moral rules. This is precisely the way the world works.  Eventually, and usually too late, people discover this as a recipe for disaster. Indeed, Europe seems to have to learn this lesson over and over again. An article at CNN cites a good example of this, when the reasoning to support euthanasia for children in Belgium is asking the question “What’s the use of keeping this baby alive?’

If we eliminate our relationship with God in Jesus Christ, then our morality becomes more related to how we live in a way that affects us here and now and nothing else. But this morality is related to a wisdom that is paper thin. It even challenges the American virtue of a pursuit of happiness because it opens the possibility of conflicting pursuits of happiness that divide the nation.  What is wrong with our country? She stopped believing in God and that has created great divisions that continue growing everyday.

Jesus speaks to us of the Law and that every letter of the law applies. What is the law? it is the wisdom of God taught to us by the Holy Spirit who speaks through our hearts. It is embodied in Jesus Christ and in Christ we learn how to love God and neighbor. In reality, the law of God is a divine wisdom that not only teaches us how to act profoundly, it also teaches us who we are to a profound level. It reaches into the depth of not only morality, but our anthropology, that is our definition of what it means to be human. Then our morality is not based on me doing what I think is right, but me seeking to do what makes others realize their human dignity by me living mine in Christ. Therefore, the rule is not based on who is the better football player, as much as what behavior of mine really leads myself and others to be fully human and fully alive. We only learn that by our relationship with Christ through our relationship with His Church.

The outward behavior reflects the inner relationship. The inner relationship is reflected in one’s actions toward others. I stand and fall on my relationship with Christ and how seriously I take it by my behavior toward myself and others. As I wrote in my latest book, the place where that is defined for me is when I am driving. If I am judged at the end of my life by how patient a driver I am, my salvation is in severe jeopardy, because I am extremely impatient as a driver, hence why I like trains and buses.

The real question to ask about a person is does a person have a relationship with Christ and is that relationship transforming. I would assume the answer is no in the case of the footballer, but that does not bother me as much as the Canadian who proclaimed how happy he is with all Jesus gives to him and then proceeds to become an unwelcome guest in this country and other countries and an embarrassment to his own.  That is claiming to have a relationship with Christ and showing the opposite.

We don’t accept the sexual activity outside of a sacramental marriage, because it is contrary to what God calls us to be. We accept a morality based in loving God and neighbor to a profound level that can only be accomplished with a deep relationship with Christ through His community, which is the Church,  that affects every level of our being. Yet, that deep relationship also instructs us on what part of our lives must change in order to be living to the level which we are called. If we do not see a need to change our lives, we are probably not understanding the wisdom that the law teaches. If we recognize that we are sinners and still have a long way to go before we can appreciate how loving Jesus is, then we probably have a good appreciation for the law.

All people have an invitation to allow every aspect of their lives to be transformed by being in relationship with Christ. They have an invitation to a daily dialogue with the Son of God, with daily prayer of praise, petition and intercession that brings a definition of the person well beyond worldly reality and into the reality of being. This is something that few people in the media fully appreciate now, they did at one time, but not so much now, and because of that they cannot ask the question. Can we, and can we understand that the question needs to be asked to ourselves. Is our morality based on our relationship with Christ or is it based on the latest trends in society? The former leads you to be fully human and fully alive as it changes your behavior, the latter turns you into a robotic sheep who acts on what will make you accepted in social circles where superficiality is the key.

So while others ask the question: “Will this player be drafted by an NFL team?” I hope our most important question will be, how much did we pray today? Are we rooted in the community Christ founded which is His Church and what affect did that prayer and our attendance at mass have on behavior and how well did that prayer affect our ability to love God and neighbor to a more profound level than yesterday? We then share that relationship with others in the Church and then in the world.

God Bless You,

Fr. Robert J Carr

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