Our Catholic tradition dedicates different moments of the year to various spiritual ideals. The month of May, for example, is dedicated to the Blessed Virgin Mary and the recitation of the Rosary. The month of June is dedicated to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Unfortunately, the secular world has decided to imitate this practice by dedicating the month of June to their own secular gods, as it pressures all of us to fly the so called “pride flags” and celebrate “freedom of sexual expression and lifestyle”. This ideology has been preached to us by the secular society for so long that it has slowly been embraced even by faithful Catholics. Under the guise of equality and equity we are pressured to not only accept the lifestyles forbidden by the Bible and the Catholic Church, but we are expected to become apologists and evangelists for the secular cause. Being silent on the issue is not accepted by the sexual activists any more, we are expected to cheer on the ideas of sexual freedom they preach. And if anyone dare say anything to the effect of “I don’t agree with this agenda”, they are quickly labeled as haters.
Many of you have seen my letter of opposition to the flying of the “pride flag” at our Catholic Schools. I believe that no Catholic should be flying such a flag at their homes during the month of June or at any time, for the reasons I expressed in my statement. I have received many letters regarding my official statement on the issue: some positive, but most very negative. Positive letters have come from practicing Catholics and Christians, and the negative ones have come from non-practicing Catholics and non-Catholics. The negative letters do not present any good arguments, but simply phrases of emotional outrage and name-calling. I am not offended by these, but I do want to share here with you the themes that run through all of them. First: in these letters people will call my statement “hateful”, because any speech that the apostles of the anti-Church disagree with is automatically labelled as “hate speech”. This approach simply excuses them from having to address an argument itself by dismissing it as not worth addressing. Second: people in these letters of opposition usually say that they will never support the Church and without their financial support the Church will not survive. This is a common “carrot waving” tactic from the enemies of the Church who do not understand the simple principle that the Church cannot be bought. Third: somewhere in the letters of opposition there is usually a simplistic and childish statement like “all we need is love, and freedom to love however and whoever we want”. Blanket statements like this sure sound good, but no honest person would apply this to romantic love with no boundaries. Love is also a very specific theological virtue that goes beyond just doing what feels good for me, and focuses on doing what is right and true.
To all people of good faith I say: stand tall, fight for the young people who are more confused than ever by the ideologies surrounding them. The Christian message of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus is the true inclusive, loving, and salvific message that should not be overshadowed by the ideological preaching of the secular religion of our day. This June, let us renew our commitment to Jesus and His teaching on love, as we pray to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Fr. Wojtek Kuzma