Monday, January 21, 2008

Punish the Prophet?

Since word seems to be spreading, here are my two cents on this story. A brief synopsis: a priest gives a homily on sexual morality and NFP, a publicly known lesbian interrupts him and leaves during the Mass with her companion, and the bishop removes the priest from the parish.

I am fully aware that I lack reservation and often discuss things publicly which should not be discussed publicly. The text of the priest's homily is certainly innocuous in itself but it is quite possible that he deviated from the text in exceedingly frank ways. By analogy, homilies about abortion should also be somewhat indirect since I certainly don't want my three-year-old to ask me why a doctor would crush a baby's skull and suck out his brains with a vacuum. However, I completely understand a priest's desire to shake a parish out of its somnolence while heinous sins like contraception and abortion are overtly accepted. Still, such a drastic response for a first offence seems well beyond the bounds of justice and gives the impression that the bishop can be manipulated easily. In a world where some bishops barely rebuke heresy from the pulpit, it is sad that the Good News is punished so severely.

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