Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate (OMI) JAPAN and KOREA

Jerry Novotny OMI – My last article touched on the official objective teaching of the Catholic Church regarding homosexuality. “The Truth: Catholic Church and LGBTQ+”. I would like to follow-up this topic with an article on the subjective / pastoral approach by sharing an article I received from my good friend, Douglas McManaman, who helps out as a Deacon in a Canadian Parish. Deacon Douglas McManaman is a writer for Lifeissuses.net, a teacher of Catholic sexual ethics to high school students and has written a number of books and many articles. I thank Deacon Doug for granting me permission to post this article. When dealing with homosexuality or any other social issue, we ought to look at both the Objective and Subjective. To avoid one leads to confusion.

Jerry Novotny OMI – Jesus promised us, “….. and the truth will make you free” (Jn. 8:32).

When young, I lived on a farm in Minnesota, USA. As any farmer will tell you that one of the most difficult challenges of farming is preparing the soil so that it can receive the seed. It requires hard work to clear the land of any trees, bushes or rocks that need to be dug up and moved. Once the soil is prepared, then fertilizer has to be applied to make sure there are enough nutrients to foster growth. Finally, the soil has to be adequately irrigated. Only then is the soil ready to support the seeds that will be planted.

Healthy rich soil is just as important to seeds as water is for fish and oxygen is for us. Without good soil, it would be a waste of time for the farmer to plant the seeds. And good soil doesn’t always happen naturally. It is often only the result of hard work.

The same applies for Christians who wish to live good lives. Jesus tells us the story of the good and bad seeds. The good seed are the people in God’s kingdom. The weeds are the people who belong to the Evil One. And the enemy who plants the bad seed is the devil. The harvest is the end of time.