Last week Archbishop John C. Nienstedt
wrote a column called Four points on the church’s teaching about
homosexuality that was a
response to his denying permission for Carol Curoe and her
father to speak at the Church of St. Francis Cabrini in Minneapolis on
their book “Are There Closets in Heaven?; A Catholic Father and Lesbian
Daughter Share their Story.” His column met with the normal
outcry from both secular quarters and those within the Church who
dissent from the Church’s teaching on human sexuality.
A reader sent me a text from a homily
from Father Leo Tibesar who is the priest of this parish and has
decided to use his homily to score points on this issue.
What would Jesus say today if he were
telling the parable in our Gospel
of Luke?
4 versions:
First � two people came into Church to pray, one was a Border Patrol
Agent who prayed � “I give you thanks oh God that I am not like others
� greedy, dishonest, or like those on the run in order to make a
living.”
The other was a Mexican unlawful immigrant standing off to the side who
prayed “Oh God, be merciful to me for leaving my family behind as I try
to relieve their poverty by working in this country.”
Jesus concluded � the last person went home more worthy in God’s sight
than the first.
Version 2:
Two people came into Church to pray, one was a Roman Catholic
Cardinal in Charge of Church doctrine who prayed “I give you thanks oh
God that I am not like others – greedy dishonest or
like those living in Africa where AIDS is killing everyone even there
we can never allow condoms to be used.”
The other was an African widow dying of AIDS who stood off to the side
and prayed “Oh God, be merciful to me for not refusing the advances of
my husband without a condom, soon I will follow him to the grave and
leave our six children orphans.
Jesus concluded � the last person went home more worthy in God’s sight
than the first.
Version 3:
Two people came into Church to pray, one was a Catholic Archbishop who
refuses communion to Rainbow Sash people at the Cathedral on Pentecost
Sunday who prayed ” I give you thanks oh God that I am not like others
� greedy, dishonest or like others who need to make their dissent from
official Church teaching so public and divisive.”
The other were Rainbow parents of GLBT people at the Cathedral on
Pentecost who stood off on the side and prayed, “Oh God be merciful to
us for failing to attend our own Churches more often; they say they
love God then turn there backs on us in hate directly contrary to
1:John,4 � whoever loves God must also love the neighbor.”
Jesus concluded the last ones went home more worthy in God’s sight than
the first.
Version 4:
Two people came into Church to pray. One was an Evangelical
pastor whose regional services are broadcast nationally who prayed ” I
give you thanks oh God that I am not like others –
greedy, dishonest or like others who give into same gender sex drives
which the bible calls an abomination.”
The others who came into Church to pray for a same sex couple raising
children born by way of donor insemination who prayed: “Oh
god, be merciful to us for not finding our own medium to share with the
broader audience the biblical passage of 1 John 4:16 � God is love and
when we abide in love we abide in God and God in us.”
Jesus concluded the last ones went home more worthy in God’s sight than
the first.
In conclusion, the line from the verse of Psalm 34 are so
powerful:
“Those who are crushed in spirit God saves.”
Using this parable as a rhetorical device
in this case is one where you can just slip into any to categories of
people to make the point that you want. Cast anybody you
don’t like as the pharisee and then just add favorite cause and you to
can deliver a parable recipe of your choosing. For example:
Two
people came into a Church to pray. One was the pastor of
a Church who said “I give you thanks oh God that I am not
like others – like those who are not inclusive to the GLBT community,
who will not deny Communion to those mocking the Church, who
won’t conform themselves to the society around them and instead hold to
truth passed down from the Church. Like those who would dare
to call homosexuality a sin and use scripture and tradition to defend
their positions. Like those who would call people with homosexual
attractions to a life of chastity instead of accepting and encouraging
their behaviors as I do.”
The
other who came to the Church to pray had same-sex attraction and was
struggling to remain Chaste as a member of Courage – standing
far off, would not even lift up his eyes to heaven, but beat his
breast, saying, `God, be merciful to me a sinner!’ “.
The homily probably sounded like profound
wisdom to his parishioners but is
misguided at best and dishonest otherwise since in his examples not one
of the people he casts as the publican called themselves a sinners and
in fact they sounded more like the Pharisee justifying their actions or accusing others.
19 comments
You are right. He simply practicing role substitution here. This is not homeletics, it is demagoguery. He does not even go through the trouble to flesh out how these people ressemble the Pharisee in these scenarios, he simply demonizes them.
So much for the “spirit of dialogue” the other side believes they champion.
I find it ironic that, if you go to sources like Jack Chick and James White they also make a show out of scoring points by comparing Catholics to Pharisees.
In the end, Jesus was very critical of those coreligionists who shared his denomination but the fact that his understanding laregly correlates to the Pharisaical version of Judaism cannot be lost.
So this priest is in the Archbishop’s diocese? What a disgrace.
But . . . what’s the use of a homily if you can’t engage in preening moral exhibitionism?
Aaargh. Another case of “I know better than Jesus what he should have said so I’ll just flesh it out in the most simplistic way possible.” That drives me nuts.
Wow, that’s a shame. We got a great homily, for the feast of Christ the King, emphasizing that we need to let Jesus reign over all areas of our lives. Even letting Him reign over those areas where we don’t agree with catholic doctrine [nudge nudge].
It sounds like Fr. Tibesar needs to spend some time in the Diocese of Lincoln, in order to discern his vocation.
A visit over to Father Leo Tibesar at St. Frances Cabrini Parish tells anyone that he must have mistaken the Thames River for the Tiber. The parish is an ultra-liberal Amchurch community of like minds that is more in line with Episcopalian Bishops Gene Robinson and Katharine Jefferts Schori than with Archbishop John C. Nienstedt and Benedict XVI.
If their hearts are not with the latter than we cannot expect their heads to be so. As our pastor said today in his homily, one of the most pervasive sins in the Church is the utter disobedience for its teaching authority, its Magisterium. The same sin of disobedience, our pastor pointed out, that our original parents, Adam and Eve, committed and which caused Our Lord to have to suffer and die to atone for that sin and all consequent human sins.
Let us pray for Father Tibesar and for the Parish of St. Frances Cabrini in Minneapolis–pray that they truly come back to the Catholic Church as faithful sons and daughters. What a sad loss they are.
As impressive as this priests political self-righteousness is, I’m more impressed by his lack of foresight–next year Archbishop Coadjutor Nienstadt becomes this guys ordinary.
“Nyaaa-Nyaaa Nyaaa-Nyaaah! I’m gonna antagonize you ! You’re not the Ordinary! Myaa Myaaa….*oh crap*.”
Or the priest who prays: “I thank Thee, o Lord, that I am not like other priests: obedient to Holy Mother Church.”
Is anyone else getting tired of the same childish whining from this quarter of the Church? I think it is time to grow up and start integrating fully as a human being and not being so wrapped-up in your own immature sexual proclivities. No matter what kind of smoke and mirrors you use on the Bible and Church teaching, it will not change.
Just look at the posts about the two grown men in SF dressing up as gay queens at the bishops mass. Is that what it has all come to? Is this how adults act in Church; or even in public?
It just makes me sad sometimes.
AndyMacOP
Ironically, as Christ teaches with this parable not to compare yourself to others and think you are better than them, Tibesar sets himself in place of judgment over all those groups of people he puts in the Pharisee’s place. (Yes, one could say the same of Chirst putting himself in place of judgment over the Pharisee – but he’s Christ, you’re not.) Many people from the groups he puts in the publican’s place are the very people who tout the self-proclaimed right to get whatever they want from God or others, regardless of how they behave morally – which indeed is modern day’s self-righteousness, the very concept Tibesar tried to wittily pinpoint as a means to push his political views.
I’ve come to the conclusion that only Jesus can name someone a Pharisee without becoming one Himself. As for the rest of us, “We are the [Pharisees], my friends…” Who is without the sin of self-righteousness? Therefore, it does no good to look at anyone else when we are reminded of the Pharisees. (It should be called the “Pharisee Paradox”). And only Jesus, especially through the sacrament of reconciliation, can heal us of our tendency to justify ourselves. I can’t imagine how much I’d talk myself in circles without Confession! We are greatly blessed!
That’s not a homily…it’s a temper-tantrum.
Fr. Philip, OP
Hey, now I don’t feel so bad about the homily I got this Sunday about “King of Pain” by The Police. Yeah, they’re my favourite band, but not what I wanna hear about at Mass.
The homily is scandalous. There will be those who will use it to justify sinful behavior under the guise of charity and tolerance. The parisioners deserve to be taught what the Church actually teaches.
We ought to be able to sue priests like this for malpractice.
Even if we got past the lazy rhetoric, the homily misrepresents the parable as contrasting the powerful-and-wicked and the weak-but-righteous. The result isn’t a parable, it’s a tautology: good people are better than evil people.
It’s obvious from most of these sermons that the preachers have no idea who the Tax-collectors were. They probably feel that the poor guys were trying to collect the taxes and the Pharisees got all rigid and nasty on them because the Pharisees believed in low taxes so they wouldn’t have to fund Roman Medicaid.
They also identify with the “sinners” because they identify them as sexual libertines.
Which is more dangerous, and Episcopalian masquerading as a Catholic priest, or a terrorist dressed as a bride?
Why is it so difficult to expound on, “Be merciful to me a sinner” from the pulpit?
You can’t give what you don’t have.
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