Father Martin is a good priest. When I went through RCIA classes nineteen years ago I kept thinking that any week now one of the instructors was going to come to me and say, Diane, we are so glad we got this chance to know you, it’s been a pleasure, we’ve probably taken you as far as we can; we wish you the best of luck…but no. I kept going to the classes—nobody objected—continuing to say I wasn’t there to join the church, just to learn, and whaddya know…after my confirmation I went to the bookstore and set out to read and think hard about where I had landed. Never once doubting that it was a commitment i had entered wholeheartedly, even though I hadn’t understood or really even read the fine print. A commitment to which I was drawn by love—and a profound trust—from which I could not back away, to which I therefore needed to conform myself. All a long way of saying I did not know what I was doing any more than the young bridegroom really knows what he’s signing up for when he stands at the altar and says “I do.” The process of growing in faith takes a long time and to this day I cannot say I live in conformity with all the guiding wisdom of the magisterium. I confessed a sin just a few years ago and it took me two years to complete my penance. I had to wait until the right circumstances arose to approach a person I had harmed, who happened to have made it clear she never wanted to see or hear from me again. The priest agreed I must exercise discretion out of respect for her feelings but urged me not to tarry; I had to search for a way to reach out to her and try to reconcile. Lucky for me the opportunity finally presented itself, like a gift. And lucky for me I had realized I had to be at full attention waiting for it. Life is complicated. It’s super messy. Mercy is not a balm to make our sins not be sins but rather a sort of life support system to keep us breathing while the healing power of the Holy Spirit does its work. Father Martin ministers to baptized Catholics struggling as we all do to understand and accept the full meaning of God’s mercy. For this I am grateful to him. The search for truth enabled—no, not just enabled but made possible— by the realization and acceptance of God’s mercy, and by our overwhelming gratitude for it, lies at or near the heart of the faith
Thanks for sharing your story, Diane. Broken friendships are so painful. I'm glad you had the opportunity to mend yours.
It won't surprise you that I still strongly disagree with your assessment of Fr. Martin. I do not believe his work can rightly be categorized as sensitive ministry to the struggling. This is one of a number of good articles breaking down his rhetorical tactics:
And here he is very unconvincingly claiming that his retweet of some pediatricians in support of puberty blockers wasn't meant as an affirmative signal. He asks "Why wouldn't we want to listen to doctors?" thus leaving the door open to the idea that that this appalling practice could be legitimate and that we owe deference to physicians who justify it. If Fr. Martin cares about the vulnerable, he should care about the minors and mentally ill adults who have destroyed their bodies under the "care" of such "doctors."
This article also goes through a speech he gave at Villanova that affirms gay romance. At one point, he even tells an audience member that he hopes one day the man will be able to kiss his lover openly during Mass. Once again, this is not a priest practicing patience and sensitivity with someone who has a sincere struggle. He is clearly encouraging and celebrating sin. That is not loving, it's an abandonment of his duty as a shepherd.
Thanks for your response. I concede. Some. Maybe a whole lot. Still the term ex-communication" bothers me a lot.
Father Martin's theology seems sloppy and that's a bad thing. But theology--and church doctrine--is a map, not the terrain itself. I figured out when I was just a kid growing up in the "Christ-haunted" racially segregated South that if the church is the body of Christ, well, we are still working him over pretty hard with the scourge. I suspected that Jesus cared more about what we did than what we thought we believed.
Insofar as Father Martin is such a bad theologian I think it is unfortunate he's become something of a "celebrity priest" which is a generally bad thing (although I've found the popular online ministries of Bishop Robert Barron and Father Mike Schmitz to be delightfully helpful to me). In Father Martin's case, I concede that he exercises undue patience with ideas and choices that are ultimately delusional. And out of his commendable attitude of mercy toward sheep who have come to imagine themselves as llamas, he's really jumped the shark and become quite delusional himself.
But the priest, however well educated--and Catholic priests are very well educated--really is basically a shepherd--preferably rather anonymous, ie keeping his own inevitably flawed personality out of the way--whose work entails navigating the often difficult path between mercy (care) and truth--the path homeward, toward the only intimacy that really works, intimacy with God. There's no teleporting, only a long trudging journey over rocky terrain passing some steep precipices along the way.
The shepherd/priest may hear the same confession from two people and be called to respond in two very different ways. Two women, both married, confess the use of birth control: one an ambitious career woman, still-youngish affluent mother of two, each kid in their own bedroom, yadda yadda, the other approaching middle age with a working class husband and six kids pulling her hair out trying to stretch the grocery budget. Should the responses--the appropriate guidance for each individual woman--be the same?
I'm not one to grieve over the demise of "cultural Christianity" but I do see that in its wake there has arisen, society-wide, a desperate attempt to escape the burden of aloneness through human relationships absent any acknowledgment of the presence of God. And all Christians live in this society and thus are affected, not just the "perverts". Quietly, even unconsciously, absorbing the news of the new norm: serial sexual partners and avoidance of commitment are the Way. Commitment threatens to necessitate the suppression of desire, and desire is the only compass we have left when God is absent. We run in the direction opposite of where we want to go.
There is and always will be a gap between doctrine and practice, but a selective focus upon same sex relationships is a red flag that merits a critical response, which Father Martin has stepped forward to make. This is not a matter of pointing fingers and arguing about who the bad guys are (spoiler: it's all of us, but that's not the end of the story) but rather a matter of waking up and realizing that heterosexual Christians are also in dire need of theologically informed guidance on the liberating power of a chaste lifestyle .
When celebrity "Catholic" politicians loudly mouth praise for abortion--an accommodation that has critically fueled the insane revolt against chastity--and the Church responds with a general silence while it proceeds to work on its "same sex attraction" problem, we know something has gone terribly wrong, and it's not the fault of the all-too-unattractive gay scapegoat. I'm not defending just the same-sex attracted here; I am defending all of us. I sometimes still feel just like I'm still living in divisive Memphis in the 1960's, realizing Dr. King was addressing me, a white kid, about my own path, my own best interest, even as he addressed his black followers.
If we are dissatisfied with Father Martin's effort, however inadequate, to call attention to this red flag, we need to find a better way to address the issue. And the first order of business is to stop damning each other when we disagree about what mercy requires of us and how the body of Christ can and should function in a world where the devil too often seems to have the upper hand. There's nothing wrong with our theology; the problem lies with our inability or unwillingness to prioritize the modeling of faithfulness: of walking the walk of mercy through the times when talk itself has been aborted and the very effort to seek the common ground of holiness through talk threatens greater divisiveness.
You are obviously well read and thoughtful. Might I suggest you spend a little time asking - for what and to whom did Jesus become the stumbling block?
Thanks for your gentle response, Allen. I'm as weary as anyone of the constant defiance of the fundamental tenets of Christianity. I was a Quaker before I was Catholic and I retain my belief that the Quaker Peace Testimony is one of the most elegant and powerful expressions of Christian faith that exists. Unfortunately and painfully, the moral "laissez faire" progressivism of the Quakers was insufficient to guide my own children, and ultimately I found the stricter bounds of the Catholic Church better attuned to my own shifting understanding of anthropology. But even with the rich resources of Catholicism I have to remind myself of priorities. Christ is all about peace, and peace is a lot more complicated than affirming a good creed and acquiring a good personal prayer and work and charity discipline. It involves a lot of silence and a lot of patience in the face of confrontation, direct or subtle. We see abominations everywhere. I believe we must focus first and foremost upon maintaining our composure and not taking the bait and responding tit for tat to offensive remarks and behaviors. Love your "enemy" is easy to say, much harder to do. Modeling peace, as Jesus taught us in action as in word, is the most important thing an individual can do. And it's a lot easier if we are able to focus upon the presence of the work of the Holy Spirit even in murky situations--if it is present at all--and leave to God judgment about all the trash. The fate of all of humanity rests upon our ability to understand this. And I confess I am a work in progress.
Addendum: from Colombian philosopher Nicolas Gomez Davila's aphorism #2,801: "After the experience of an age that is practically devoid of religion, Christianity learns to write the history of paganism with respect and dignity."
Father Martin is a good priest. When I went through RCIA classes nineteen years ago I kept thinking that any week now one of the instructors was going to come to me and say, Diane, we are so glad we got this chance to know you, it’s been a pleasure, we’ve probably taken you as far as we can; we wish you the best of luck…but no. I kept going to the classes—nobody objected—continuing to say I wasn’t there to join the church, just to learn, and whaddya know…after my confirmation I went to the bookstore and set out to read and think hard about where I had landed. Never once doubting that it was a commitment i had entered wholeheartedly, even though I hadn’t understood or really even read the fine print. A commitment to which I was drawn by love—and a profound trust—from which I could not back away, to which I therefore needed to conform myself. All a long way of saying I did not know what I was doing any more than the young bridegroom really knows what he’s signing up for when he stands at the altar and says “I do.” The process of growing in faith takes a long time and to this day I cannot say I live in conformity with all the guiding wisdom of the magisterium. I confessed a sin just a few years ago and it took me two years to complete my penance. I had to wait until the right circumstances arose to approach a person I had harmed, who happened to have made it clear she never wanted to see or hear from me again. The priest agreed I must exercise discretion out of respect for her feelings but urged me not to tarry; I had to search for a way to reach out to her and try to reconcile. Lucky for me the opportunity finally presented itself, like a gift. And lucky for me I had realized I had to be at full attention waiting for it. Life is complicated. It’s super messy. Mercy is not a balm to make our sins not be sins but rather a sort of life support system to keep us breathing while the healing power of the Holy Spirit does its work. Father Martin ministers to baptized Catholics struggling as we all do to understand and accept the full meaning of God’s mercy. For this I am grateful to him. The search for truth enabled—no, not just enabled but made possible— by the realization and acceptance of God’s mercy, and by our overwhelming gratitude for it, lies at or near the heart of the faith
Thanks for sharing your story, Diane. Broken friendships are so painful. I'm glad you had the opportunity to mend yours.
It won't surprise you that I still strongly disagree with your assessment of Fr. Martin. I do not believe his work can rightly be categorized as sensitive ministry to the struggling. This is one of a number of good articles breaking down his rhetorical tactics:
https://www.catholicworldreport.com/2022/05/25/fr-james-martin-plays-rhetorical-games-with-the-truth-about-transgenderism/
And here he is very unconvincingly claiming that his retweet of some pediatricians in support of puberty blockers wasn't meant as an affirmative signal. He asks "Why wouldn't we want to listen to doctors?" thus leaving the door open to the idea that that this appalling practice could be legitimate and that we owe deference to physicians who justify it. If Fr. Martin cares about the vulnerable, he should care about the minors and mentally ill adults who have destroyed their bodies under the "care" of such "doctors."
https://catholiccitizens.org/issues/gender-incoherence/98551/liberal-catholic-priest-james-martin-under-fire-for-appearing-to-defend-child-puberty-blockers/
This article also goes through a speech he gave at Villanova that affirms gay romance. At one point, he even tells an audience member that he hopes one day the man will be able to kiss his lover openly during Mass. Once again, this is not a priest practicing patience and sensitivity with someone who has a sincere struggle. He is clearly encouraging and celebrating sin. That is not loving, it's an abandonment of his duty as a shepherd.
https://www.lifesitenews.com/blogs/eight-extreme-things-fr.-james-martin-just-said-about-catholics-and
Thanks for your response. I concede. Some. Maybe a whole lot. Still the term ex-communication" bothers me a lot.
Father Martin's theology seems sloppy and that's a bad thing. But theology--and church doctrine--is a map, not the terrain itself. I figured out when I was just a kid growing up in the "Christ-haunted" racially segregated South that if the church is the body of Christ, well, we are still working him over pretty hard with the scourge. I suspected that Jesus cared more about what we did than what we thought we believed.
Insofar as Father Martin is such a bad theologian I think it is unfortunate he's become something of a "celebrity priest" which is a generally bad thing (although I've found the popular online ministries of Bishop Robert Barron and Father Mike Schmitz to be delightfully helpful to me). In Father Martin's case, I concede that he exercises undue patience with ideas and choices that are ultimately delusional. And out of his commendable attitude of mercy toward sheep who have come to imagine themselves as llamas, he's really jumped the shark and become quite delusional himself.
But the priest, however well educated--and Catholic priests are very well educated--really is basically a shepherd--preferably rather anonymous, ie keeping his own inevitably flawed personality out of the way--whose work entails navigating the often difficult path between mercy (care) and truth--the path homeward, toward the only intimacy that really works, intimacy with God. There's no teleporting, only a long trudging journey over rocky terrain passing some steep precipices along the way.
The shepherd/priest may hear the same confession from two people and be called to respond in two very different ways. Two women, both married, confess the use of birth control: one an ambitious career woman, still-youngish affluent mother of two, each kid in their own bedroom, yadda yadda, the other approaching middle age with a working class husband and six kids pulling her hair out trying to stretch the grocery budget. Should the responses--the appropriate guidance for each individual woman--be the same?
I'm not one to grieve over the demise of "cultural Christianity" but I do see that in its wake there has arisen, society-wide, a desperate attempt to escape the burden of aloneness through human relationships absent any acknowledgment of the presence of God. And all Christians live in this society and thus are affected, not just the "perverts". Quietly, even unconsciously, absorbing the news of the new norm: serial sexual partners and avoidance of commitment are the Way. Commitment threatens to necessitate the suppression of desire, and desire is the only compass we have left when God is absent. We run in the direction opposite of where we want to go.
There is and always will be a gap between doctrine and practice, but a selective focus upon same sex relationships is a red flag that merits a critical response, which Father Martin has stepped forward to make. This is not a matter of pointing fingers and arguing about who the bad guys are (spoiler: it's all of us, but that's not the end of the story) but rather a matter of waking up and realizing that heterosexual Christians are also in dire need of theologically informed guidance on the liberating power of a chaste lifestyle .
When celebrity "Catholic" politicians loudly mouth praise for abortion--an accommodation that has critically fueled the insane revolt against chastity--and the Church responds with a general silence while it proceeds to work on its "same sex attraction" problem, we know something has gone terribly wrong, and it's not the fault of the all-too-unattractive gay scapegoat. I'm not defending just the same-sex attracted here; I am defending all of us. I sometimes still feel just like I'm still living in divisive Memphis in the 1960's, realizing Dr. King was addressing me, a white kid, about my own path, my own best interest, even as he addressed his black followers.
If we are dissatisfied with Father Martin's effort, however inadequate, to call attention to this red flag, we need to find a better way to address the issue. And the first order of business is to stop damning each other when we disagree about what mercy requires of us and how the body of Christ can and should function in a world where the devil too often seems to have the upper hand. There's nothing wrong with our theology; the problem lies with our inability or unwillingness to prioritize the modeling of faithfulness: of walking the walk of mercy through the times when talk itself has been aborted and the very effort to seek the common ground of holiness through talk threatens greater divisiveness.
You are obviously well read and thoughtful. Might I suggest you spend a little time asking - for what and to whom did Jesus become the stumbling block?
Thanks for your gentle response, Allen. I'm as weary as anyone of the constant defiance of the fundamental tenets of Christianity. I was a Quaker before I was Catholic and I retain my belief that the Quaker Peace Testimony is one of the most elegant and powerful expressions of Christian faith that exists. Unfortunately and painfully, the moral "laissez faire" progressivism of the Quakers was insufficient to guide my own children, and ultimately I found the stricter bounds of the Catholic Church better attuned to my own shifting understanding of anthropology. But even with the rich resources of Catholicism I have to remind myself of priorities. Christ is all about peace, and peace is a lot more complicated than affirming a good creed and acquiring a good personal prayer and work and charity discipline. It involves a lot of silence and a lot of patience in the face of confrontation, direct or subtle. We see abominations everywhere. I believe we must focus first and foremost upon maintaining our composure and not taking the bait and responding tit for tat to offensive remarks and behaviors. Love your "enemy" is easy to say, much harder to do. Modeling peace, as Jesus taught us in action as in word, is the most important thing an individual can do. And it's a lot easier if we are able to focus upon the presence of the work of the Holy Spirit even in murky situations--if it is present at all--and leave to God judgment about all the trash. The fate of all of humanity rests upon our ability to understand this. And I confess I am a work in progress.
Addendum: from Colombian philosopher Nicolas Gomez Davila's aphorism #2,801: "After the experience of an age that is practically devoid of religion, Christianity learns to write the history of paganism with respect and dignity."
As always - well worth my time to read!