USCCB Daily Readings

“Therefore, whoever breaks one of the least of these commandments and teaches others to do so will be called least in the Kingdom of heaven. But whoever obeys and teaches these commandments will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." (Mt 5:19)

Last week, the eastern vicariate in our diocese was asked to participate in a Gender Identity Training by Dr. Mary Rice Hasson. To say the least, I was woefully unprepared for the reality which is before us. Recent headlines read, “Pope Francis labeled gender ideology as ‘one of the most dangerous ideological colonizations’ afflicting the world today.” They quote him saying, “Why is it dangerous? Because it blurs differences and the value of men and women.” (Luke Gentile, Washington Examiner, 13 March 2023)

Diagram Below: An example of the new sexual education training within the public school system.

Dr. Hasson reinforced the words of our Holy Father during her presentation as she quoted statistical data and read from public elementary school handbooks in which gender ideology training is in full swing. Children who grew up with their friend Sally in K-3 are now having to call her Sam in 4^th grade. Children, who are learning to differentiate between fiction and non-fiction, truth and lies, are being told that they must support this new, subjective reality in which “whatever I feel is truth is truth.” The biological reproductive system is no longer an objective indication of our sex. It is now determined by our mind. Yet, we know that we are more than our mind. We have bodies and a soul. Emphasizing this, Dr. Hasson (mother of seven) used an example of her children fighting in the back seat of the car: “Johnny touched me!” Notice Jenny did not say, “Johnny touched my arm, appendage of my body.” Jenny said, “Johnny touched me.” As in, her body is a part of her personhood.

The Church has never been without trials, and we are facing a big one in 2023. I would like to posit a quote by Saint Augustine: “Scattered about the entire earth, your mother the Church is tormented by the assaults of error. She is also afflicted by the laziness and indifference of so many of the children she carries around in her bosom as well as by the sight of so many of her members growing cold, while she becomes less able to help her little ones. Who then will give her the necessary help she cries for if not her children and other members to whose number you belong?” (Augustine Day by Day: Minute Meditations For Every Day, p. 90)

Dr. Hasson’s class was a wakeup call for us as Catholics. We have Sacred Scripture. We have resources such as Pope John Paul II’s Theology of the Body to strengthen our understanding of God’s design. We have the saints who have lived (and sometimes died) standing up to the objective truth of God’s plan for humanity. It is time to educate ourselves and stand up against this evil that is turning the doorknob of the Church to see if it’s unlocked.

Please contact your local diocese and ask for these classes to be made available to you.