The Hardened Heart

By Fred Vilbig

I recently spent the Fourth of July with my family – all of them at once - plus, some extras. We had a family reunion at my brother’s lake house. I think in total the final count was 75.

While down at the lake with some of my older boys, we got into a discussion. The topic of gay relationships came up, and I repeated what one priest had told me. He’d said that in ministering to the gay community he’d found that not many of the men he talked to really wanted to be gay. They would’ve preferred to be straight to fit in better.

Two of my sons quickly corrected me. They told me that most of their gay friends were happy and content with themselves. They felt that everyone else had the problems.

My first question was whether their friends were telling the truth or just posturing. I thought that to myself since those kinds of questions usually go nowhere good. So I just listened to the rest of the conversation instead.

It seems to me that the full response to this kind of the statement is pretty involved. You see, Jesus rose from the dead. The Resurrection validates what He told us: He is the Son of God. As God, He could’ve chosen to have been born at any time, in any place. He could have been born in India, like Buddha. He could’ve been born in Saudi Arabia, like Mohammed. He could’ve been born in China, like Confucius. If he had been, the context of His life, death, and Resurrection would have been completely different, and context is always important.

Instead, He chose to be born in a stable in a small town that was part of an occupied Jewish community. In addition, He told us that He did not come to destroy the law, but rather to fulfill it. And Jewish law strongly condemned acts of sexual sin, including homosexuality. These acts were punishable by death.

We are all sinners in need of conversion. Jesus did not just say, “Believe the Good News.” He said, “Repent, and believe in the gospel.” Mark 1:15. It doesn’t matter what our sin is. Repentance is an integral part of our conversion.

But repentance is hard. First, we have to see our sin as sin, and we have so accepted our sin that it looks like a virtue. We have so idolized ourselves, that we do not even recognize our own sin. We have simply made ourselves into a God deciding what is right and what is wrong.

But as St. Augustine tells us, we do not rest until we rest in God. Even when we have numbed ourselves to sin, as long as we are alive, that still, small voice in the depth of our being still calls to us. God loves us more than we can even possibly imagine. Until the Day of Judgment, there is still a chance, a hope.

So what do we do for someone who is trying to silence the voice of God in their hearts? Someone who maybe has strangled off the voice of God almost completely?

We should pray. Pray the rosary. Offer a mass. Offer up all of our prayers, works, joys, and sufferings on a daily basis. Storm the walls of heaven with your prayers, and enlist all of your friends. (that is the Saints) to pray with you.

If you truly love your family and friends (even the nation), you will pray for them. It is in fact a matter of heaven or hell. And hell is a horrible place. Choose heaven.