This Sunday we celebrate the birth of the church. Pentecost is considered the day when the church was born. The Holy Spirit came upon the apostles, and they were given the courage to go out and proclaim the Gospel.
Today, we as Christians have lost our direction. We have people like Harrison Butker who work extra hard to twist the message of the Gospel into a message of exclusion, hatred, misogyny, and bigotry. He preaches a message that goes against the Roman Catholic faith and the message of Jesus.
Yet, we turn to these types of people as the authority on what Jesus says. These people who would kick Jesus out of the church are not our example of how to be Christian.
Let me make this very clear: Jesus’ message is one of love and acceptance. Jesus never turned away anyone. In fact, he sought out the marginalized and abused in society and called them to follow him.
Butker and others would have us believe that Jesus taught that women should be barefoot and pregnant. He would have us believe that Jesus shunned the LGBT individuals in his time.
However, Jesus did the opposite. He selected the women in his following to be the first evangelists. He told the women caught in adultery that he did not condemn her. Furthermore, he healed the Roman centurion’s lover without saying a word against them.
Instead of turning to those in popular culture to tell us what they think Jesus says, maybe we ought to seek out his teachings on our own. Maybe we should spend some time reading the scriptures and talking to God ourselves.
Only then will we understand the message of love and acceptance taught by the apostles on this day.
May the Holy Spirit continue to guide us toward the kingdom of God.
Pax et Bonum,
Bishop Greer