What about sexual sins other than homosexuality

This Tuesday the Senate passed a bill that protects all marriages. The bill includes the protection of homosexual marriages. It is expected to pass the House of Representatives and be signed by President Biden before the new Congress takes control. Many Catholics and Christians will be angry if, and when, the new law passes because they see it as an endorsement and acceptance of sin.

Yes, it is an endorsement of sin. However, we must be willing to look at ourselves in the mirror before we cast stones at another. It is easy to say that homosexuality is a sin if you are not homosexual. The church, on the other hand, gives many other sexual sins for which the majority of individuals are guilty.

In the Gospel of John 8: 7 we read, “but when they continued asking him, he straightened up and said to them, “let the one among you who is without sin be the first to throw a stone at her.”

In John 8 we are given the story of when Jesus is confronted with how he responds to a sexual sin. The scribes and the Pharisees bring a woman caught in adultery to Jesus. They tell him (as if He did not already know) that scripture requires the woman to be stoned. They then ask him what he says and what he thinks. Jesus reminds us that we all have sin. He tells them they are free to stone her and wants the individual who is without sin to throw the first one. Let this be a warning to us not to be quick to throw stones without examining ourselves.

In the Catechism of the Catholic Church, CCC 2396, we are told that in there are other sexual sins in addition to homosexuality. There are serious sins such as masturbation, pornography, and fornication which are condemned by the Church. In addition, we must remember that we are called to a life of chastity. As a result, adultery is also considered a sin. We do not hear homilies preached on the sin of pornography or adultery. How many Catholics do we know that have cheated on their spouses. There are many of you reading this article that are involved in pornography addiction or masturbation. If we are to preach against sin then we have a responsibility to preach against all sins. We must call those who have committed adultery to repentance through the sacrament of reconciliation. We must call those who view pornography to repentance. We must call those who masturbate to repentance. However, when was the last time you heard anyone be angry over the abundance of adultery in our society or pornography? We tend to remain silent when we are guilty.

As we go through this advent season, let us review our need for repentance before we cast stones at the need for repentance of others. Sacred Scripture commands us to remove the log from our own eye before removing the spec from our brother’s. “How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me remove that splinter from your eye,’ while the wooden beam is in your eye? You hypocrite, remove the wooden beam from your eye first; then you will see clearly to remove the splinter from your brother’s eye.” (Matthew 7:4-5)

If we are truly intent in seeing others repent and have a relationship with Jesus, then we must be intentional about calling everyone, including ourselves, to repentance. The love of Christ is poured down upon the sinner as well as the saint. If we expect someone living in a sinful life to repent then we must set the example and repent ourselves.