Would God rebuke love?

This week the Catholic Church was rocked by the news that same-gender couples are not eligible to receive “same-sex blessings.” Note the question wasn’t whether or not those in LGBTQ relationships can get sacramentally married in the Catholic Church. The horror, right? Heaven forbid the Church offer sacramental equality and treat all God’s people equally.

This was about same-sex couples being able to receive a blessing. The Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith: no. Pope Francis: no, too.

Nevermind we bless pets. Our homes. Workplaces, even. We bless all sorts of inanimate objects, inviting God to draw near and use such to guide lives of Christian faith and practice.

But committed, loving human beings? Apparently that’s a step too far. Too radical.

Let’s look past the politics and focus on something more alarming: the smallness of this God.

Just how meager must that (our) God be to rebuke love?

Robert Shine, in an article titled The Vatican’s Ban on Blessing Same-sex Couples has Backfired, articulates the conundrum well.

“The truth is that, even though the Vatican says stop talking, Catholics will not. We know better than to condemn love when we see it.”

This is especially telling given God is love. Christ preached love. Christ died because he loved humanity too much (he became one of us, after all). Not to atone for sin and human depravity, as we often hear from Christian pulpits, but because he loved us too much to let vengeance, hate and death have the last word. Love and life triumph because that’s who God is and what God desires for us. In a few weeks we will celebrate the fullness of that truth and embrace the implications it has for us as Easter people. Love and life over discord and division. Unity in diversity. Communion.

In fact, Scripture is replete with examples of believers who can’t seem to see the forest for the trees. It’s spelled out for us even: to love one another as God loves is the greatest commandment. They, and in many ways us, too, scurry around condemning trees and miss the forest of love that is God. Everywhere and nowhere all at once. Holy mystery. The infinite horizon.

I get it. The incomprehensibility and vastness of God is scary. Even though ‘be not afraid’ is one of the most repeated lines in Scripture, we can’t help but fear. We like our answers before the questions and the comfort of having it all figured out. We prefer the status quo, the familiar and reliable. In short, don’t mess with our God-image. We’ve spent years refining and fine-tuning. It is what it is. But is it God?

Here’s the thing: if we think we have God figured out it’s not God. Those who purport to know the will of God – so they like to spout loudly – don’t. Christ and the Holy Spirit have given us plenty of glimpses and holy hunches, sure. But that’s all they are. We can’t possibly know God in our limited capacity as humans. And to denounce, rebuke and condemn based on incomplete data seems most tragic.

Underneath the conservative veneer, personal ego and fear, and institutional malfeasance lies the heart of the matter: God wired us towards recognizing, celebrating and cultivating love. Most Catholics get it. A strong majority of Catholics support same-sex marriage and the just treatment of those in the queer community. And their belief in such grounds itself in their faith, not in spite of their faith but because of it. We love with abandon because that’s how God loves us. It’s the law of love written on our hearts.

This week’s pronouncement, simply put, doubles down on a metaphysical rendering of God that just doesn’t exist. Everyday Catholics know better. The tighter the Church clings the more the church leaves. Fr. James Martin, SJ this week put it candidly:

The institutional Church’s God is just too small. If you prefer closed systems that delight in certainty, it’s likely appealing. It’s seductive to think we have all the answers, as if God, in God’s self, whispered in our very own ears.

For those of us who have encountered a God bigger and more loving than the God-in-a-box being peddled by the institutional church, there is no going back. That cat is out of the bag. To put it another way: you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig. Dress up the hate and the discrimination in well-meaning sentiments and niceties all you want. Underneath, it still stinks. And this week, the stench is just too much.

If there’s one thing we do know, it is that genuine and sincere love is never wrong. It certainly isn’t “sinful.” It’s God-given. Our call is to share such love for the good of humanity and the world.

The Church won’t bless same-gender unions? If it looked through the eyes of love it would see God already has.

Catholics will not stop talking about it, either.