Radical Hospitality: The Legacy of Saint Jeanne Jugan

America is a great country and as President Reagan said, "a shining city on a hill." That quote is based on the scripture passage from Jesus' Sermon on the Mount recalled in Matthew 5:14 which says, "You are the light of the world. A city that is set on a hill cannot be hidden." Francis Cardinal George, who leads the Archdiocese of Chicago and writes a blog about all things Catholic in Chicago, jumped into the Chick Fil A fray this week, addressing the issue of religious freedom in his blog. He said, "Recent comments by those who administer our city seem to assume that the city government can decide for everyone what are the “values” that must be held by citizens of Chicago. I was born and raised here, and my understanding of being a Chicagoan never included submitting my value system to the government for approval. Must those whose personal values do not conform to those of the government of the day move from the city?" Amen brother. As our country's leadership continues to espouse the ideals of Socialism, many folks have simply folded up their tents and retreated into their homes. This isolationism has caused our nation to sink into an abyss of gridlock most exemplified in the lack of results by our political leaders. Cardinal George refuses to do that and thank God he lives in America where despite the best efforts of some, the First Amendment is still alive. He goes on to say, "The value in question is espousal of “gender-free marriage.” Approval of state-sponsored homosexual unions has very quickly become a litmus test for bigotry; and espousing the understanding of marriage that has prevailed among all peoples throughout human history is now, supposedly, outside the American consensus. Are Americans so exceptional that we are free to define “marriage” (or other institutions we did not invent) at will? What are we re-defining?" Bigotry has become the most overused (and usually incorrectly) word by those who follow the agenda of humanists. Bigotry is defined as stubborn and complete intolerance of any creed, belief, or opinion that differs from one's own. Make no mistake, I am not saying that there are not Catholics, Christians or religious people who may be bigots. What I want to add is that many of the humanists who support gender-free marriage are solid bigots in their own right. It galls them that people refuse to abdicate their religious beliefs in favor of a world view. The misunderstanding stems usually from a lack of awareness about faith and belief. Catholics believe the teachings of God, brought to us in human form by Jesus Christ. We believe that marriage is a sacrament celebrated through a holy ritual joining one man and one woman together for life in matrimony. It is more than a civil union. It is a commitment before God and community. The loving union joins the couple with God. The union is also about hope that God will bless the couple with children. Cardinal George again speaks clearly on this issue when he says, "Marriage exists because human nature comes in two complementary sexes: male and female. The sexual union of a man and woman is called the marital act because the two become physically one in a way that is impossible between two men or two women. Whatever a homosexual union might be or represent, it is not physically marital. Gender is inextricably bound up with physical sexual identity; and “gender-free marriage” is a contradiction in terms, like a square circle." Amen, I say again.