A friend recently asked me what I thought of Bruce Jenner's decision to declare himself a female. The first thing that came to my mind was empathy. I am sure that Jenner is feeling pain and agonized over this matter for a while. At least I hope he did since there are other people (specifically his children) who are profoundly affected by his decision. The more I thought about it, I began to wonder why he would do this. Believing that God is our creator and that He certainly does not make mistakes, why did Jenner feel that he was meant to be a women? We have seen this humanist approach to the world more and more lately but this sort of public cry for attention is surely not what Jenner needs at this point. I am praying that someone will reach out to him and share the Good News with him. As humans we make mistakes. We certainly have doubts and fears but knowing that God is with us and in control is a comfort that Christians enjoy every day. Living for eternal life with Jesus Christ in Heaven is our ultimate goal. Whatever crosses we are given to bear in this world are only sharpening us for our mission and purpose. As St. James says in his letter (4:4) "Anyone who wants to be a friend of this world becomes God's enemy." That does not mean that we should ridicule or judge Bruce Jenner. That means that we should pray for him. That means that we should hope that he has a relationship with God and everything else is out of our control.
Kurt Hilgefort, is a Catholic father of six who publishes his thoughts on his blog Shadows of Augustine . He responded to my seven question survey with the following answers. Kurt is the first layperson to respond to the seven question survey and I think that his experience is extremely relevant to me personally and I hope that you are inspired by his thoughts as well. If you would like to respond, please send an email to fellmananthony@gmail.com with your thoughts and I will be happy to publish them as well. 1. What is the biggest challenge to your faith that you have faced so far? The biggest challenge for me has been the whole dying to self thing. On an intellectual level, there are no barriers. It comes down to a matter of accepting the authority of the Church that Christ founded upon Peter. My challenge is not in the intellect, but rather in the will. The challenge for me has always been to continually seek conversion. I want to be transformed, but I want it to be over all ...