October 31, 2018 (
LifeSiteNews.com) –
America magazine has sent out a mass mailing containing a prayer composed by its “editor-at large,” LGBT activist Fr. James Martin, which captures so well the narcissistic pseudo-spirituality that sadly is plaguing so many among Catholic clergy today.
The prayer, taken from Martin’s homosexualist book “Building a Bridge,” reads like one that could have been composed by the Saturday Night Live Character, “Stuart Smalley,” who famously stared at a mirror and
said to himself, “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”
The title of Martin’s “Stuart Smalley prayer” is “A Prayer for When I Feel Rejected,” which feeds Martin’s narrative about the Catholic Church “rejecting” practicing homosexuals, rather than “welcoming them,” when it condemns the sin of sodomy. Martin claims that homosexual orientation is
given to people by God, says that the Church’s condemnation of homosexual behavior isn’t “
authoritative,” and advocates
eliminating expressions of Catholic doctrine on the intrinsically disordered nature of homosexual attraction.
The prayer begins like the prayer of the Pharisee in the eighteenth chapter of Luke, thanking God for making him so good, while a publican praying next to him asks for mercy for his sins – something Martin’s prayer never mentions.
“Loving God, you made me who I am. I praise you and I love you, for I am wonderfully made, in your own image,” Martin begins. “But when people make fun of me, I feel hurt and embarrassed and even ashamed. So Please, God, help me remember my own goodness, which lies in you.”
The prayer appears to refer to Martin’s blasphemous doctrine that claims that God makes people homosexual, as if the Creator would design a person to be attracted to behavior that is intrinsically immoral and self-destructive.
“Help me remember my dignity, which you gave me when I was conceived. Help me to remember that I can live a life of love, because you created my heart.”
He then goes on to compare the suffering of “LGBT” people who are “outcasts” in society with the rejection of Jesus himself.
“And God, help me remember that Jesus loves me. For he too was seen as an outcast. He too was misunderstood. He too was beaten and spat upon. Jesus understands me and loves me with a special love, because of the way you made me.”
Martin repeats the myth, propagated incessantly by LGBT ideologues, that Jesus “welcomed” everyone, no matter what. In reality, he welcomed sinners precisely so that he could teach them to repent of their misbehavior and find hope of forgiveness through his ministry – themes virtually unknown in Martin’s writings and public statements.
“And when I’m feeling lonely, help me remember that Jesus welcomed everyone as a friend. Jesus reminded everyone that God loved them. Jesus encouraged everyone to embrace their dignity even when others were blind to that dignity,” Martin writes.
A second prayer included in the America mailing is one that speaks to God in a sarcastic and flippant way, stating, “God grant me the serenity to accept the people I cannot change, which is pretty much everyone, because I’m clearly not you, God. At least not the last time I checked. And while you’re at it, God, please give me the courage to change what I need to change about myself...”
Mailing sent to Catholic reform activist Michael Hichborn
Michael Hichborn, president of the Lepanto Institute, was sent the mailing by America magazine, despite the fact that Martin has tried to get his organization removed from Facebook and Twitter.
“First, Fr. James Martin, SJ tried to get the Lepanto Institute banned from Facebook and twitter. Now, he’s spamming my mailbox,” commented Hichborn on his Facebook page. “Contained in this mailing is a ‘prayer book’ with two of the most cringeworthy, narcissistic ‘prayers’ I have ever read. And I’ve seen some pretty insipid stuff.”
“As a researcher and analyst, I always make sure to keep an eye on what the enemies of the Church are saying, which is why I opened the mailer (from America magazine, featuring Fr. James Martin, SJ),” Hichborn told LifeSiteNews in a separate interview. “As I read the prayer booklet, my initial reaction was to roll my eyes at the cringeworthy wording. But as I thought about what the prayer was saying, it dawned on me Fr. Martin was implying that God is a homosexual.”
“Think about it. First, the prayer (which was written specifically for homosexuals) says, ‘Loving God, you made me who I am.’ Given that this was written for homosexuals, one can only conclude that Fr. Martin is suggesting that homosexuals were created as homosexuals. He is identifying the person with their disordered sexual attraction, speaking to the nature of the person as a homosexual. He then says, ‘I am wonderfully made in your own image,’ which clearly implies that God is a homosexual. If God made a homosexual as a homosexual by nature, and said homosexual is made in the image of God, then this can only mean that the image of God as a homosexual comes from a homosexual God.”
“This prayer is deeply perverse in its theological implications on many levels, and is to be condemned,” added Hichborn.
Martin attacks Catholic doctrine on homosexuality with impunity
The Catholic Church, following the words of Scripture and its constant, 2,000-year tradition, teaches that homosexual acts are gravely immoral, constituting a sin worthy of eternal punishment in hell, although like all sins it may be forgiven by God to those who repent of them and confess them with a firm purpose of amendment in the sacrament of penance.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: “Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity, tradition has always declared that ‘homosexual acts are intrinsically disordered.’ They are contrary to the natural law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved.”
The Church seeks to help those suffering from same-sex attraction to cease from their self-destructive behavior and to find healing and peace in Christ. James Martin’s constant attacks on Catholic sexual morality are not acts of charity or kindness, but express a moral indifference that harms the very people he claims to support.
His superiors, up to now, have done nothing to stop Martin from his campaign of moral subversion. He has been rewarded for his behavior by an
appointment as an communications consultant for the Vatican. He continues to tour the U.S. giving talks that undermine Catholic doctrine on homosexuality with impunity.
Contact information (please be polite and respectful in all communications):
Father Arturo Sosa Abascal, SJ,
Superior General, Society of Jesus
Borgo S. Spirito, 4 - 00193
ROME (Italy)
Tel. +39-06-698681
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