In 2016, Pope Francis said, “In Europe, America, Latin America, Africa, and in some countries of Asia, there are genuine forms of ideological colonization taking place.  And one of these – I will call it clearly by its name – is the ideology of ‘gender.’  Today children – children! – are taught in school that everyone can choose his or her sex.  Why are they teaching this?  Because the books are provided by the persons and institutions that give you money.  These forms of ideological colonization are also supported by influential countries.  And this terrible!”  Pope Francis exposes the fact that we’re being forced to accept gender ideology, and he’s not naïve about what’s going on in the world.

Today, most people, including us, are naïve: We’re naïve about gender ideology.  We think it’s enough to say, ‘Well, I don’t believe in it.’   But, the pope is right that groups of people will force us to accept this.  We’re also naïve that this won’t come to our Catholic schools.  It will.  The only way to protect our children is to listen to and follow Christ, and to live in Him.

Today, we hear one of His most challenging parables: A manager squanders the wealth of a rich man for whom he works, so the rich man fires him.  “Then the manager said to himself, ‘What will I do, now that my master is taking the position away from me?  I am not strong enough to dig, and I am ashamed to beg” (Lk 16:3).  He’s very self-aware.  He just lost his job, and realizes his inabilities.  In the same way, we’re being pressured by our culture to accept the lie that men can become women and women can become men.  What are we going to do?  We’re not very strong, and we’re afraid of standing out, getting into trouble, and offending people.

“So, summoning his master’s debtors one by one, he asked the first, ‘How much do you owe my master?’  He answered, ‘A hundred jugs of olive oil.’  He said to him, ‘Take your bill, sit down quickly, and make it fifty.’  Then he asked another, ‘And how much do you owe?’  He replied, ‘A hundred containers of wheat.’  He said to him, ‘Take your bill and make it eighty’” (Lk 16:5-7).  The manager cheats in order to survive!  He gets people to lie about how much they owe the rich man, and so ingratiates himself with them, so that they’ll repay him in the future.

Jesus, as we’ve said before, is not telling us to lie, because He Himself never did.  But, like last week, He uses hyperbole, and this time, to focus us on the idea of survival.  How badly do we want to protect our children?  He wants us to do the maximum to protect them.

Jesus concludes, “And his master commended the dishonest manager because he had acted shrewdly; for the children of this age are more shrewd in dealing with their own generation than are the children of light” (Lk 16:8).  What’s the key word here?  ‘Shrewd.’  Jesus is saying that we, ‘the children of light,’ are not shrewd; we’re dumb, foolish, and naïve.  But, ‘the children of this age are more shrewd.’  Gender activists go in with a game plan: Show people who are struggling with their sex and genuinely in pain, and use their hardship to make everyone think that trying to change their sex will help them—but it’s false compassion.

We have to be shrewder, which is why Jesus adds, “And I tell you, make friends for yourselves by means of dishonest wealth so that when it is gone, they may welcome you into the eternal homes” (Lk 16:9).  ‘Dishonest wealth’ means earthly wealth and earthly means.  In other words, use the means at your disposal to protect yourselves.

Here’s a 3-minute video by The Heritage Foundation, in which four doctors opposed to gender ideology respond to a fair question by an audience member (Please watch 1:01:19-1:03:54:).

 

When we scratch the surface of transgender ideology, there are so many problems: removing children’s breasts and genitalia is wrong—you can’t get them back; stopping the healthy process of puberty is wrong; and how good are these studies that support sexual surgery?

We are constantly told that trying to change one’s sex is healthy, but what about the people who regret it?  Have you heard about Detrans Awareness Day?  If we’re willing to listen to people who try to change their sex, shouldn’t we listen to people who have tried and then went back to their biological sex?

Last year, CTV had a documentary on transgenderism, showing both sides of the argument.  One story shows the real pain of a young girl who had sex-change surgery and now reports being happier.  Stories like this are what we hear all the time—it’s not new.  What is new and unheard of is the other side of the story, so uncommon that no mainstream news station in Canada has anything similar: It’s about the dangers of transitioning, what other countries are doing, and about the regret of some people who have transitioned. (Please watch 4:29-8:30).

It’s about protecting children.  The Catholic diocese of Arlington wrote a document that is both loving and truthful.  First, it said, “When speaking with those who experience gender dysphoria… it is essential to listen and seek to understand their experiences.  They need to know they are loved and valued”.  None of us are ever alone or abandoned.  Even if we struggle with our body or self-image, God’s love for us means that He loves our soul and body.

Second, supporting people means our being firm in the truth and “patiently guiding children towards that truth.”  That’s why we need to protect children from dangerous ideas pushed on social media and by public schools.  And, if you want to support our school in protecting our kids, please talk to any staff member, and they’ll bring it to Mr. Perry, who would love to hear from you!

I love it when Jesus gives us courage and clarity.  When we follow as His disciples, we have more courage.  And just a reminder: On Nov. 20, we’ll have our Christ the King Challenge, when we ask the question, “Have we made Jesus the centre of our lives?”  We’ll talk about this more next week, and go over this card.

And all of us have to be stronger in speaking out against what’s wrong, following Pope Francis, who is not naïve, but is truly loving when it comes to this issue.  Just try saying this quote to other people: “Let us not play with truths…  In books, kids learn that it’s possible to change one’s sex…  This leads to this error.  Let us call things by their names”.  Let’s not play with truths.  Let’s call things by their names.