Man and Woman He Created Them

Image: The Creation of Adam (1510), from the ceiling of the Sistine Chapel by Michelangelo, downloaded from Wikimedia. The image and title are inspired by Pope Saint John Paul II's Theology of the Body published as Man and Woman He Created Them.

By sharing his story, Tom Hoopes has given me a gift. I've had a similar experience which I've almost always shared as part of the story of my return to the Catholic Church, but I've not been able to connect it well with the whole of my reversion to the faith. That is, this experience, which I know is a significant part of my faith journey, never seemed to fit well with with the rest of my journey. It's been a puzzle piece that never seemed to fit in with the rest of the puzzle of my life.

In early 1995, when I had already been long lapsed in the practice of my faith, I had a similar powerful experience. Of his experience (which is similar to mine), Tom Hoopes writes, "I didn’t see any visions, feel a physical sensation, or hear an audible voice, but I remember it vividly, and it was unmistakably him." Until now, the penny had not dropped, but now, in a concrete way, I see "it was unmistakably him." In pride, I might give my intellect all the credit, but in reality it was by the grace of God. I came to the realization and knowledge that contraception was immoral. God smiled upon me.

I was tapping away on my 386 while listening to C-SPAN in the background. And on the TV, there was a talk or forum on what we would understand now to be about LGBT rights. A man, who I think was a journalist, asked a question, something like, "if heterosexuals can do it, why can't homosexuals do it?" I don't remember exactly what the question was, but it set off a train of thought that brought me to the conclusion that contraception was immoral. My first thought was a humble one, and I think that this is important to note, since it signifies the softening of my heart to an encounter with the truth. In 1995, like most or many people of that time, I could have been reasonably characterized as a homophobe. Back then, I could never knowingly have had a friendship with a gay man. The thought of sodomy brought about only a visceral reaction and it was a strong one. "Icky" and "gross" are far too weak to express my feelings. But my first thought to this man's question was "he's right!" or "he has a point!" And so I questioned: why should I consider the homosexual act to be wrong? Why is the heterosexual act okay? I thought, is marriage that which "blesses" the sexual act, so that if we allowed homosexuals to marry, then the homosexual act would be okay? Intuitively, I dismissed that as an arbitrary logical move. So I asked, why marriage? (whisper: children). What is it about marriage which makes the heterosexual act morally acceptable? And I realized that the procreative aspect is the key to understanding why the heterosexual act within marriage is morally acceptable. And on the flip side, I realized that if contraception is morally acceptable then anything is morally acceptable—for once procreation is "logically" separated from the sexual act, all judgments on the morality of consenting sexual acts are arbitrary and visceral.

My thoughts were more primitive then, but under the guidance of the Church's Magisterium, the teachings of the Church, I've come to a more mature understanding of the meaning of human sexuality. Indeed, the Church's teaching on human sexuality has been a motive of credibility for me, evidence that through the Church, a divine light shines in the world. It is as the hymn goes, I once was blind, but now I see.