“He is out of his mind.”
So say the hosts of The View and Hoda and Jenna on Today. The NFL has indirectly said as much, too, in a public statement. Pop-singer Katy Perry went so far last week as to rewrite his speech to make it more palatable to her views, and then published it on her social media platforms. “Fixed it,” she declared.
It seems as though everyone who is anyone in the world of entertainment and sports has had the same basic reaction to the commencement address given by Kansas City Chiefs’ kicker Harrison Butker to the recent graduates of Benedictine College, a traditional Catholic liberal arts institution in Atchison, Kansas: “He is out of his mind.”
Put aside the fact that Butker was speaking about the faith to an assembly of Catholic grads and their families. Never mind the free-speech rights and even the distinction that the Super Bowl champion was not at Benedictine speaking on behalf of the football league. No, he was there as a Catholic man expressing his heart – and the Church’s teachings – to fellow Catholics ready to face the world.
And what was it Butker said that set the Internet ablaze with hatred and vitriol?
It was this one specific statement that did it (although, in full disclosure, he also discussed the evil of abortion; the shame of Catholic leaders both in the Church and politics who don’t live their faith authentically; and the fact that advocating any kind of self-centered pride is a sin). He stated (paraphrased): “Ladies, you have had diabolical lies told to you. How many of you are sitting here … thinking about all the promotions and titles you are going to get in your career? I venture to guess that the majority of you are most excited about your marriage and the children you will bring into this world.”
To this statement, he added: “I can tell you that my beautiful wife would say that her life truly started when she began living her vocation as wife and mother.”
And the world collectively lost its marbles. I’d use a different word here, but you know, Church sermon…
I realize that many of us present at Mass today (and reading on-line) may not agree with Butker’s statement or how it was delivered. I am not here in the role of priest to defend him or how he worded his commencement address. Without a doubt, the Catholic Church has always declared that work brings dignity to the human person, and women have contributed in powerful ways to the betterment of society through the work they do beyond their call to marriage and motherhood.
If I may, I don’t think Butker was denying that statement, either – not if you read his address in its entirety.
However, he was in fact bringing forth a truth of the Church and our Scriptures which make it abundantly clear: the vocation to marriage and family is sacred. If one is called to it, it is life-giving and saint-making. Should it be God’s plan for your life, it will be your greatest joy.
Understandably, not everyone is called to marriage and parenthood. For some, that closed door is a cross that undeniably causes much heartache – but can also be a call to great holiness.
But we must admit: we’re not hearing that truth about marriage and family anymore. Not from our culture. Usually not from our pulpits.
The reasons are as varied as each of us is at our core: we don’t want to offend, maybe; we know that others don’t share the same beliefs as Christians; we have seen unique relationships and parenting that don’t match the Catholic “ideal” and yet seems to work. Valid statements, all.
And yet, Butker’s commencement address really was a restating of the Church’s most sacred teachings, truths that Jesus himself espoused as he made his way to Calvary:
Marriage, the Lord said, is between one man and one woman, as the Father intended from the creation of the world (see today’s first reading from Genesis).
It would be better to cut off one’s hand or pluck out an eye that to let one’s mortal sin cast one’s soul into the fires of Gehenna for all eternity, he warned us.
The greatest love, according to Jesus, is not about self-seeking pleasure or self-centeredness; it is sacrificial and difficult, like passing through a narrow gate and an eye of a needle.
No wonder everyone thought the Lord was out of his mind. No wonder even some of his family wanted him to just stop talking.
The truth of Jesus Christ was making people uncomfortable – both then and now. Truth is hard to swallow when it starts to shed light on our brokenness and our sinful choices. It is hard to accept when everyone around us ignores it.
I know it has been a challenge quite often along my own journey. I fought the Church’s teachings on many things, especially in my teen years and early 20s; if I were honest, I still occasionally wrestle with parts of the faith when it doesn’t fit my personal world view (but therein lies the sticking point – MY view).
But – and this is key – I owe it to the Lord and His Bride, the Church, to uncover/discover why her wisdom has held to such teachings on everything from marriage to pro-life advocacy; IVF and birth-control prohibitions; and celibacy for all who are not in monogamous heterosexual marriages. If these topics cause us to struggle, don’t be afraid to investigate why the Church proclaim such teachings as true and worthy to be held.
Fair warning, though: it won’t always be an easy journey, and when you embrace these truths as Catholic Christians, you and I will also hear the words that Christ himself heard from his very own relatives and his community: “He is out of his mind.”
More and more, I am beginning to believe that the Christian is out of step with the culture around us, and perhaps we should be. When the world cries out: “Do whatever you want,” the Christian lays down his or her life for a stranger (This is my body given-up for you). When the culture screams: “God is dead; faith is pointless,” the Christian responds with: “God’s Kingdom is present all around us.”
You see, Jesus knew it then and continues to warn us now: Satan is a powerful force who wants to divide. He acts in a way to make us think he doesn’t exist, yet all the while working endlessly to lead us to hell – both here and in the hereafter.
That does not mean that we live a life of fear, of course, as if evil is lurking around every corner, but it challenges us to stay awake to the ways the evil one works to undermine us – by attacking our Church and by attacking the family.
St. Lucia, one of the young girls who encountered Our Lady at Fatima, Portugal in the early 1900s, often repeated this statement of the Virgin Mary: Satan’s final attack will be on marriage and the family.
If the family structure and support goes, so goes the culture. If the Church becomes silent and her leaders weak shepherds – if they don’t call out sin when it presents itself, then the flock will be divided and scatter.
I simply ask this question for all of us to pray with and to seriously consider as we move forward: How are we doing as a society at this present moment in time? Are we united or divided? Is our current way of living working for us? Are we really okay?
To that point, is our Catholic Church a light pointing the way to Truth and holiness for all, or are we so busy battling each other within our own house that Satan is doing cartwheels of joy? Are we a family united in Christ helping each other grow closer to the Father and an eternity?
Perhaps in the end when all is said and done, this argument has never about the Kansas City kicker or his commencement address. Rather, it ultimately comes down to whether or not our faith still has a place at the table, even when we as Catholics are considered “out of our minds.”
As Jesus, so His Bride.