Photo: © Robert Laymont, CC BY 3.0 BR
The influence of prominent pro-LGBT Jesuit, Father James Martin, continues among Catholic circles, despite his promotion of teaching contrary to Catholic doctrine and his consistent record of blasphemies against Our Lord, Our Lady and the Rosary. One example is Fr. Martin’s regular column and position as an editorial advisor for Give Us This Day publication.
Launched in 2011 by the Liturgical Press, Give Us This Day is a monthly publication containing daily prayers and reflections on “holy people,” not necessarily canonized saints, a specific decision defended by the editor as more appealing to modern modernists readers.
The publication is filled with weekly commentaries on scripture and monthly religious articles. It describes itself as “[d]rawing inspiration from a multitude of voices, it provides a relevant and trustworthy understanding of Scripture.”
However, while claiming to be faithful to the Catholic faith and Scripture, Give Us This Day is very public about its committed relationship with the dissident Fr. James Martin, a relationship which has existed from the beginning of the publication in 2011. Fr. Martin not only serves as an editorial adviser but also produces a monthly column called “Teach Us to Pray.” He even compiled writings from the magazine into a book, In All Seasons, For All Reasons.
Give Us This Day’s public support of Fr. Martin’s LGBT Activism
Since Fr. Martin is controversial, Give Us This Day defends him by directing readers online to an essay. Written in 2017, the essay describes Fr. Martin as “a priest in good standing” and highlighted how Give Us This Day staff was “privileged to share in Father Martin’s unfailing commitment to proclaiming the Good News of Jesus Christ.”
The essay proudly aligns the publication with Fr. Martin. It mentions how readers are full of “grief and sorrow” by the backlash from faithful Catholics who protest Fr. Martin’s pro-LGBT work Building a Bridge: How the Catholic Church and the LGBT Community Can Enter into a Relationship of Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity.
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“There is further sinful irony in that the attacks are not grounded in fact,” reads the essay. “In Building a Bridge and in all his work, Father Martin stands on the solid ground of Scripture, Catholic Social Teaching, and the Catechism of the Catholic Church. Without question, Father Martin’s heart is rooted and grounded in the love and mercy of Christ.”
Give Us This Day thus appeared to choose defending Building a Bridge as a public mark of support for Fr. Martin. However, such action calls into question the publication’s “Catholic” status. For Fr. Martin’s work has been mired by numerous pronouncements that not only contradict the teachings of the Catholic Faith but have directly blasphemed Our Lord and Our Lady.
Fr. Martin’s love for LGBT ideology, aversion for Catholic doctrine
His pro-LGBT activism has been well documented, as the Jesuit writer for America Magazine has supported “transgenderism” for children, called for homosexuals to kiss each other at the Pax Christi (the sign of peace) in the Mass, called for Catholics to “reverence” homosexual unions and undermined Church teaching on the issue of LGBT ideology.
He is not content with promoting LGBT ideology alone, as he twists Catholic teaching and imagery to suit this goal. In 2018, he called for people to pray the “Rosary of Modern Sorrows,” dedicated amongst other intentions, to “victims of racism, LGBT people.” The intention for the fifth mystery of the “rosary” was the “welcoming of LGBTQ people by all churches, temples, mosques and synagogues…We Pray that they may be supported and loved, with full acceptance as people truly created in the image of God, a creation that God saw as ‘good,’ and who deserve to live every aspect of life to the fullest.”
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One year before, Fr. Martin tweeted a blasphemous image of Our Lady of Guadalupe, praising it and the accompanying two pictures as “beautiful images of Our Lady of Guadalupe, reimagined as contemporary women.” [sic]
In 2019, Fr. Martin attacked Our Lord by sharing an image from a collection of homoerotic works depicting the life of Jesus as if he were a homosexual man. The image is drawn from a collection of artworks titled “The Passion of Christ: A Gay Vision,” a work described by Amazon as follows:
“In stunning new images, the modern Christ figure is jeered by fundamentalists, tortured by Marine look-alikes, and rises again to enjoy homoerotic moments with God. His surprisingly diverse friends join him on a journey from suffering to freedom. Readers call it ‘accessible but profound.’”
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Indeed, in the spring of 2021, Fr. Martin continued his campaign of blasphemy by referring to God as “her” and arguing that feminine depictions of God are “not contrary to our faith.” He claimed that it is “just as theologically correct to use feminine imagery about God as it is to use masculine imagery” and that it is “not contrary to our faith, since it’s part of Scripture, albeit an overlooked and even ignored part.”
Condemned by prelates, supported by the Pope
With these actions in mind, faithful prelates have condemned Fr. Martin. Cardinal Raymond Burke deemed the priest’s teaching as “not coherent with the Church’s teaching on homosexuality.” Archbishop Charles Chaput joined the ranks of prelates opposing Fr. Martin, saying that on LGBT issues, Fr. Martin “does not speak with authority on behalf of the Church.”
Fr. Martin’s emboldened attack on Catholic doctrine is not surprising given that he enjoys support from Pope Francis. He met privately with the dissident Jesuit in 2019, in what was their third encounter but their first lengthy meeting. The event was described by Fr. Martin and his America Magazine as a “highly significant public statement of support and encouragement” for his work. The Pope even issued a public note of support for Fr. Martin last year, in a handwritten note.
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Given his long-standing and public work to distort Church teaching, employing blasphemous artwork and commentary in this process, any publication or event should avoid association with him. Christ warns in the Gospel of the great danger posed by scandalizing the faithful: “But he that shall scandalize one of these little ones that believe in me, it were better for him that a millstone should be hanged about his neck, and that he should be drowned in the depth of the sea.”
Thus, Catholics should avoid any publication or event that publicly supports a priest who undermines the Catholic Faith.