I started teaching Christian morality to juniors in high school in the fall of 2016. I was glad to get this topic because morality really addresses the lived experience of the human person. When studied and understood, the Church’s teaching of the human person is, in so many ways, uplifting, encouraging, and clarifying.
However, the moral teachings of Christ and His Church are challenging to say the least. In the way of life that Jesus gave, our own desires of “how life should be” are confronted by the truths of how we were created and our real purpose. This is painful. No wonder Jesus related it to a method of Roman torture, i.e., the cross, and to losing your very life (Matthew 16:24-25; Mark 8:34-35).
Just like a doctor who has deep empathy for a patient who needs a painful procedure, I always picture Christ giving His medicinal way of life with perfect love and understanding of what it means for someone to follow Him. I have always tried to cultivate this disposition as we broached each topic in class. From premarital sex, to drug use, to any other temptation in their lives, these students are now making real choices. Do they follow the morality of the world or the morality of Christ and His Church?
I usually felt like I could demonstrate the benefits of Christian morality and the joys of living in line with the teachings of Jesus and His Church for most topics. However, one subject consistently seems to be particularly difficult for students to accept: the Church’s teachings concerning individuals with LGBTQ experiences.
Each year, we always have to address the cultural lies. The false tag lines of “Catholics hate gay people,” or “the Church automatically condemns anyone who feels that way” have to be corrected, first and foremost. This is mostly done through reminding students what they know about sin. There is a categorical difference between attractions felt and actions chosen. Then, documentaries like “Desire of the Everlasting Hills’’ and “The Third Way” are very helpful. In each, the viewer sees individuals with same-sex attractions who are choosing to live in the Church and are experiencing deep joy doing so. But, as one woman states in “The Third Way,” the Church still has a long way to go in assisting people who have these experiences.
Enter a movement called Eden Invitation. After teaching morality for a couple years, Father Ryan Kaup, a fellow morality teacher, sent two video links that were the personal witnesses of Anna Carter and Shannon Ochoa. In these videos, Anna and Shannon share their stories about their own experiences which involve being attracted to individuals of the same sex. I hope you go watch their stories, because even though their experiences might be different from yours, they still give witness to the same moment that each Christian feels: “this is my lived experience and my desires” coming face to face with Christ, who is “the Way, the Truth, and the Life” (John 14:6).
Anna and Shannon founded Eden Invitation (EI). I encourage everyone to watch the introduction video, “What is Eden Invitation?” In this online video, Shannon describes EI as “a movement for young adult Christians and Catholics on the LGBTQ spectrum, seeking to follow Christ in His Church … made up of people experiencing same-sex desires and gender discordance. We exist to create spaces to receive the whole person, to grow systems of mutual support, and to empower for mature Christian discipleship.”
At this time, EI is geared toward men and women in their 20s, 30s, and 40s. They have online book clubs and video conferences, facilitate in person community groups, offer retreats, and so much more.
EI accomplishes all this while still remaining completely faithful to Christ and His Church. From their doctrinal statement on their website: “Eden Invitation is rooted in the belief in everything contained in the word of God, whether written or handed down in Tradition, which the Church, either by solemn judgment or by the ordinary and universal Magisterium sets forth to be believed as divinely revealed. We firmly accept and hold each and everything definitively proposed by the Catholic Church regarding teaching on faith and morals.”
In 2021, I started to donate to EI financially and added them to my prayers. A young woman named Raquel reached out to thank me. She noticed I had a “Fr.” in front of my name, which began the conversation about what a priest could do within the movement. After praying about it, I found a real desire to do more for EI if it was God’s will.
In the summer of 2021, Bishop Conley reviewed Eden Invitation and gave me permission to become a chaplain for this movement. While I’m still new, on a practical level, I give spiritual direction to one person regularly and another part-time. Both of these individuals are inspirational, highly intelligent, and are tired of being told by society they have to take their full identity from attraction alone. In addition, I am offering sacramental and pastoral support for their retreat this spring. Currently, EI has no active presence in the Diocese of Lincoln, but I pray to help change this if it is God’s will.
As a call to action, I encourage you to learn about Eden Invitation directly on their website: www.edeninvitation.com. There are so many sources, testimonies, and videos that give so much hope. In the very least, this movement could help you understand a great need that exists in the Church.
In addition, I ask for you to pray for Eden Invitation. Pray for the individuals leading the movement, both the staff and EI’s many community volunteers. EI seems to be growing very quickly and they need all the prayers and support possible.
I came across this quote on Eden Invitation’s website, from “Man and Woman He Created Them,” St. John Paul II’s Theology of the Body: “I think that among the answers Christ would give to the people of our times and to their questions, often so impatient, fundamental would still be the one he gave to the Pharisees. In answering these questions, Christ would appeal first of all to the ‘beginning.’”
Pray for Eden Invitation as they invite people to the purpose of their original design, to be known and loved by God their loving creator.
Father Nathan Hall was ordained in 2016. He is pastor of Sacred Heart Parish in Roseland and Assumption (Juniata). He also teaches at Hastings Catholic Schools.
