(Second Sunday of Advent (B): This homily was given at St. Pius X Church, Westerly, R.I. on December 8, 1996 by Fr. Raymond Suriani. Read Mark 1: 1-8 and 2 Peter 3: 8-14.)

"Subjective and Objective Morality."

I am not a big fan of Ann Landers. However, she has had a few thought provoking columns in recent weeks. One of them was in last Monday’s Providence Journal. It consisted of a letter which was written to her by a young man from New York. He signed it, "Relieved and feeling lucky in Long Island." Here’s the letter:

Dear Ann,

My girlfriend and I are high school seniors. She was three weeks late last month, and we were scared stiff. Thank the Lord she was not pregnant. I sat down, thought about what we were doing and asked myself these questions:

1) Does she like kids? (No, she doesn’t.)

2) Does she want to be married? (Yes, but only because she would love to get out of the house.)

3) Is she immature? (Yes, she is impatient and doesn’t consider the consequences of impetuous decisions.)

4) Is she ready to be tied down? (Absolutely not.)

5) Is she ready for diapers, cooking and housework? (No way.)

Then I asked myself the following questions about me:

1) Do I like kids? (Only if they belong to someone else.)

2) Do I want to be married? (Not for a few years.)

3) Am I ready to sit home at night with a wife and kid? (No.)

4) Am I ready for rent, insurance, car payments, doctor’s bills, sick kids, dentist’s bills, etc.? (No way could I handle it. I’m still in high school.)

5) Am I mature enough to be a good father? (I don’t think so.)

6) What would my folks say if I told them my girl was pregnant? (This is a nightmare I don’t want to think about.)

I am 17, and my girlfriend is 16. Every time we get in the mood to go to bed, we stop and read this list of questions. Believe me, it cools things off real quick.

Maybe other teenagers who are having sex and not thinking about the consequences will benefit from reading this.

From one perspective, that’s not a bad letter. But there is something wrong with it. Specifically, there is something wrong with this young man’s line of reasoning. Hopefully, you noticed! Here he gives 11 reasons why he and his girlfriend should not be having sexual relations. Now he’s certainly right in his conclusion. He’s right in concluding that they should be chaste. But there’s a very big problem with the 11 reasons he gives for being chaste. Simply stated it’s this: They are all subjective reasons. They are all personal reasons. In other words, this young man is not saying, "I’ve come to realize that it’s objectively wrong to have sex with my girlfriend."

He’s saying, "I believe it’s subjectively wrong to have sex with my girlfriend. It’s wrong because--she doesn’t like kids, and she’s immature, and she’s not ready for housework, and I’m not mature enough to be a father, and my mom and dad wouldn’t like it if my girl got pregnant, etc., etc."

Now, if I had the opportunity to question this young man I would say to him, "Suppose all those things changed. Then would it be right? If your girlfriend decided tomorrow that she liked children; if you and she suddenly became more mature; if your parents told you that they wouldn’t mind if you had a child out of wedlock; if all 11 of your personal reasons for being chaste suddenly disappeared, would it then be right to have sex with your girlfriend?" According to his subjective line of reasoning, he would be forced to say, "Yes, now it’s okay."

But it would not be okay!! Why wouldn’t it be okay? Because it’s objectively wrong!!!! It contravenes God’s law. It’s a violation of the sixth commandment.

My brothers and sisters, we live right now in a morally subjective world. This letter is a perfect illustration of that fact. And it’s killing us--literally in some cases. For example, last weekend World Aids Day was observed. I’m sure you were aware of that. And in the media we were told all the terrible statistics about how this disease is spreading at an alarming rate. Now, it’s a documented fact--it’s a well documented fact--more than 90% of Aids cases are caused by some kind of sinful behavior--illegal drug abuse and illicit sexual activity, either homosexual or heterosexual. Therefore, it would seem to make sense: If certain behaviors are objectively sinful, and if stopping these behaviors is the key to stopping the spread of Aids, then we should clearly condemn these behaviors!!! We should say that they are wrong and must be avoided by everybody! But most people in our society right now are not willing to do that. Why? Because they’ve bought into this lie of subjective morality--"Oh yes, it’s wrong for me. But maybe it’s not wrong for you and for other people."

May we, as a society, come to realize that certain things are not wrong because I say they’re wrong, or because you say they’re wrong or because the pope says they’re wrong--may we come to realize that certain things are wrong because God says they’re wrong. They’re part of his natural law. And may we come to realize this before millions more die needlessly.

In today’s gospel text from Mark 1 it says: "Thus it was that John the Baptizer appeared in the desert proclaiming a baptism of repentance which led to the forgiveness of sins. All the Judean countryside and the people of Jerusalem went out to him in great numbers. They were being baptized by him in the Jordan river as they confessed their sins."

Now there’s a man, John the Baptist, who was definitely not into subjective morality! When he had his run-ins with king Herod, for example, he didn’t say, "Herod, you’re living with your brother’s wife--how do you feel about that? What do you think? What’s your opinion--is it wrong?"

He said, "Herod, you’re living in sin. Period."

But it wasn’t only John the Baptist. Nowhere in the New Testament do you find a single biblical writer advocating a morality that’s rooted in personal opinion. They always write in objective terms.

Look at today’s second reading from 2 Peter 3. After speaking of God’s mercy and the end of the world, Peter says, "Since everything is to be destroyed in this way, what sort of men must you not be! How holy in your conduct and devotion. . . . What we await are a new heavens and a new earth. . . . So, beloved, while waiting for this, make every effort to be found without stain or defilement, and at peace in his sight."

There’s nothing there about living according to your own rules and standards. Peter believed in objective morality, just like John the Baptist did--just like Jesus our Lord and Savior did.

Which brings us to our own lives. During this Advent season we have an opportunity to receive God’s forgiveness in preparation for Christmas. But forgiveness is possible only with repentance. And repentance is possible only if we’re willing to identify our sins honestly. Now personally, I’d rather not say what I’m about to say. But I believe God wants me to say it, so I will: Some of us have gone to Confession in the past, and not confessed everything. We’ve held back. We’ve rationalized some sins. We’ve evaluated our actions subjectively and not objectively, that is, according to the teachings of Scripture and the Church. For those who have the courage to admit this, the Lord has an early Christmas present waiting in the confessional. May they have the good sense to go and receive it.