Another friend, a male, battles a longing to be female. He has been advised to transition genders; well-meaning voices in his life have wanted to see his suffering end. But ultimately my friend believed God created him male for a reason and resolved to trust his Creator’s loving plan above his own pain. He was confirmed into the Catholic Church this year.
In today’s reading, Saint Paul exhorts us to offer our bodies as a living sacrifice. (Romans 12:1) I look at the courageous choices of these beloved friends of mine, and those of others I love who are living out hardships like celibacy or hyperfertility, and feel humbled by their trust. I, on the other hand, am committed to Church teaching on the body, but for years it was never a cross I personally had to bear.
That is until this Spring when I sat in the bathroom with a positive pregnancy test and burst into tears.
Read the rest at Blessed Is She!
(Note: The Catholic teaching on sexuality, gender, and other aspects of Theology of the Body is a huge topic that people have appropriately written entire books on. This devotional is not meant to be a comprehensive apologetic, but rather an encouragement for us all to integrate our spiritual lives with our physical ones, even in the way that is hardest for us personally.)
