“I CANNOT TOLERATE A SIN” | Catholic Filipina talks about rejecting her gay brother during Seven Last Words mass
Our family was watching the Seven Last Words mass aired at ABS-CBN this afternoon (and was held at the Saint Jude Thaddeus Church in Manila) when something got my attention.
For the first word (“Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing.”), a woman presumably in her 40s gave a testimonial about her gay brother. She said she detached herself from him because of his sexuality. “I cannot tolerate a sin,” she said. Apparently, their entire family felt the same thing and shunned him as well.
After many years, she came back to the country from the United States and discovered that her brother is suffering from pneumonia which is one of the complications of him contracting HIV-AIDS.
She said his worsening condition prompted them to reconcile shortly before he died. “I forgave him even though he didn’t ask for forgiveness for all the pain he caused me,” she said toward the end.
While I feel empathy for her because of her loss, she seems to have failed to understand the biggest lesson the sad episode should have taught her: There’s a high price to pay for rejecting your loved ones because of their sexual orientation.
I would have loved to hear her have remorse for her decision to not accept her brother because he opted to be true to himself. It would have been way better if she said: “My brother, sorry for rejecting you.” It’s also inexplicable for her to claim that she was hurt when it fact, it’s her who hurt her brother profoundly.
There's a high price to pay for rejecting your loved ones because of their sexual orientation.
@markydiaz13 pic.twitter.com/FNDGa1Lh9v
— Mark Pere Madrona (@FilipinoScribe) March 25, 2016
As always, I decided to share my insights regarding this on Facebook and Twitter. Unsurprisingly, many users also felt disturbed with what I recounted, with all of them condemning the sister.
“The sister is so selfish. Some people still believe the sun revolves around them,” one commented. “You forgave him for the pain he caused you?!?!? Nakakaloka. You turned your back on your brother!” another one responded.
PS: Special thanks to my Twitter friends Dr. @markydiaz13 and @MisterMinchin for helping my post reach more people. 🙂
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