LifeSite News has a piece by John-Henry Westen entitled: A plea to U.S. Bishops: Please love enough to speak of the dangers of homosexuality.
Read the whole thing there, but here is the last part.
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The only answer that will move society away from the acceptance of homosexuality and thus same-sex ‘marriage’ is – caritas in veritate – or love in truth. And it is up to the Church to fearlessly preach this difficult, but beautiful message. It is not love to allow your children to rampantly misbehave without correcting them. Speaking as a father of seven children, I will admit that it is often easier to turn the other way and purposely fail to notice misbehavior. But out of love parents must correct and discipline their children, lest they come to harm.
So too the Church, and especially Her shepherds – the fathers of souls – must feed the flock, must teach the truths however difficult and politically incorrect. That is true love.
The Vatican has specifically warned against silence on the hard truths of homosexuality. The man who is now our Pope, while he headed up the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, issued a public document directed to the Bishops of the Catholic Church, stating that silence about the Church’s teachings regarding the spiritual harm of homosexual acts stems from a false charity which is ‘neither caring nor pastoral.’
Therefore I beg you, good priests and bishops and religious leaders of all Christian denominations, to speak out with conviction and love the truths of Christ, especially in these hard areas of human sexuality. You will be criticized for it, but you must trust that God will see to it that the truth is well received.
Love demands it and the future of Christianity depends on it. How can I say the future of Christianity depends on it, since we know that Christ will be with His Church till the end of time? Because in this battle of homosexuality, a time of persecution of the Church is near at hand, and indeed, in many parts has already arrived.
This is not my estimation, but that of the Pope Benedict XVI. In an address given only 18 days prior to his election to the pontificate, and one day prior to the death of Pope John Paul II, then Cardinal Josef Ratzinger said: “Very soon it will not be possible to state that homosexuality, as the Catholic Church teaches, is an objective disorder in the structuring of human existence.”
Yes, the time may be coming shortly when we are forbidden to state the basic truths of the Church. Will we then have the courage to proclaim Christ’s truth with the possibility of losing our freedom, or perhaps even shedding our blood? If we choose silence now because of cultural pressures, the loss of human respect and political calculations, how can we imagine that when the penalties are increased to include imprisonment, and possibly even torment and death, we will dare to speak the truth of Christ?
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Dear Priests and Bishops, Please teach us the truths of our faith. Otherwise, there is much flailing around and we are left to wonder, what is the truth and does it really matter. Christ himself teaches us over and over ‘Do Not Be Afraid’. We don’t always like the truth or it hurts for a little while, but souls are at stake. I do pray for our Priests, our Bishops and for our Holy Father, Pope Benedict, that they will be strentghened in the love of Christ and will defend the flocks entrusted to them and lead them on the path of righteousness and Truth, who is Jesus Christ.
One Catholic (Thomas Peters, the “American Papist”) says that the fight against gay marriage is going better than we think. Meanwhile another says it’s going so badly that we may soon be executed (“perhaps even shedding our blood”) for saying that homosexuality is intrinsically disordered. Well, which is it?
It’s also a matter of profound theological importance. Marriage has a meaning and reality within Christianity which there are theological repercussions if it is perverted. I am convinced that sexual sin and especially perverse sexual acts tend to lead to heresy. Not only to people start rejecting the teaching authority of the Church, the reality and power of the Sacraments, etc, because believing in these things while living at odds with them is painful, they and/or others tend to start interpreting Scripture in distorted ways, falling into Christological heresies etc. I have come to believe, through experience, that sexual sin militates against orthodox Christian faith.
Normally, I’m quite sanguine, but I have to say we’ve lost this fight. Homosexual “marriage” will be the law of the land in all 50 states by 2020.
Can somebody point me to a good resource that would tell me how best to present this issue to the casual interrogator?
Are our shepherds going to abandon their homosexual flock to be devoured by the wolves both inside and outside the Church, or are they going to care for these souls who need more help than most in their lonely, ridicule-riddled struggle for chastity?
They will be judged on how they care for ALL of their flock.
Perhaps a major role in this fight will be played by those who have lived the homosexual lifestyle, and found it horribly unhappy, and changed the way they live.
I try to remember that all sin is damage, self-inflicted.
Homosexuality is a developmental disorder. It was listed as a mental illness by the DSM (the main manual and bible of psychologists) until it was removed in the 70’s due to political correctness and pressure. The Catholic Church calls Homosexuality “an instrinsic disorder”.
The problem for Church clerics and authorities is that they have fallen for the argument that Homosexuality is normal and biological instead of the truth that it is a disorder caused by trauma. Therefore the bishops believe there is nothing wrong with being Homosexual. Some admit Homosexual acts are immoral, but that one can be a healthy “chaste” Homosexual. You can have a Homosexual identity and lifestyle with the caveat that they should not engage in Homosexual acts.
The tuth is that those who suffer from Same Sex attraction and the Homosexual disorder need tremendous psychological, emotional, and spirutual counseling, guidance, and treatment. Something that an apostolate like Courage can provide. That is real charity.
Lauren Hoeds:
Can somebody point me to a good resource that would tell me how best to present this issue to the casual interrogator?
There is a difference between a male and a female. Men are not women. Many people get lost in the argument but it has to come back to the basics. The goal of gender equality is not to loose the unique identity of males and females. The goal is to grant to each that which is proper to them.
It is not unjust for society to differentiate between men and women. And finally, no matter what any legislators will do, we will go on being men and women and that will never change, nor will to guys ever be able to reproduce. Basics, basics, basics.
Amen to what was written.
Our new young priest this past week said the sin of Sodom was selfishness, lack of charity and generosity. I was shocked to hear him say it. I have heard it from the old modernists but did not expect it from him. I asked him about it in confession after I did my homework and looked up sodomy in the CCC and, sure enough, it harkened back to that reading in Genesis. We never have called a selfish person a sodomite. Rather a practicing homosexual is called that. For Father to dimish the message of the destruction of Sodom was not something I could let go by.
I am sure that all of you know that Wikipedia is an uneven resource, but I think it is fair to say that its article about the story of Sodom and Gomorrah attempts to give a dispassionate account of the various Jewish, Christian, and Islamic interpretations of the story:
Sodom and Gomorrah, from Wikipedia.
Much of the dispute involves the interpretation of a Hebrew word usually translated into English as “know”. Read carefully.
Through advanced Google search syntax, my own email, and five mouseclicks to travel backward in time:
site:http://catholicanalysis.blogspot.com/ kass sodom july 9,2004
A Philosopher’s View: The Problem With Sodom, by Oswald Sobrino.
I would not have needed the five mouseclicks if I had searched at Google for:
site:http://catholicanalysis.blogspot.com/ kass sodom july 9, 2004
The trick here is to limit a search by using this syntax:
site:http://catholicanalysis.blogspot.com
Note that there is no space between “site” and the basic URL for the site. There is a space between the end of the URL and the string of search terms. This syntax often works better than a search feature at the site itself.
Prediction: Church will loose it’s tax exempt status for it’s refusal to perform same-sex unions. And the Church will have to go underground for a while. It’s going to be illegal to be Catholic. We haven’t seen anything yet. We are going to have a minor Chastisement due to our sins. Just when it seems that the faith has disappeared, it shall return. Benedict XVI hinted at this.
Not to mention we have wicked clergy running around in the Church claiming to be of God, but they’re not. Many of these same clergy say such things as “the Eucharist is only only a symbol”, “that the Pope is not infallible” etc. DO NOT FOLLOW THEM! I’m sad to say many priests today have lost their faith and so many of them have listened to the Devil. Satan is a liar. We have so-called “Catholics” flaunting their faith on Sundays and saying “Abortion is ok, contraception is ok”, “same-sex unions are ok”, and “if it doesn’t bother your conscience go ahead and do it!” Politicians who say “I don’t support abortion or same-sex unions” and yet continue to vote for it! What do many of Bishops and priests do? NOTHING! Pray for the pope, cardinals, bishops and priests. Satan wants to systematically eliminate the priesthood. Remember, no priest, no Eucharist.
The world says to the Church, “how dare you lecture us about same-sex marriage when you guys covered up and protected pedophilic priests”. In street language, they’re like saying to the Church, “if certain bishops and priests weren’t holy why should we be holy?” We aren’t members of the Church because the clergy are sinless. We are members of the Church because of the real presence in the Blessed Eucharist.
Quoth John-Henry Westen in the last paragraph of the LifeSiteNews article: “Yes, the time may be coming shortly when we are forbidden to state the basic truths of the Church. Will we then have the courage to proclaim Christ’s truth with the possibility of losing our freedom, or perhaps even shedding our blood?” It’s more that the Church losing tax-exempt status—that’s small potatoes. It’s all the actions aimed at the everyday actions of lay people that we are already seeing in the UK and Canada—Christian foster-parents being forbidden, Christian business owners not being allowed to select away from LGBT activism, radical LGBT materials being forced onto school children and the parents not being allowed to exempt their children from that, etc. It is going to get worse.
LaurenHoeds,
You asked, “Can somebody point me to a good resource that would tell me how best to present this issue to the casual interrogator?”
In paragraph 13 of the LifeSiteNews Article, beginning with “The Vatican specifically warned…”, you’ll find a link to a “Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons.” I believe you’ll find this to be a comprehensive document that clearly describes church teaching on homosexuality, as well as relevant Biblical reference and interpretation of Holy Scripture as related to homosexuality, and discussion of authentic pastoral programs to assist homosexual persons “at all levels of the spiritual life.”
An excellent resource:
http://www.couragerc.net Order:Portraits of Courage DVD which includes Part I – Into The Light and Part II – Cry of the Faithful
This has been shown on EWTN and gives true insights.
Issued by USCCB, November 14, 2006
Copyright © 2006, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops. All rights reserved.
To order a copy of this statement, please visit http://www.usccbpublishing.org and click on
“New Titles.”
Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination:
Guidelines for Pastoral Care
Randy Engel exposes the USCCB document Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination: Guidelines for Pastoral Care to be a total fraud. It contains many gay myths and gay friendly language:
http://www.traditioninaction.org/HotTopics/a02wAlertGuidelines_Engel.html
The only way that people who have same-sex attraction or have friends and family members who identify as gay will be able to accept the truths of the Church about homosexuality is if those truths are formulated in a manner that, while clear, is also charitable and respectful – unlike the link provided by the poster above me.
It’s not just WHAT we say that matters – it’s HOW we say it. I am a convert with many atheist and gay friends and family members and I feel that people who have grown up as staunch Catholics often have no idea how to speak to non-Catholics in a way that they can actually understand and accept. It’s not (usually) that the things they are saying are wrong, it’s more like a language barrier. You can say all the right things as far as content, but in a way that completely alienates the person you are talking to and only convinces them that you are not worth listening to. If you actually care about converting people and helping them out of sin, and not just about justifying yourself by saying your piece, then it is worth trying to understand the person you are talking to and learning how to communicate to them effectively.
And I think “Ministry to Persons with a Homosexual Inclination” is a great document. The section “The Necessity for Training in Virtue” is pure Thomism.
For instance: “The passions are not fixed, unchanging obstacles to moral action. They do not simply have to be repressed in order for one to act morally. Repeated good actions will modify the passions that one experiences.” That is straight out of the Summa Theologica and is something people today need to hear. So many think that chastity is just sexual repression, which is untrue.
A related issue is whether the Church (the bishops, priests, and us) speak this truth primarily to “power,” i.e. the politicians and judges, or speak it to everyday people.
In the Life vs. Death fight, establishment pro-lifers have largely focused their efforts on public policy, on government officials. Meanwhile, the pro-death crowd has infiltrated all other institutions of learning and culture. And we see how successful both efforts have been.
aspiringpoet is spot on. When a person feels strongly about an issue of morality it is extremely difficult to love the sinner and hate the sin and we come across as hating the sinner to the detriment of all.
I agree with aspiring poet also. Moralizing does exactly the opposite of what it’s designed to do in most cases. Many people in our culture already think that religion is all about morals and nothing else, as it is, and this only makes it worse. {Recall the Church Lady from TV, which is pretty close to the popular conception of us.}
Rather, the Catholic church has got to talk about Christ constantly, and make it possible for people to see their way to a relationship with him. If that can happen, He will take care of the rest. As Catholics, we don’t take good enough care of people who want that relationship, which eventually will preclude bad behavior in those who are going to do it. The rest, well….you’re not going to change them anyway til they see why they should change. Patience and tolerance, while never being willing to minimize the truth, is the key. We have to be good teachers, and depend on God to do the rest.