Gay: Born That Way?

[LouisvilleFan]

.But again if he is born this way and created this way it changes everything in my opinion...

 

Being "born this way" and "created this way" are not the same thing. All of us are born with original sin. Were we created (in the beginning) with original sin?

[cappie]

From a previous answer I gave in another thread: http://www.phatmass.com/phorum/topic/127466-homosexuality-within-the-priesthood/page-2

 

The more important question for me is  "Do I have the ability to live out the life as defined by the rules and expectations of the diocese or community I am thinking about joining?"  Am I able to share in their life and life-style comfortably, cheerfully and generously, without an ongoing sense of anxiety and oppression?  Can I participate in their mission without it constantly draining my inner resources?  Do I find my interactions with the community, its leadership and those they serve replenishing and reinvigorating or intimidating, stressful and overwhelming?

 

Somehow the celibate religious life itself and the ministerial work of the community must suit you and you must suit the life so that you aren't paying a horribly high price just to stay in.  Somehow there must be a meshing of your interests, abilities and competencies with those necessary for you to live your vocation with a sense of purpose and joy.  Both must go together and blend a bit into each other.  Lots of people, very good people, have tried religious life and found they just didn't fit in - they couldn't live it.  Some people are just not cut out for it anymore than some people can't be airline pilots or pharmacists or ranchers or what not.  Celibate religious life just doesn't suit some people - they haven't got the skills, inclinations or grace to handle it.  They may be happy with and very good at some aspects of the life or work, but overall it just doesn't "fit" them.  Again, God does not force people into vocations that he has not given them the grace to handle and talents to prosper at.  He respects the individual gifts and personalities of each of us.

 

[LouisvilleFan]

I get the bad things happen because of freewill. I accept that. I don't understand it but it is what it is. Although a kid having cancer makes no sense to me. Or anyone. I don't see how freewill should have anything to do with this. God not existing makes more sense then God existing and a kid having cancer.

 

Cancer, along with everything else that happens to us that isn't our fault, is part of the fallen nature of our world. Death came into the world because of sin, and it caused ruptures in all relationships: between man and woman, between brothers, between humanity and nature, and most importantly between us and God. The Church's role is to heal these relationships, and when it comes to our fallen sexuality -- and everyone has a fallen sexuality -- the only healing is found in chastity.

[LouisvilleFan]

On a sidenote, I just started Wesley Hill's book "Washed and Waiting." It's the author's story of his struggle to be a celibate gay Christian in today's work. He was born Southern Baptist and converted to an orthodox Episcopal church, and his book includes the stories of two deceased gay Catholics, Henri Nouwen and Gerard Manley Hopkins. I didn't know these two stories were in the book when I bought it, nor did I know Nouwen was gay. So far it's a very well balanced, honest, and mature read. Definitely worth checking out for anyone interested as he's one of the few publicly gay Christians speaking up for orthodoxy.

 

[brianthephysicist]

Personal Story:

 

I remember when I was confronted with my opinions up to a point of time when I found myself helping some friends of mine whom I had known a long time. The old lies that would have me believe it was “dangerous” to hang out with a loving, affectionate gay couple – two passionate Christians, at that! – kept replaying because wouldn’t life be simpler if you isolated yourself from anything that would complicate your beliefs?  Wouldn’t it be easier if you spent all your effort on drawing lines and defending yourself and pushing away those who disagree? You’re going to crumble if you keep this up.

I carried these bitter thoughts with me to church the next morning to celebrate the Holy Mass.  The decision to enter into this whole emotion and politically charged area seemed increasingly foolish in light of the mounting tension and you won’t be strong enough to help anyone, much less –

“This is my Body which will be given up for you”

– yourself and the controversy will consume you and you’ll be –

“This is the chalice of my Blood....which will be poured out for you .....for the forgiveness of sins”

– ridiculed and misunderstood  and –

The accusations ended abruptly as I watched the piece of host dropped into the chalice  slowly turn crimson. 

“Epiphany” is the only word I can use to describe that moment: a sudden burst of clarity that overwhelmed me and my whispering fears. The confusion of the preceding moments dissolved and in its place there appeared a calm certainty: this is the shape my life must take.

The Eucharist rendered my life intelligible again.

We follow a Christ who was, and is every day, torn to pieces. He was misunderstood and ridiculed, or sometimes understood perfectly well and hated for what he said and did. He was nailed to a low-hanging plank and slowly suffocated outside the city gate. And this is how we are told to remember him.

Because this is our story. This is who we are becoming. People who love so fiercely that we throw ourselves into the midst of things so that there may be peace, so that the unloved would know the touch of a friend, so that the hopeless would see with new eyes and the neglected would discover what it means to have a family. We proclaim Christ, and him crucified.

And people may tear us apart for it. The tension will pull at our seams and always feel as if it is a second away from undoing us. We will have to struggle against the impulse to move back to safety, relieve the tension, remain untroubled, and bury our weakness.

But Eucharist is the utmost display of weakness. The cross is weakness.

And this is the beauty of it.

 

 

This is the conclusion to the post above, I had to go do something in a hurry and did not conclude;

 

The celebration of Holy Mass is a sacrificial, destructive act. But the miracle of it is that as the body of Christ, the Host is broken to pieces the body of Christ, the Church, is made more whole. We are nourished and drawn together and given the strength to carry on. We are empowered to boldly live in weakness.

 

This is how the power of Christ is made perfect in weakness: that although we are vulnerable we press deep into the suffering of the world and make it our own, although we may receive blows from every direction we refuse to let our capacity to love and forgive be beaten out of us, and although we are silenced and misunderstood we never disdain the sacred act of listening to another and seeking to understand. It seems like I will never cease having to relearn this most basic of truths, and I imagine that is why celebrating the Eucharist will never cease to astonish and amaze me.

 

The fears that plagued me on my friend’s couch are still with me.   And yet I’ve never felt so at peace about this process nor so confident that the Church will be there for me in and through it all. I will be more grounded in the living grace of my God with whom I’ll have sat in blessed silence and more in love with his Church that will sustain me and inspire me to act in truth and humility. Living in Australia  I may never have the pleasure of getting to meet any of you, but I take comfort  in knowing that our many voices sing together in awe of our Saviour and our weary souls dance together toward the table of charity and grace.  :dance3:

 

Wow. Praise God and thank you for sharing.