just because u suffer from homosexuality......

[Socrates]

[quote name='Eremite' date='Jul 6 2005, 08:37 PM']Sexuality is inherently a giving of self. For married persons, they give themselves to one another physically, and thereby express their masculinity and femininity. For celibates, they give themselves completely in service to God and his Church.

A married person OR a celibate who does not properly direct their sexuality as a "giving of self" will inevitably encounter major problems in their vocation.
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I'm not sure I'd define sexualtiy as "giving of self" (although obviously, this should be part of a good married life.) I can do plenty of things to give of myself (helping others, making charitable donations, etc.), but this is not at all sexual.

[Guest JeffCR07]

[quote name='Socrates' date='Jul 6 2005, 08:25 PM']I'm not mocking or arguing here - just curious - how does a priest use his "sexuality" (or do you mean by this his masculinity)?
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No offense taken, it is a good question. The priest's sexuality is a gift which he offers to God - sacrificing a beautiful thing for an even higher calling. If priests "suppressed" their sexuality, it would follow that they do not make a sacrifice of their sexuality and their life of celibacy would not be meritorious.

If sexuality is a thing to be suppressed then it is not desirable. If sexuality is not desireable then it isn't valuable. But if it has no value then offering it to God is at best superfulous and at worst offensive in his sight.

A priest [i]must[/i] recognize the beauty of his sexuality in order to offer it as a gift and sacrifice to the Father.

[Socrates]

[quote name='JeffCR07' date='Jul 6 2005, 08:46 PM']No offense taken, it is a good question. The priest's sexuality is a gift which he offers to God - sacrificing a beautiful thing for an even higher calling. If priests "suppressed" their sexuality, it would follow that they do not make a sacrifice of their sexuality and their life of celibacy would not be meritorious.

If sexuality is a thing to be suppressed then it is not desirable. If sexuality is not desireable then it isn't valuable. But if it has no value then offering it to God is at best superfulous and at worst offensive in his sight.

A priest [i]must[/i] recognize the beauty of his sexuality in order to offer it as a gift and sacrifice to the Father.
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So it's more about his attitude towards it - sacrificing vs. "suppressing"?

[Guest JeffCR07]

Exactly, in the one, his sexuality is understood as a negative - an evil that will cause him to sin and disobey his vows if it is let out of its cage. In the second case, however, his sexuality is understood as a good and beautiful thing, it is integrated into his person and accepted, but then the potential fruits of that christian sexuality are offered up as a sacrifice much more worthy than any of the sacrifices of the Israelites.

Remember, accepting and integrating your sexuality doesnt mean lusting after the opposite sex. It actually means [i]not[/i] lusting.

[infinitelord1]

first of all as we know, lust is a sin.......so it is important for people who are struggling through homosexuality to not feel they need to lust for the opposite sex. It is important that they learn more about the natural way and what was intended by god in human sexuality

[Pio Nono]

JMJ
7/7 - Fourteenth Thursday
[quote name='Socrates' date='Jul 6 2005, 08:44 PM']I'm not sure I'd define sexualtiy as "giving of self" (although obviously, this should be part of a good married life.)  I can do plenty of things to give of myself (helping others, making charitable donations, etc.), but this is not at all sexual.
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Remember, too, that everything I do I do as a man - and thus, my sexuality is involved somehow. My human need for [i]affective[/i] sexuality is fulfilled in all that I do because I do it [i]as a man[/i]. Masculinity should encompass my entire life - from what I'm doing right now, to prayer, to study, &c. Genital sexuality is only a small, minor, teeny-tiny piece of sexuality on the whole.

[Semperviva]

OH! just opened up john paul's[b] gift and mystery[/b] to start reading it...and the first chapter says this:

At its deepest level, every vocation to the priesthood is a [i]great mystery[/i]; it is a gift which infinetely transcends the individual...A [i]vocation[/i] is a mystery of Divine election...which is very cool...but the whole book is about priesthood..it might help....

Edited July 7, 2005 by Semperviva

[kateri05]

heehee angus beef jeff, you're silly

[Guest JeffCR07]

you live in Cali, everyone there is a granola eating vegitarian liberal anyways I figured reminding you of the existence of meat cant hurt. Never forget your roots, lina, no matter how many soy burgers they force feed you Edited July 8, 2005 by JeffCR07

[Maccabeus]

No I do not believe that, its a calling to the priesthood.

[kateri05]

hey granola is good and soy is nasty, don't even go there.

they can't corrupt me, i'm 100% pure orthodox catholic girl and us catholics EAT MEAT. however, i do now buy organic (ie cage free) meat & eggs because as a good catholic, i can't in good conscience eat animals that are treated that way. we are called to respect and care for God's creation, which includes eating it, but doing so in a way that glorifies Him. so i challenge everyone to do the same: eat the birdies and moo cows that are treated nicely not the ones locked in tiny cages and pumped full of hormones. besides, cage free is healthier and tastes better!

how cow, California actually taught me something POSITIVE. quick, the end of the world is coming! that being said.... i miss where i came from

/end hijack. being gay doesn't equal vocation to priesthood. continue!

[infinitelord1]

the bible code suggests that the end of the world will be around 2012 or 2020. I guess a comet is supposed to strike earth ending all life. I have heard other theories too such as when the light from every star in our galaxie reaches earth (causing it to be daytime all the time) all the vegetation will die because of too much light and then all life dies.

[kateri05]

lol the bible code? hmmm... i'll just stick with Jesus' memo on not knowing the day or the hour that the master will return!

[ofpheritup]

[quote name='Nathan' date='Jul 6 2005, 05:18 AM']If you're gay, you're gay. It isn't going to change through prayer or counselling -- you will always have homosexual desires. Trying to change who you are is setting yourself up for a life of torment and disappointment. Believe me, you don't want that. I've seen so many people waste their lives trying to change who they are, and it always ends the same way.

Personally, I subscribe to the idea that God makes certain people this way for a reason, and that is to test them, to see if they can remain true to His Word in the face of great sin. Homosexuals are therefore a very special people, chosen by God. They are called to a life that isn't easy: the single life. In this life your main focus would be your chosen career.

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So does this mean if you are a rapist, murderer, child abuser, armed robber, thief you will always be that way. How little is your God? Check out scripture "With God nothing is impossible"

Okay "God makes certain people this way " Right sure explain this one to me, I don't get it. Homosexuality is a sin. So how is it that it is God's fault? You are saying God made a person homosexual so in essence you are saying what that God made sin?

How is homosexuality any different than any other sin listed in the Bible?
Wrong is wrong. We are all tempted. Satan whispers in our ear. And we have a choice to make.

"Homosexuals are therefore a very special people chosen by God" Nope don't think so. I am not homosexual so where does that leave me? I'm not special? I would love to hear the explanation to this one.

Prayer is talking to God, how is that not going to change anything? How can you presume to speak for God? No it isn't just the way it is? God's mercy and love are new every morning. I don't limit Him.

I haven't met a person who has been "gay" that hasn't changed. THAT SINCERELY WANTED TO. Who trusted in God and not what they were feeling. And I think that may be where the answer lies. Homosexuality as with every sin is a response to a FEELING. They aren't the truth, you want to feel the truth you go to God to help you deal with what you are feeling (being tempted to do).

I can't remember who said it whether it was on this site or somewhere else, a comment was made probably a million times before. "Sexuality is our core it is who we are"

I'll speak for myself here sexuality is not the core of me. Sexuality is a part of who I am. It is one piece of many pieces. I do not understand why this is getting so much attention.

i may be looking at this a little simplistically but sin is sin. Homosexuality is no different than any other sexual sin, adultery, fornication.

The great lie is 1) I can't help it, it is the way I am. 2) God made me this way. Then why don't we accept people who are adulterers or fornicators? Why should we say ok you're gay but to an adulterer you can't do that it's wrong.

Let's not be hypocrites, which is it going to be?

Edited July 23, 2005 by ofpheritup

[Semperviva]

[quote name='ergosum' date='Jul 22 2005, 04:15 PM']edited
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i don;t think nathan's posts represents anyone but himself, not to dis him i just mean not all catholics hold the opinion that gay ppl are gay forever

Edited July 24, 2005 by IcePrincessKRS