Franciscan Duo Lead “gay And Lesbian Catholics” Gathering

[jmjtina]

your sexuality should never define who you are as a person.

Reaching out to everyone with the message of the Gospel is a must. Going about it without condoning the action and yet encouraging them that we are all called to embrace our cross, (specifically celibacy if they struggle with same sex attractions,) regardless of sexuality is something we struggle to do with extremes on the right and the left.

One thing is certain when addressing issues like these: The Gospels and Church teaching should remain constant and the source of Truth. We must never condone the action, nor water down what the Church proclaims.

[jmjtina]

[quote name='Kitty' post='1502442' date='Apr 17 2008, 11:16 PM']You know, a Catholic message board is the last place I would expect to hear stuff like this [/quote]


actually, I was thinking the same thing but with the actual post socrates was referring to.

"Spiritual bonding?!!!" being blessed by the Church with people with SSA including some saints!!!!!!!!!!?

ridiculous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

you've got to back up garbage like that with links and evidence!!! Sounds incredibly phishy.

Edited May 10, 2008 by jmjtina

[Norseman82]

[quote name='mortify' post='1501492' date='Apr 16 2008, 11:25 PM']What do you think?

[img]http://calcatholic.com/newsimages/FrRusty0408.jpg[/img]

[b]“I Am Who I Am”[/b]
Published: April 15, 2008
[url="http://calcatholic.com/news/newsArticle.aspx?id=b085f72f-8bce-4650-9d59-7379372d73e5"]Link to article[/url]

[color="#0000FF"][i]Priest duo again to lead spiritual get-together for “Gay and Lesbian Catholics” at order’s retreat house in Danville[/i]

As they did last year, Oakland diocesan priest, [b]Fr. Jim Schexnayder[/b] and Franciscan [b]Father Rusty Shaughnessy[/b], will direct a “Gay and Lesbian Catholics Retreat” at San Damiano Retreat House at Danville, in the Oakland diocese.

The April 25-27 retreat,[b] “I Am Who I Am – By the Grace of God,”[/b] will focus on the U.S. bishops 1998 pastoral message Always Our Children’s affirmation that “You are also of God, gifted and called for a purpose in God’s design,” says a retreat advertisement.

Always Our Children was a statement issued by the Bishops' Committee on Marriage and Family to the parents of homosexual children, and some bishops complained after it was made public that they had very little to do with its preparation. For example, [b]Bishop Fabian Bruskewitz of Lincoln, Nebraska, said the message “was composed without any input from the majority of the American Catholic bishops, who were given no opportunity whatever to comment on its pastoral usefulness or on its contents… The document, in a view which is shared by many, is founded on bad advice, mistaken theology, erroneous science and skewed sociology. It is pastorally helpful in no perceptible way.”[/b]

“Fr. Rusty,” who is known for his “scripture based presentations with twists of humor,” has led “retreats, workshops, and parish missions,” noted the retreat advertisement. At San Damiano he has directed married couples, young adults, men’s, and women’s retreats.

As co-founder and now resource director for the National Association of Catholic Diocesan Lesbian and Gay Ministries, Schexnayder is a well-known voice in Catholic homosexual outreach. He was co-author of Always Our Children and is a priest of the Oakland diocese.

In the past, Schexnayder has asserted that, [b]since homosexuality can be separated from sexual acts, it can be considered in itself a gift.[/b] In a letter published in the September 18, 1998 National Catholic Reporter, Schexnayder wrote that Always Our Children “affirms 'sexual orientation (heterosexual or homosexual) as a deep-seated dimension of one's personality.' Clearly this is something to be integrated rather than denied or feared."

At a January 2002 talk at Santa Sophia parish in Spring Valley (San Diego diocese), Schexnayder said that "sexuality primarily has to do with who we are, not what we do, and it's [b]very similar to spirituality[/b], which is about who we are as persons, [but] it's much broader than that... Sometimes we think of complexity as a problem. It's also a gift. It's wonderful."

“Regarding sexual behavior, the Catholic Catechism... does not use the word ‘celibacy’ for gay and lesbian people; the word is ‘chastity,’” Schexnayder said at the same talk; and chastity, he said, is “about successful integration.” [b]As for homosexual unions, “I don’t think the Church is going to deal with gay and lesbian marriages, but in its history and those who have done research on this, the Catholic Church and other Christian churches like the Orthodox church, have in fact in history blessed same-gender unions as spiritual bondings, and there are saints who have had very committed relationships.” [color="#FF0000"](?)[/color]
[/b]
During the question and answer period following the talk, Schexnayder, asked how a homosexual act cannot be anything but a sin, replied, "[b]The more complex issue of ethical behavior is conscience, which is also Church teaching, is that we cannot in fact determine whether anybody commits a sin; only they can.[/b] We can talk about whether a particular objective behavior is considered by the Church or by others to be good or not good, but we cannot determine a sin, because sin by definition involves not only subjective evil but also a choice, a free choice, a knowledgeable choice. In fact, [b]we cannot determine whether a person is committing sin or not; only they can determine that, and conscience is part of it.[/b]"[/color][/quote]

Sounds like a lot of 70's and 80's babble....

[CatherineM]

Just because someone is born with a certain affinity, does not mean they have to act on it. That would take free will out of the equation. People are born with, or created by childhood experiences, the desire to be pedophiles or serial killers or pathological liars or kleptomaniacs. That doesn't mean that the church has to embrace any of those actions as being okay because they have trouble with them. Everyone is given a cross, some are just heavier than others. My husband has schizophrenia, and so does his mother. Every day he has a choice as to whether to take his medicine. He chooses to take it even though they have wicked side affects, his mother chooses not to. If someone truly can't control themselves, then it is a mental illness issue, not a discrimination issue. I was born with the tendency to be overweight, that doesn't mean that I'm not responsible for everything that goes in my mouth. I am sorry for people born with SSA, but they still have a choice. They aren't animals incapable of making decisions. By accepting their relationships, we are validating their accepting failure, rather than helping them to find excellence.

[prose]

Just to take another perspective... What if homosexuality turns out to be like depression? What if it turns out that it is caused by some sort of chemical imbalance. Do you think a depressed person could just "choose" not to be sad? It would be the same thing.

Also, if it DID turn out to be some sort of treatable thing, do you think people will get treatment? I have often thought about that. If the people who I know are gay, suddenly found out they could "cure" themselves or drug it away, would they?

[Kitty]

[quote name='prose' post='1524270' date='May 10 2008, 06:26 PM']Just to take another perspective... What if homosexuality turns out to be like depression? What if it turns out that it is caused by some sort of chemical imbalance. Do you think a depressed person could just "choose" not to be sad? It would be the same thing.[/quote]

This is a good example of how I see homosexuality. I don't think homosexuality is a definite choice, like "either you can be gay or you can choose not to be". You cannot suddenly decide to change how your mind works.

[quote]Also, if it DID turn out to be some sort of treatable thing, do you think people will get treatment? I have often thought about that. If the people who I know are gay, suddenly found out they could "cure" themselves or drug it away, would they?[/quote]

I don't think my gay friends would "cure" themselves unless they were very unhappy with their current orientation. Most of the gay people I know are perfectly happy with themselves.

Edited May 10, 2008 by Kitty

[Noel's angel]

Depression is not a sin, but if I acted on it in a destructive way...there we have the sin. It's the same with homosexuality. For example, you have a gay man who lives in a chaste manner. Sinful? No. You have another gay man who does not live a chaste life. Sinful? Yes. If it is like depression, and they cannot choose not to feel that way (which is a fair enough argument), they CAN chose what they do with those feelings. That is the important part.

All sexual urges can be controlled.

Edited May 10, 2008 by Noel's angel

[johnnydigit]

fyi, EWTN has a show called the Carpenter's Workshop i think. they once had a show that talked about how to raise your son in a way that would detract from homosexual tendencies. something like how to instill male values. if they happened to be born with a tendency or inclination towards it, then how to not nurture it and even emphasize the opposite. i was really surprised they would have the cojones to say what they did, but i was also very proud because it needed to be said.

as usual, the devil is making it common to say it's ok and no big deal.

"what this generation won't accept, the next generation will." i fear what will be next..