continuation
I say to people who are engaged in sinful behaviours, the importance is to begin the journey with a good confessor. As to the rhetoric that the average lay person will give you, because they read a pastoral letter or a decree from the Church, take it with a grain of salt. Ultimately, you and your confessor have to work out the degree of culpability and what responsibility you must assume for your behaviour and how to go about it.
While I believe that these forums are good, most of the people who post here and quote this document and that document are doing just that. They’re quoting a document that was written to present an objective truth. As to how to bring it from the level of objective truth to a dialy aplication in the individual’s spiritual growth, that is a whole other story. That story is written between the individual, spiritual director and confessor. Just make sure that you work with a spiritual director and confessor that understands the document and the issue itself. There are many good ones out there.
As I said, I interned with Courage in believe it was in 1995 or 6. The priest who was in charge of the group was absolutely awesome. His focus was bringing people together into families, including the biological family when possible. He also recognized that people (gay or straight) are often promiscuous because they are missing something to nurture them. This is what I liked about courage. I have no reservations recommending them.
As I said, I believe that it is a great idea and good for people that require support (I like how they also think of the families as well). I am just not keen on the therapy that they use on some and other groups that they endorse. Without those it would be a fantastic organisation.
I realize that this is off thread, but I don’t like many of the groups and links that I find on CAF. I use what works for me.
I have to ask, was that directed to me or just in general? Because Im not homosexual.
It was unsure if you are gay or not. It doesn’t really matter to me. If you or someone you know can use this information, share it.
I don’t let my blood presure rise because someone is gay, even if they are in a relationship. If I were going to do that, I would be sick all the time. I know straight people who live with their signficant others. I know teens who are sexually active. You call a spade a spade and then you let people take the consequences for their behaviour.
What I always try to bring to the table in all of this is that God loves us all. He calls us to a deeper union with him, but I also accept that he does not call us the same way or down the same road. Look at the Apostles, Paul, Augustine, Francis of Assisi, Mother Teresa and many others.
I love Augustine when it comes to this topic. Apparently he couldn’t keep his pants on. Monica never despaired. Can you imagine Monica ranting and raving because Augustine was promiscuous? She did her job as a parent and put the rest in God’s hands.
Sometimes I wonder if people (not only Christians) feel that they have to do God’s job, because he’s not doing it well enough or fast enough, especially on hot issues such as this.
To return to the original thread, gay people can be Catholic by the mere fact that there are gays who are Catholic. As to the state of their soul? We can look at what the Church teaches and make universal or objective statements. As to the individual soul, that’s hands off except for the confessor and spiritual director. This is why I believe that if a person has such a problem and does not have a good director and confessor, Courage or any other such Church based organization is helpful.
I hope this helps.
