The origin of love that homosexuals feel for one another

[LongingSoul]

Why is this so important anyway? I truly understand the teachings of the Church concerning chastity for both “straight and homosexual individuals.” But I think that it is wrong and futile to try and say that the “Love” felt between two individuals who are gay or have SSA is somehow not love.

There are a lot of varied factors that have led to the current issues of those who are SSA or transgendered (Which is not the same thing as being homosexual necessarily). People do suffer a lot because of this orientation, either because they don’t want it to be so, or society rejects them, discriminates against them, and talks about them like they are lepers.

We certainly are not called as Christians to hate them, reject them or mistreat them. We might be better off not worrying about our idea of what there love is about, and think more about our own ability to truly love. As a single “Straight” woman I follow the Churches teachings on sexuality willingly. I would encourage those who have SSA to do the same because of her teachings. But I will not judge their feelings of love for each other.

This question was raised in the Apologetics section under Moral Theology on a faithfully Catholic website, so it needs to be addressed in terms of Catholic teaching rather than as a group of individuals sharing opinions after which we all agree to disagree and move on to another topic.

There is no dispute that SSA is a painful cross to bear as are all crosses that seem to thwart our fundamental desire for full communion with another. Most all humans desire to love and be loved. So what does that mean?

We know that only human beings have the capacity to love yet we see many of the more highly evolved animal species forming deep attachments to one another even seemingly exclusive pairings as well as participating in a communal life… with loyalty to their group members and some even mourn the death of their members. It truly wants to make you say that all those aspects mean love… yet we can’t. These are all quite heartwarming to witness, but in fact, they are signs of the basic animal instincts towards reproduction and survival. That is the primary basic drive of the animal.

Human beings have all these same drives, but what changes our relationships to love, is the capacity to reason and the capacity to know Gods will for His people and ourselves. That infuses our emotions and feelings with an even higher desire than the good of our species. We also desire the divine good. The catechism describing our passions says…

1769 In the Christian life, the Holy Spirit himself accomplishes his work by mobilizing the whole being, with all its sorrows, fears and sadness, as is visible in the Lord’s agony and passion. In Christ, human feelings are able to reach their consummation in charity and divine beatitude.

Unlike the lower animals, we aren’t content to find consummation in the physicalness of our passions… we long for our passions to make us godly so as to participate in the divine life which is our true home.

The catechism says… 1765 There are many passions. The most fundamental passion is love, aroused by the attraction of the good. Love causes a desire for the absent good and the hope of obtaining it; this movement finds completion in the pleasure and joy of the good possessed.

Is it then right for us to say that something is love when we know through not just Catholic teaching, but natural law, that a particular pathway neither leads to the desired for ‘reproductive and survival’ purpose intrinsic to the animal… but more importantly to the ‘absent good’ desired by the soul?