Working with Homosexuals

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tremethick

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HI,
I am a Catholic living in California. I work in a corporate environment with many homosexual people.
How can I befriend them and be a team player while living my Catholic beliefs?
Thanks,
Dennis
 
Treat them just like any other sinner you have to work with.
 
You don’t have to be your co-worker’s buddy just get the job done and treat him/her like you would treat everyone else. I mean I am sure there are other immoral people in your office besides the “homosexual(s)” you have to work with …
 
Everyone you work with is a sinner. As long as they keep their sins to themselves and don’t engage you in supporting or promoting this cause, why treat them any different than anyone? If they do try to enlist your support or affirmation treat them like you’d treat anyone else who tried to engage you in some kind of sin. Honestly it’s unlikely you are interacting with co-workers at a level of intimacy where you discuss your respective sex lives.

Lisa N
 
Lisa N:
Honestly it’s unlikely you are interacting with co-workers at a level of intimacy where you discuss your respective sex lives.

Lisa N
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You mean reticence and good manners prevail and people don’t talk about such things? Come and visit our teachers’ lounge, Lisa.:rolleyes: At lunch, I’m constantly thinking,“Is your mother alive and does she know that you talk like this?” And I’m a guy…the women talk that way while a man’s in the room!
 
Unless they or anybody else for that matter, talks about their personal relationships, you can just have a good working relationship with them. Talking about their sex life, gay or straight, does not belong in a work enviroment. And its very poor taste.
 
Be polite and cordial to everyone, just the usual ettiquette stuff. Be polite to the partners of your colleagues. If you have to travel, stay at their summer homes, etc., I’d act in the same manner as I would act if staying in a foreign country with strange customs. I’d pray in my room, go to Sunday mass, and be a polite guest in their house, take my shoes off and not get mud on their carpet.🙂

Is there a specific incident that you envision having trouble with? How would you handle staying in the home of or socializing with a man with several wives? It is probably similar.
 
Lisa N:
Everyone you work with is a sinner. As long as they keep their sins to themselves and don’t engage you in supporting or promoting this cause, why treat them any different than anyone? If they do try to enlist your support or affirmation treat them like you’d treat anyone else who tried to engage you in some kind of sin. Honestly it’s unlikely you are interacting with co-workers at a level of intimacy where you discuss your respective sex lives.

Lisa N
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**I agree with Lisa. **

**Remember the NINE WAYS OF BEING AN ACCESSORY TO ANOTHER’S SIN **

1. by counsel
2. by command
3. by consent
4. by provocation
5. by praise or flattery
6. by silence
7. by assistance/partaking
8. by defense
9. by concealment
 
I’m not sure if this will help you or not.

When I was in college (1994) I spent a semester in Mexico and during that time I worked with a program for female prostitutes and male homosexual transvestite prostitutes.

Look at your co-workers as I learned to see these people: As children of God.

At the time I was not a very good Catholic, although I was searching and didn’t really realize it. God blessed me with the ability to see these people as he sees them…as his children. I had entered this program fearing they would think I (we as Americans) would not accept them, but I was to learn that it was they who had to accept US.

The program’s founder had written a published column about one of the transvestite prostitutes, and what happened to her (actually him) to change his life. It was horrible.

Basically, S. had a mother who re-married a pedophile. This man took S. to a river and held him under water. He took S. out and had his way with him. Then he put S. under water and told S. that he would let him drown if S. ever told anyone.

Finally S. got the courage to tell his mother (S. was only a kid at the time). His mother, having told him that being gay was “the worst, the very worst” without having ever defined or explained it, refused to believe or accept what he told her. She rejected him.

And S suffered at the hands of his stepfather. (This happens every day around the world).

S. finally ran away and went into the city of Puebla, where eventually he found his niche…as a transvestite prostitute. He (she) became a leader of sorts. “Titi” had a gift with hair, cosmetology, etc., and taught classes. She had several salons and maybe with that, hope of escaping that life.

While we were there, Titi was murdered. She was found strangled, face-down on a bed and tied up. The police were not investigating because she was not worth it.
This may be an extreme example, but the Titi’s of the world need our prayers, they need our friendship, and like it or not, they are made in the image of God. The best thing we can do is befriend them and live as an example. We can live our faith and if they come to us (for God sends us souls every day) we can speak by example, help them understand that their bodies are a temple and that they are called to the same life that singles are called to…chastity, love, and sacrifice.

Be friends to the people n your workplace.

I don’t mean to imply that all homosexuals are like my friend, Titi, a prostitute. But he (she) is a person I will never forget, and I would like everyone who reads this to pray a divine mercy chaplet for her and everyone in her shoes.

I call Titi “her” out of respect for her wishes. She was born a man, and remained a man, but I was once berated (in a good-natured way) by her and others like her for using a verb ending indicating the presence of men. I have always referred to her as “her” although I understand she is male.

This is obviously not a situation ordained by God…God does not create confusion, only clarity. It’s the evil one who demotes the dignity of humanity by degrading the most powerful force God gave us.

Please pray for your co-workers and be a friend in Christ.

You don’t have to accept their lifestyle, only ses them in God’s image.
 
Hi guys!
Code: 
     It’s easy to say of a homosexual coworker that you would be cordial or a friend, but as a Christian, isn’t something more expected? Admonishing the sinner is a spiritual work of mercy and who is to say the Holy Sprit did not allow you the acquaintance of the homosexual so that you could correct him?
It’s all well and good to say that you would have to treat the homosexual the same as any of the other colleagues who are also sinners. The problem is that the homosexual is not the same. The others, by and large, commit their sins in private and do not acknowledge them. Even the secretary who had an abortion once is not likely to discuss it. The homosexual is a different case entirely. The very fact that you know makes it a public sin, to which a Christian must respond in a public fashion.

I do not see how, under these circumstances, one can treat the homosexual the same as everybody else. Because his sin is public, he forces special conditions to be brought down upon him.
 
**
**Remember the NINE WAYS OF BEING AN ACCESSORY TO ANOTHER’S SIN
Click to expand...
  1. by counsel**
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2. by command
3. by consent
4. by provocation
5. by praise or flattery
6. by silence
7. by assistance/partaking
8. by defense
9. by concealment **

where does that list come from? it strikes me as being dangerous - like it could easily cause someone to beat themselves up by ‘being an accessory to sin’ rather than reaching out in love and befriending someone.

and that’s what i suggest. in my workplace, everyone knows i’m catholic. i don’t go shouting it, but they get the idea when i talk about going to daily mass and that i plan to enter the jesuits in august.

i have had some gay girls that worked for me. they knew what i thought about homosexuality - and they also had alot of misconceptions about christian beliefs. i was able, to a limited extent, to teach them what the christian view is.

but my JOB was not to ‘condone’ or ‘encourage’ their lifestyle, neither was it to condemn or attack it. they knew i disapproved of homosexual activity. that said, i was free to be their friend - someone they could turn to if in trouble.

**i pray for them, and i hope that they abandon their gay lifestyles (by this i mean engaging in homosexual behavior) and become christians. **

**but you can’t attack someone’s beliefs if they don’t trust you. first, you have to be their friend. then attack their beliefs. 😉 just kidding. **

**then you show them what you believe, and why, and eventually they might come to see it your way. **

if not, they still respect you, and you have shown them love.
 
Being homosexual is not sinful, merely distorted. Only engaging in sexual activity is sinful and this applies for heterosexuals as well! Homosexuals should be treated with love and charity as we would treat anyone else. Before we can admonish the sinner we need to befriend them in order for them to accept any admonishment. Cursillo has a saying, “Make a friend. Be a friend. Bring a friend to Christ.” After all, the purpose of admonishment is to lead them to Christ; we cannot very well lead anyone to Christ if we repell them; in fact, we do the opposite! I wonder how many people who would so quickly admonish and ostracize the homosexual would admonish and ostracize their friend at work engaged in an illicit relationship!

Homosexuals are human beings too, created in God’s image and likeness. They have something to offer his Church. Many have been through tramatic events like described earlier on this thread that have turned them into what they are (like prostitutes), some may be predisposed to homosexuality (perhaps genetics, perhaps something in early unremembered childhood), some choose because our society has taught them that it is a good thing, some have experienced hurt and rejection from opposite sex and only seek a loving relationship. If Christ himself were here today, we’d probably find him ministering to these marginalized children in the gay & lesbain bars. We need to show them the same love and compassion as Jesus would. This does not mean that we accept or condone sexual activity outside the sacrament of marriage between a man and woman.

So, befriend these men and women and let them see the light of Christ in you!

Love & peace in Christ,
Bob
 
How can you befriend homosexuals and be a team player while living your Catholic beliefs?

Simple.

By Loving them and not their sins, and by standing your ground spiritually and answering any of their questions if they ask you.

That’s about all you can do.

frank
 
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trailblazer:
Being homosexual is not sinful, merely distorted. Only engaging in sexual activity is sinful and this applies for heterosexuals as well! Homosexuals should be treated with love and charity as we would treat anyone else. Before we can admonish the sinner we need to befriend them…
So, befriend these men and women and let them see the light of Christ in you!

Love & peace in Christ,
Bob
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:amen:
This is a great answer.

Scout :tiphat:
 
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trailblazer:
Being homosexual is not sinful, merely distorted. Only engaging in sexual activity is sinful and this applies for heterosexuals as well! Homosexuals should be treated with love and charity as we would treat anyone else. Before we can admonish the sinner we need to befriend them in order for them to accept any admonishment. Cursillo has a saying, “Make a friend. Be a friend. Bring a friend to Christ.” After all, the purpose of admonishment is to lead them to Christ; we cannot very well lead anyone to Christ if we repell them; in fact, we do the opposite! I wonder how many people who would so quickly admonish and ostracize the homosexual would admonish and ostracize their friend at work engaged in an illicit relationship!

(…)
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:amen: to this whole post. People with SSA aren’t that different from you and I but we treat homosexual sin as though it’s the unforgivable sin.
 
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Lilyofthevalley:
JCPhoenix what a story, that poor person. 😦
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Oh, I have some stories about Titi…but the most significant is that it was she (he) who had to accept us in order for the rest of the group to accept us.

I never condoned her work, but I understood after reading the article Alejandra Fonseca Venegas had written. It was in Spanish and while I was there I translated it to English and edited it for her with her (name removed by moderator)ut…and it was in this time period that Titi was murdered.

I always found it so ironic that she ran away to escape drowning and still died in the same way…at the hands of another who did not recognize her dignity as a child of God.

I have had many gay friends since and I have loved them all. Unfortunately, for awhile I condoned their lifestyle because I didn’t know how to love them and admonish them at the same time.

I was confused like so many others; I believed that in order to show my love for them I had to accept not only them but the actions they took. It isn’t PC to tell someone you disagree with the choices they make in life.

We face a challenge in our society; our secualrist society worships relativism and “tolarance” by their twisted definition and expects us all to abide by their rule. So there are so many that do disagree with what they see going on around them but they are not learning how to tell someone, “I love you AND I disagree with your choices.”

But we are called to love. Read Corinthians 13…"…faith, hope and love…and the greatest of these [gifts of the Holy Spirit] is love."

Sometimes the best we can do is just be there to listen, not to speak. We can live our lives as an example. For myself as a single, that means that I live my faith, I speak of it every opportunity I am given, and I live it out. So I don’t sleep around, I don’t look to “hook up.”, and I try to show them my joy in the Lord, not my frustrations.

((This last is very hard for me because I tend to wear my heart on my sleeve.))
 
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