Tuesday, January 27, 2004
A letter to a homosexual
Dear XXX,
You have asked for the Catholic position on homosexuality and the reasons behind it. The Catholic position is that "No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons" (Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons). There are many reasons why the Church is against homosexuality.
The first is the argument from the human body, which I believe to be the most common sensical argument. Looking at the human body, both male and female, we can see that there are parts or organs with certain functions and are made to be that way for a specific purpose. The eye is made to see, the nose to smell and breath, the ear to hear, and the mouth to talk and eat. And then there are the parts made for reproduction, for sex. By looking at these parts from the male and the female, one can see that they were made for each other. Man and woman, by nature, were meant to be with each other, to become "one flesh". From the human body alone, we can see that the male reproductive organ cannot properly function with another male or the female with another female. In other words, there is a reason why parts of the body are called "reproductive": they were made to reproduce. Homosexual unions makes the reproductive parts unreproductive.
The Church is also against homosexuality because God revealed it to be contrary to His will. God created man in His own Image, male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27). He created men and women to be complementary to each other, to be in communion with each other to reflect the communion between the Divine Persons and the Son with the soul. It is through the communion of man and woman, masculinity and femininity, which makes the persons reflect themselves more fully as the image and likeness of God. As Dietrich von Hildebrand said, "At any rate, for the human species in this difference represents two manifestations of the person, analogous--if this comparison be admissible-tohe various religious orders, which although they are identical in their aim, represent different ways in the imitation of Christ. These two types, man and woman, have a unique capacity for complementing each other. Their meaning for one another is something quite unique. They are made for the other in a special way, and they can, purely as spiritual persons, form a unity in which they reciprocally complement one another. Marital love--involving the gift of one's own person, whose decisive character is that the partners form a couple, an I-Thou communion, in which the whole personality of the beloved is grasped mysteriously as a unity in spite of all outer obstacles--can exist only between two types of the spiritual persons, the male and female, as only between them can this complementary character be found" (Marriage: the mystery of faithful love).
You also asked, "What if homosexuality is biological? What if it is all genetics? What if we cannot help to be a homosexual? If God made me a homosexual, why can't I fulfill my role of being one?" Assuming homosexual inclinations is a matter of genetics, homosexual acts still cannot be justified. Scripture, Tradition, and the Church has condemned it. I am sure you have read the Bible, of which Christ defined marriage as a union of a man and a woman, and St. Paul teaching the Romans and the Corinthians that homosexual acts is instrinsically disordered. Homosexual inclinations is in itself disordered, but it is not a sin to have it. What matters is how you deal with those inclinations. A person who is a porn-addict may have inclinations for pornography, but he still has to control it and ask God to give him the grace to practice chastity. Even though homosexual inclinations may be explained by genetics, homosexual acts are not. Actions are made by the will of the person, you must will to do something in order for you to do it. So you are left with two choices: your will be done or His will be done. It is your choice. God will not stop you from doing what you want to do. However, recognize one thing. Recognize that doing your will, and not His, will not bring you happiness. Every person has the desire to be happy, not just for one minute or two weeks or a couple of years, but forever. Every person has the natural desire for everlasting happiness. The only way we can attain this is to put our trust in God day by day, action by action, and to do His will day by day, action by action. It may be hard for you to accept this, but we all need to carry our crosses. Your cross may be heavier than others, but the more you take up your cross, the more you suffer with Christ, the more you will be rewarded.
As a sinner, I know that whenever I do my will, and not His, the more I will become unhappy. Doing it my way never gave me the happiness that I wanted. It is only doing His will which will. If you love God, you will not do anything contrary to His will. And sometimes, in order to love God, we must sacrifice a lot of things. We must sacrifice our totality, our entire person, to Him. Every act of love, in one way or the other, includes some sort of sacrifice, giving up our needs and our wants for the sake of the other. We are all sinners with our own flaws and failures. But the beauty of it all is that God works through us, He keeps on loving us, in spite of our flaws and failures. Have faith in God, knowing that only He can give you happiness. Have hope in God, knowing that in doing His will, you will receive the reward you deserve. And most importantly, love God, give your entire self to Him so that you will end up with Him forever, giving Himself to you and yourself to Him. That is what will give you happiness. And with you as a homosexual, it may take heroic faith, heroic hope, and heroic love. But that is exactly what we need today. We need heroism. It is through heroic faith, hope, and love which will make this culture of death become a culture of Life, a culture of Christ.
Dear XXX,
You have asked for the Catholic position on homosexuality and the reasons behind it. The Catholic position is that "No ideology can erase from the human spirit the certainty that marriage exists solely between a man and a woman, who by mutual personal gift, proper and exclusive to themselves, tend toward the communion of their persons" (Considerations Regarding Proposals to Give Legal Recognition to Unions Between Homosexual Persons). There are many reasons why the Church is against homosexuality.
The first is the argument from the human body, which I believe to be the most common sensical argument. Looking at the human body, both male and female, we can see that there are parts or organs with certain functions and are made to be that way for a specific purpose. The eye is made to see, the nose to smell and breath, the ear to hear, and the mouth to talk and eat. And then there are the parts made for reproduction, for sex. By looking at these parts from the male and the female, one can see that they were made for each other. Man and woman, by nature, were meant to be with each other, to become "one flesh". From the human body alone, we can see that the male reproductive organ cannot properly function with another male or the female with another female. In other words, there is a reason why parts of the body are called "reproductive": they were made to reproduce. Homosexual unions makes the reproductive parts unreproductive.
The Church is also against homosexuality because God revealed it to be contrary to His will. God created man in His own Image, male and female He created them (Gen. 1:27). He created men and women to be complementary to each other, to be in communion with each other to reflect the communion between the Divine Persons and the Son with the soul. It is through the communion of man and woman, masculinity and femininity, which makes the persons reflect themselves more fully as the image and likeness of God. As Dietrich von Hildebrand said, "At any rate, for the human species in this difference represents two manifestations of the person, analogous--if this comparison be admissible-tohe various religious orders, which although they are identical in their aim, represent different ways in the imitation of Christ. These two types, man and woman, have a unique capacity for complementing each other. Their meaning for one another is something quite unique. They are made for the other in a special way, and they can, purely as spiritual persons, form a unity in which they reciprocally complement one another. Marital love--involving the gift of one's own person, whose decisive character is that the partners form a couple, an I-Thou communion, in which the whole personality of the beloved is grasped mysteriously as a unity in spite of all outer obstacles--can exist only between two types of the spiritual persons, the male and female, as only between them can this complementary character be found" (Marriage: the mystery of faithful love).
You also asked, "What if homosexuality is biological? What if it is all genetics? What if we cannot help to be a homosexual? If God made me a homosexual, why can't I fulfill my role of being one?" Assuming homosexual inclinations is a matter of genetics, homosexual acts still cannot be justified. Scripture, Tradition, and the Church has condemned it. I am sure you have read the Bible, of which Christ defined marriage as a union of a man and a woman, and St. Paul teaching the Romans and the Corinthians that homosexual acts is instrinsically disordered. Homosexual inclinations is in itself disordered, but it is not a sin to have it. What matters is how you deal with those inclinations. A person who is a porn-addict may have inclinations for pornography, but he still has to control it and ask God to give him the grace to practice chastity. Even though homosexual inclinations may be explained by genetics, homosexual acts are not. Actions are made by the will of the person, you must will to do something in order for you to do it. So you are left with two choices: your will be done or His will be done. It is your choice. God will not stop you from doing what you want to do. However, recognize one thing. Recognize that doing your will, and not His, will not bring you happiness. Every person has the desire to be happy, not just for one minute or two weeks or a couple of years, but forever. Every person has the natural desire for everlasting happiness. The only way we can attain this is to put our trust in God day by day, action by action, and to do His will day by day, action by action. It may be hard for you to accept this, but we all need to carry our crosses. Your cross may be heavier than others, but the more you take up your cross, the more you suffer with Christ, the more you will be rewarded.
As a sinner, I know that whenever I do my will, and not His, the more I will become unhappy. Doing it my way never gave me the happiness that I wanted. It is only doing His will which will. If you love God, you will not do anything contrary to His will. And sometimes, in order to love God, we must sacrifice a lot of things. We must sacrifice our totality, our entire person, to Him. Every act of love, in one way or the other, includes some sort of sacrifice, giving up our needs and our wants for the sake of the other. We are all sinners with our own flaws and failures. But the beauty of it all is that God works through us, He keeps on loving us, in spite of our flaws and failures. Have faith in God, knowing that only He can give you happiness. Have hope in God, knowing that in doing His will, you will receive the reward you deserve. And most importantly, love God, give your entire self to Him so that you will end up with Him forever, giving Himself to you and yourself to Him. That is what will give you happiness. And with you as a homosexual, it may take heroic faith, heroic hope, and heroic love. But that is exactly what we need today. We need heroism. It is through heroic faith, hope, and love which will make this culture of death become a culture of Life, a culture of Christ.
