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| Take in Avera's account of her being same-sex attracted. Go here. |
I led a
gay lifestyle for many, many years. Growing up in a very devout Catholic
household, I was an altar boy, lector, went to Mass faithfully, all of that.
But I always knew that I was different. Then as I hit 21, I thought I needed to
start living how I thought I should live: that is a gay lifestyle. It was a
choice, yes, a choice, that I made, and I lived this way for 27 years: Having same-sex relationships, having gay friends,
basically "being" gay all around.
But, around
4 years ago, I had this very strong pull, as it were, to come back to the
Church, but I resisted. I can't explain it, but that pull grew stronger and
stronger which later I attribute this to the Blessed Virgin Mary and God’s
Mercy. Eventually I realized that I needed to make amends with God and come
back to Church. I went to confession and started going to Mass again. I started
to pray just a little bit and as more time went by, I started to pray more and
more. Today, prayer, going to Mass daily, and to Eucharistic Adoration are a
huge part of my life. I have come to realize that I am not gay. I may be
same-sex attracted, but the two are completely different things. As Fr. Schmitz
said, one is an identity that you choose to be recognized by.
I have come
also to realize that it's not about me; it's about God. The more I read the
writings of the greats like St. Teresa of Avila, St John of the Cross, St
Catherine of Siena, Francisco de Osuna, Walter Hilton, Thomas a Kempis, the
more, as I said, it's about God. God is the ultimate, the supreme. In today's
day and age, it's all about me. This is the trick of the Accuser. God created
me and I owe God everything. I owe God my worship and my adoration. I owe Him
my life.
There are
certain priests, such as Fr. James Martin, SJ, and ministries like Fortunate
Families and Dignity that put everything on the person. They teach false love,
false compassion and false mercy. They teach a gospel of love and mercy and
compassion but forget the other main point: repentance. Repentance is key
first. You can't have love, mercy, and compassion without repentance of your
sins, but you have to accept your sins, too. If you don't, then there is no
mercy. It's about humility. You have to humbly approach God and with your whole
heart, you have to acknowledge your sins regardless of what they are.
This isn't
part of any of Fr. Martin's or Fortunate Family's agendas. Hidden behind a very
thin veneer, they want the Church to accept homosexuality as normal. In fact,
FF goes as far as saying in their beliefs, that no amount of therapy or prayer
can help. This tells you right there how wrong they are. They are saying that
God cannot heal the wounds of this sin. That in itself is a sin. Prayer with
faith can heal. It might not change the same-sex attraction, but it helps you
overcome the desires, the concupiscence and gives you the strength. But you
have to put God first and recognize that He is above all and you owe Him
everything. If you don't, regardless of what your sin is, you will continue in
your sin.
We are so
overwhelmed today by individual rights, etc., that even if we were taught who
God is and how much He loves us, we will tend to forget that, and then become
blinded by our own individual pride. We have to have the humility to go to God,
who loves us more than anything we can ever imagine on in this earth in this
life, who is there waiting for us to run to Him and ask for that forgiveness
and mercy. We have to turn to Him and trust Him completely with humility. We
have to give our day, our night, our lives to Him. God owes us absolutely
nothing. It's us who owe Him everything. We want God, who never changes, always
was, is, and will be the same, to bend to us and accept what we want namely the
right to sin, and God can't and won't ever do that. Until we realize it's not
about us, and it's about Him, we will be a slave to this sin or any sin.
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Other comments on this video:
I like how you said “Your feelings or experience does not define who you are” and “There is no us and them because we’re all in the same boat when it comes to the struggles of the flesh.” So true.
I am a divorced Catholic. My husband (after 30 yrs together) left me and our 4 children for another woman. Even though my pastor assured me I would most likely qualify for an annulment, I knew that really wouldn’t be honest. With tears in my eyes I picked up my cross and carried it. God has blessed me and brought me closer to Him, helping me through all the difficulties life as a single mother can bring. The sexual temptations were there, but with God’s help I remained faithful to His teachings.
Thank you for addressing this. For someone who struggles with same sex attraction every day is a battle. My desires/temptations are at bay some days and other days it hits like a freight train. Been physically chaste since 2013. Pray for me!
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Ω The comments also drew attention to groups such as Courage, which support same-sex attracted people while remaining true to the insights into our human predicament that the Church offers.
Ω From the Catechism of the Catholic Church:
Ω Leave a comment and, if you like this blog, go to my Peace and Truth newsletter on Substack, where you can subscribe for free and be notified by email when a new post is published.
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