Recently, a Japanese bishops’ report for the next session of the Synod for the Family in October says: “Even though the Church cannot recognize same-sex marriages, there is no way that we can assume that a sexual orientation not chosen by someone is cause for their rejection by God.” Maybe I didn’t choose to be homosexual: I certainly didn’t choose, when I was a child, to be abused and neglected; later, I didn’t chose to feel alienated from men and my peers; and, I didn’t choose for those same schoolyard bullies to constantly pester me. In fact, partly, as a result of a culture just beginning to fully embrace and then celebrate the gay sexual revolution, and because the Catholic parochial school system of the 1970s and 80s decided to solely emphasize the Church’s stance on social justice, while wholly ignoring the modern moral dilemma, I truly believed that the gay world was the only place I belonged. In a sense, an utter failure of catechesis took away my choices. The silence of the Church created an absence of the Truth, and, even though gay culture offered just the world and a lie – at least it was something. At that point, there was no choice – as nothing had been offered to counter the progressively deafening call to be gay. Now, blessedly on account of the great works of Pope John Paul II and Pope Benedict XVI, there is no longer ambivalence for those willing to simply look inside “The Catechism of the Catholic Church.” And, although the term “disordered” is offensive to some – it is exactly what the questioning gay man and woman seek out. For, it has been my experience, that only those who are in the midst of a crisis actively attempt to leave the homosexual lifestyle; at these times, what they do not need are leaders who have become pastorally paranoid to the point of inertia; they do not need calculated polemics and little assurances that health and happiness, even without change, are still a possibility – even if it’s a remote one. Countless homosexual men and women are trapped within an existence that perpetually promises happiness, but only delivers despair, desperation, and disease. But, there is always hope; and, that hope rests in the Truth. Even as St. John the Evangelist could not hide his joy: “I was exceedingly glad when the brethren came and gave testimony to the truth in thee, even as thou walkest in the truth. I have no greater grace than this, to hear that my children walk in truth.” (3 John 1:3-4) We are also your children, and we deserve the Truth.
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