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| Ottilie Roederstein, Mary Magdalene at the Foot of the Cross: early-20th Century. |
“…as Catholic theology clearly states, to give oneself out of love for the Kingdom of heaven to Jesus alone and, through Jesus, to all men, is a love more sublime than married love, even though marriage is a sacrament and indeed sacramentum magnum… to live chastity…is a virtue for everyone. It calls on everyone to struggle, to be delicate, sensitive and strong. It calls for a degree of refinement which can only be fully appreciated when we come close to the loving Heart of Christ on the Cross.” ~ St Josemaria Escriva
Oftentimes, those who have the Cross of same-sex attraction harbor a sense of impending nihilism; for, according to the teachings of Our Lord, handed down through His Church, we can never experience the same physical and emotional fulfillment enjoyed by heterosexual couples. In many, this fact becomes burdensome and personally and psychologically tragic: a sort of acquiesce to the rule, but a forever longing towards a human relationship that is impossibility. In many ways, it’s a white-knuckle approach to gay chastity. When, in reality, those with this wound have been truly called to a very high state of intimacy with Our Lord. And, as “The Catechism of the Catholic Church” states: reach nothing less than “Christian perfection;” in others words, the makings of a Saint. (CCC #2359) And, this perfection can only be achieved by individual acceptance of the Cross; at the Cross: stood the two greatest Saints of The New Testament, besides our Blessed Mother, St. John the Beloved and St. Mary Magdalene. Of John, Escriva wrote: “The spotless purity of John's whole life makes him strong before the Cross. The other apostles fly from Golgotha: he, with the Mother of Christ, remains.” Then, of Mary, he said: “How generous he is! If the many sins of Mary Magdalen were forgiven because she loved greatly, many more have been forgiven me.” For, at the Cross, there is a place set aside in favor of the pure and the virginal and the reformed sinner who embraces chastity.