Would You Make a Quadriplegic a Marine? Keep Same-Sex Attracted Men Out of the Seminary!

Michael Voris recently got lambasted by many for calling out a seminary where the men were told to wear bathrobes to avoid being "an occasion of sin" for seminarians who might be "same-sex attracted." He rightly asked why these men are allowed to continue as seminarians. Will their attraction to other seminarians and, perhaps, adolescent boys in the parishes they serve disappear with ordinatin? Hardly! They simply do not belong in the seminary.

I admit that when I read the seminary priest's letter about the "offensive" Vortex I was temporarily hoodwinked by his overwhelming verbiage. But, after reflecting further, I realized Voris was right on! There is no place in the seminary for men who are attracted to other men. It is uncharitable to allow them to continue in an environment of constant temptation and it is unfair to the men with the normal urges of men who would make good husbands and fathers. They actually make a heroic sacrifice, giving up wives and families to dedicate themselves to their bride, Holy Mother Church. The same-sex attracted give up nothing and, instead, find a haven where they can receive all the respect and admiration they crave while they engage in retreats, vacations, and living situations that may very well be significant occasions of sin.

That is not to say that those who are same-sex attracted do not deserve our compassion and consideration. They certainly have struggles like all of us sinners. But they should NEVER be allowed in the seminaries and they should NEVER be ordained. We've seen the price paid by parishes and families when this common-sense rule is ignored. They are not fit for the priesthood any more than a quadriplegic is fit to be a Marine or a fireman. It doesn't mean he isn't a valuable person loved by God and deserving of respect. But he doesn't have what it takes to fulfill the mission!

Terry Nelson at Abbey Roads has a great post on this. Please read it!

A Profound Testimony from Daniel Mattson

St. Agnes, virgin & martyr

The Strange Notion of "Gay Celibacy"

Now here is a same-sex attracted man who has his head on straight. He recognizes himself as a man. He realizes that homosexuality is NOT his identity. Several paragraphs from his article struck me as particularly profound:

What points us to our true sexual identity is the beautiful differentiation of the body. It is for this reason that I am grateful for the wise words written by then Cardinal Ratzinger in 1986, when he said that “today, the Church provides a badly needed context for the care of the human person when she refuses to consider the person as a ‘heterosexual’ or a ‘homosexual’ and insists that every person has a fundamental Identity: the creature of God, and by grace, his child and heir to eternal life.”...

The notion of “gay celibacy” is an idea stemming from an impoverished and confused view of what chastity is all about. Chastity isn’t the same thing as sexual continence, nor is it marked by celibacy. It is about living in accordance with the truth of things, and how God made us as sexual creatures. It is about lives lived with the right relationship with reality, where we view our sexuality through the “inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being.” My body is a more reliable compass than my feelings are, and it always points to my true sexual identity. As my dad wisely told me when I was a child, “feelings are important, but they don’t always tell us the truth.”

Mattson has a strong sense of what the virtue of chastity really is. Here's a quote worth memorizing, "Above all else, chastity is about the real nature of things." Everyone on the planet is called to live a chaste life, regardless of our feelings, inclinations, or state in life; so Mattson's article isn't just for those afflicted with the cross of same-sex attraction. I recommend it to everyone.

Should Therapy be about Politically Correct Agendas?

...Or should individuals be able to make their own decisions about whether they want to try to diminish their same-sex attraction? Reparative therapy has helped many people. How dare legislators and courts deny those with same-sex attraction the freedom to choose? Remember those famous words? How come the only choices liberals are willing to allow are choices to kill others or yourself?

Watch the video and visit voices-of-change.org.The stories are truly inspiring and filled with hope. Pray for those afflicted with SSA. Many have been greatly sinned against. When you read and listen to their stories of sexual abuse, some from pre-school days, it breaks your heart. Remember little Jacinta of Fatima whose tender heart reached out to "poor sinners." And think of Jesus on the cross saying, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do."

David Pickup "Reparative Therapy Saved My Life" from NARTH on Vimeo.