Response to a Comment

Commenting on "Nothing is good ...", Jen (www.happyorright.blogspot.com) writes:

I was raised Catholic and I have so many inner conflicts. I do believe in God - a higher being - strongly. But I can't be part of a faith that is against homosexuals. I am not gay, but I just can't comprehend a God that would create a gay person and then banish their acts? Can you? My mom is a ccd teacher and she agrees with me - which only amplifies the contradiction of this faith. What is your opinion?

First, thanks for reading and responding. Second, though I am studying to be a priest, I am not one. Nor am I an expert in ... well ... anything. What I write here is what I think is right and I believe that should correspond to what the Church teaches because I believe that the Church was created by Jesus, who is God.

That said. The Church is not against homosexuals. The Church is against that acts homosexuality involves. Despite what our culture currently holds as dogma, there is such a thing as absolute truth because there is a God who is Truth itself. It follows then, that some acts are wrong because they are against God's will. The Church teaches that homosexual acts are among those.

There are tons of arguments as to where homosexuality comes from ... whether it is genetic or learned, etc. I do not know enough about that to comment on it, but I do believe that God loves everyone regardless of what they do. So God does love gay people, but I do not believe that He created them to be gay. That could possibly get a loud response depending on who reads this ...

Anyway, I guess it comes down to this: God is personal. He is more than just a "higher power" or a distant being that turns on the Universe and lets it run. God entered history in the person of Jesus and saved us. He founded a Church to continue His work until the end of time. The only Church that can claim a direct descent from Jesus, through the Apostles, all the way to Pope Benedict is the Catholic Church.

When that Church teaches something, I believe it because I believe in Jesus.

The Church does not hate homosexuals, but it does not condone their actions. It wants them, just like every other human on the planet, to share in the love of God. That is it's purpose - help people know God so that they can spend eternity with Him.

This may not be totally to the point, but that's what comes to my mind. I believe that there is something wrong with homosexuality, but I do not think gay people are any less human or less loved by God. Christians are told to love everyone. Though all of this fall short of that, it does not diminish the reality that God loves us all and we have to conform to his Truth to love Him back. It's a hard task, but it is really the only one we have.

God Bless, you'll be in my prayers.

Recommended reading: Mere Christianity by C.S. Lewis