We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
Michigan priest's book on homosexuality
FREE Catholic Classes
By Matt Abbott
Op/Ed
Catholic Online
Father Jeffrey T. Robideau, a priest of the Diocese of Lansing, Mich., has written a short 45-page book titled Homosexuality: A Look at Catholic Teaching. He has been gracious enough to allow me to print excerpts from his book, which is based on the Catechism of the Catholic Church.
First excerpt:
"Knowing that homosexuality is the desire for a perverted relationship with someone of the same sex, the Catechism states the 'psychological genesis remains largely unexplained.' We know that the problem lies in the thinking and in the heart as Scripture says in Mt 15:10. This leaves the question -Why and how does the heart come to desire homosexuality? This is the 'psychological genesis' that is unclear. There could be many explanations for the genesis of this disordered desire of the heart: Personal choice; Dominating Mother; Lack of a Father figure; Abused as a child; Peer pressure; Experimentation; Societal permissiveness; Misplaced trust in an authority figure; etc.
"Whatever the genesis, the person is still responsible for knowing the Moral Law and for correcting disordered thinking. Hunger is a natural desire we all experience. This does not explain why a person desires one food over another. The body sends the signal to eat, but not what to eat. There are many ways to satisfy hunger. We can eat chicken, beef, fish, vegetables, sweets or any number of other foods. But which one? This is where preference comes in. For what ever reason (psychological genesis) we prefer one thing over another. We may smell chocolate chip cookies fresh out of the oven, but we eat the leftover coconut cream pie. Why? Because of preference. We eat the one over the other because we like it and prefer it.
"In the same line of thinking, there are many ways to satisfy one's sexual desires. There is natural sex between man and woman, but there is also masturbation, sodomy.... There is no need to mention any more, we know what they are. Neither the genitals, nor the hormones nor any other physical aspect of the person can determine what sexual method will be used. The genitals and hormones can influence the intellect, but cannot determine what type of sexual gratification will be used. It is the intellect that decides what sexual method is going to bring pleasure and be satisfying by seeing a greater good in the one over the other. This is called preference.
"Why would a person choose and support an unnatural and perverted method that God says is an abomination (Not to mention, one we know spreads disease)? The answer -- Bad thinking, a wrong perception of truth and of the Natural Law. An intellect that desires sodomy over natural sex is disordered.
"Some have said 'I was born this way.' Some have gone so far as to say, 'God made me this way.' God cannot and will not create contrary to His Natural Law. God is a God of reason and He does nothing contrary to reason. Conclusion, God did not create homosexuality." (above paragraphs from pp. 8-9)
Second excerpt:
"Chastity is the 'successful integration of one's sexuality' and the 'inner unity of man in his bodily and spiritual being.' Chastity in our spiritual being means our sexuality stems from a love and respect for the Eternal Law of God. Chastity in our bodily being means if we are: Single, widowed or celibate, we live a life of continence; Married, we must have natural acts of sex that include: mutual respect for the dignity of each other, proper use of the sexual organs such that neither person is used, embarrassed, humiliated or made uncomfortable, and an openness to the unitive and procreative aspects in each and every act of sex. The Church teaches that a homosexual grows toward the virtue of chastity, by growing in the love of the Natural Law. Being chaste, they cease to be homosexual and return to the natural state of being heterosexual. (pp. 27-28)
"There will come a point when having done the work, having developed self-mastery, having developed continence and chastity, having destroyed the vices of sodomy and homosexuality that one will come to the realization that they no longer 'experience and exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex.' They are no longer homosexual." (p. 37)
Robideau is not happy with the recent news reports that the Vatican will admit men with the homosexual inclination if they have demonstrated a capacity to live chastely for at least three years.
Says Robideau:
"When I was in seminary as a heterosexual, I had to have all my dating questions resolved by my junior year of college, not major seminary. No one should be in major seminary if they are having sexual questions.
"Major seminary is for those who have things figured out and are mature - personally, mentally, and spiritually -- and serious about their vocation.
"The [apparent] new rule seems to suggest that homosexuals need not overcome the disordered sexual orientation so long as they do not act on it. So ... we are going to have priests who are disordered.
"These news reports say 'chaste' for three years, but as you read in my book, you see that homosexuals are not chaste by definition until they start the process of changing to the natural orientation God gave them."
Father Robideau's book can be purchased at www.getholy.com.
Contact
Matt Abbott
https://www.catholic.org
IL, US
Matt Abbott - Author,
mattcabbott@hotmail.com
Keywords
Catholic, Abbott
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >
More Catholic PRWire
Showing 1 - 50 of 4,716
A Recession Antidote
Randy Hain
Monaco & The Vatican: Monaco's Grace Kelly Exhibit to Rome--A Review of Monegasque-Holy See Diplomatic History
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
The Why of Jesus' Death: A Pauline Perspective
Jerom Paul
A Royal Betrayal: Catholic Monaco Liberalizes Abortion
Dna. Maria St.Catherine De Grace Sharpe, t.o.s.m., T.O.SS.T.
Embrace every moment as sacred time
Mary Regina Morrell
My Dad
JoMarie Grinkiewicz
Letting go is simple wisdom with divine potential
Mary Regina Morrell
Father Lombardi's Address on Catholic Media
Catholic Online
Pope's Words to Pontifical Latin American College
Catholic Online
Prelate: Genetics Needs a Conscience
Catholic Online
State Aid for Catholic Schools: Help or Hindrance?
Catholic Online
Scorsese Planning Movie on Japanese Martyrs
Catholic Online
2 Nuns Kidnapped in Kenya Set Free
Catholic Online
Holy See-Israel Negotiation Moves Forward
Catholic Online
Franchising to Evangelize
Catholic Online
Catholics Decry Anti-Christianity in Israel
Catholic Online
Pope and Gordon Brown Meet About Development Aid
Catholic Online
Pontiff Backs Latin America's Continental Mission
Catholic Online
Cardinal Warns Against Anti-Catholic Education
Catholic Online
Full Circle
Robert Gieb
Three words to a deeper faith
Paul Sposite
Relections for Lent 2009
chris anthony
Wisdom lies beyond the surface of life
Mary Regina Morrell
World Food Program Director on Lent
Catholic Online
Moral Clarity
DAN SHEA
Pope's Lenten Message for 2009
Catholic Online
A Prayer for Monaco: Remembering the Faith Legacy of Prince Rainier III & Princess Grace and Contemplating the Moral Challenges of Prince Albert II
Dna. Maria St. Catherine Sharpe
Keeping a Lid on Permissiveness
Sally Connolly
Glimpse of Me
Sarah Reinhard
The 3 stages of life
Michele Szekely
Sex and the Married Woman
Cheryl Dickow
A Catholic Woman Returns to the Church
Cheryl Dickow
Modernity & Morality
Dan Shea
Just a Minute
Sarah Reinhard
Catholic identity ... triumphant reemergence!
Hugh McNichol
Edging God Out
Paul Sposite
Burying a St. Joseph Statue
Cheryl Dickow
George Bush Speaks on Papal Visit
Catholic Online
Sometimes moving forward means moving the canoe
Mary Regina Morrell
Action Changes Things: Teaching our Kids about Community Service
Lisa Hendey
Easter... A Way of Life
Paul Spoisite
Papal initiative...peace and harmony!
Hugh McNichol
Proclaim the mysteries of the Resurrection!
Hugh McNichol
Jerusalem Patriarch's Easter Message
Catholic Online
Good Friday Sermon of Father Cantalamessa
Catholic Online
Papal Address at the End of the Way of the Cross
Catholic Online
Cardinal Zen's Meditations for Via Crucis
Catholic Online
Interview With Vatican Aide on Jewish-Catholic Relations
Catholic Online
Pope Benedict XVI On the Easter Triduum
Catholic Online
Holy Saturday...anticipation!
Hugh McNichol
We ask you, humbly: don't scroll away.
Hi readers, it seems you use Catholic Online a lot; that's great! It's a little awkward to ask, but we need your help. If you have already donated, we sincerely thank you. We're not salespeople, but we depend on donations averaging $14.76 and fewer than 1% of readers give. If you donate just $5.00, the price of your coffee, Catholic Online School could keep thriving. Thank you.Help Now >