Christian and Homosexual:

The Paths of Love

Group 6
Go, Denise
shua
Lavides, Jo
,
Monterubio
Kenneth
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Tancinco, R
a
Vela, Paulin
Definition of Homosexuality
Sexually attracted to people of ones own
sex. Usually characterized by sexual
attractions between a person of the same
sex. Homosexual desire
Churchs Context on Homosexuality

Homosexuality refers to relations between men

or between women who experience an exclusive or
predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the
same sex...Its psychological genesis remains largely
unexplained. Basing itself on Sacred Scripture, which
presents homosexual acts as acts of grave depravity,
tradition has always declared that "homosexual acts are
intrinsically disordered. They are contrary to the natural

law. They close the sexual act to the gift of life. Under no
circumstances can they be approved.
 "Genesis" 19:1-11

When the two angels reached Sodom in the evening, Lot was sitting at the gate of Sodom. As soon
as Lot saw them, he stood up to greet them, and bowed to the ground, 'My lords,' he said, 'please
come down to your servant's house to stay the night and wash your feet. Then you can make an
early start on your journey.' 'No,' they said, 'we shall spend the night in the square. But he pressed
them so much that they went home with him and entered his house. He prepared a meal for them,
baking unleavened bread, and they had supper. They had not gone to bed when the house was
surrounded by the townspeople, the men of Sodom both young and old, all the people without
exception. Calling out to Lot they said, 'Where are the men who came to you tonight? Send them
out to us so that we can have intercourse with them. Lot came out to them at the door and, having
shut the door behind him, said, 'Please, brothers, do not be wicked. Look, I have two daughters who

are virgins. I am ready to send them out to you, for you to treat as you please, but do nothing to
these men since they are now under the protection of my roof. But they retorted, 'Stand back! This
fellow came here as a foreigner, and now he wants to play the judge. Now we shall treat you worse
than them.' Then they forced Lot back and moved forward to break down the door. But the men
reached out, pulled Lot back into the house with them, and shut the door. And they dazzled those
who were at the door of the house, one and all, with a blinding light, so that they could not find the
doorway.
 Scripture Interpretation
The book of Genesis gives a context for the whole issue of homosexuality.
Gods creation mirrored his goodness. He made man and woman in his own
image. The image of God the Creator can be found in the procreative
powers of the man and woman in union. Man and woman creating life
together, is a powerful symbol of Gods unity.

As humans were made male and female in Gods image and able to create
life from their union, those are two necessary aspects of marriage.

The realization of that special union was obscured by the sin of

homosexual acts as taught in the case of the men of Sodom.

The Church clearly teaches that homosexual acts are immoral. Included
under homosexual acts are genital sexual activity and erotic relational
behaviour with a person of the same sex
 Interpretation
The Catholic Church believes that the passage shows very
clearly the position in the Bible that homosexual relations are
immoral.

Another example is given by St. Paul in the New Testament:

20 ever since the creation of the world, the invisible existence

of God and his everlasting power have been clearly seen by
the mind's understanding of created things. And so these
people have no excuse:
27 why their women have exchanged natural intercourse for
unnatural practices; and the men, in a similar fashion, too,
giving up normal relations with women, are consumed with
passion for each other, men doing shameful things with men
and receiving in themselves due reward for their perversion.
28 In other words, since they would not consent to
acknowledge God, God abandoned them to their unacceptable
thoughts and indecent behaviour.
 Interpretation
"Romans" 1:20, 27-28

In the context of the confrontation of Christianity and paganism

of his time, St. Paul uses homosexual behaviour to describe how
humanity is becoming lost from Gods way. According to St. Paul,
the union of God and humans is weakened by homosexual acts.

Another in Leviticus 18:22: Do not lie with a man as one lies

with a woman; that is detestable. Lest the previous injunction be
misunderstood, Leviticus 20:13 provides a restatement, If a man
lies with a man as one lies with a woman, both of them have
done what is detestable. Detestable, used in both verses, is a
strong word that indicates divine displeasure with sin.
Understanding
Homosexuality
The number of people who discover themselves sexually
attracted to members of the same gender is substantial

Researchers estimate the number ranges between 4% - 10% of

the adult population

Sexual orientation is not a choice or a personal decision

In the words of Episcopal bishop Bennet Sims, a bestowed

identity

Not a CURSE but a GIFT

Sexual orientation is a responsibility

Fruitful life
Understanding
Homosexuality
Three indications of sexual orientation:
Persistent patterns of attraction
Enduring experiences of emotional intimacy
Continuing manifestations of devoted love

1973, the American Psychiatric Association;

1975, the American Psychological
Association removed homosexuality from
its list of mental disorders
Understanding
Homosexuality

Constitutive homosexual orientation is

seldom amenable to change

The challenge in ministry is not to turn

homosexual Christians into heterosexuals,
but to support one another in learning to
faithfully and well
 Compassion and Conversation
The conversation about homosexuality must begin in our own
communities of faith

Reminds the Catholic community that a persons sexual

orientation is a deep-seated dimension of ones personality
and (we should) recognize its relative stability.

Bishops reaffirm that sexual orientation is experienced as a

given, not as something freely chosen.

Since it is not chosen, a persons homosexual orientation

cannot be seen as sinful.

Bishops strongly encourage parents and pastors to welcome

homosexual persons into the faith community.
 Compassion and
Conversation
As more and more faith communities welcome their
homosexual members, Christians come to know one
another more deeply.

Sexuality, our lives attest, is often an occasion of grace

Despite the welcoming stance, lesbian and gay Catholics

continue to be instructed in official church documents
that-in them-erotic arousal is disordered.

Loving respect for other persons proves difficult when

we designate their sexuality as disordered.
Societys Options: Closet or
Rebel
Today Christians who are homosexual embrace many
lifestyles

Until recently in U.S. society many gays and lesbians

felth that they faced only two options: to remain hidden
in the closet or to come out in some dramatic way.

A closeted life may be safe but it is seldom joyful or

generous

Conforming to the out-law role initially provides

release from the bigotry of the surrounding culture, but
ultimately reinforces social isolation
Societys Options: Closet or
Rebel
All Christians are called to chastity
For the vast majority of Christians, gay and
straight, chastity describes the quality of
our sexual loving, not a commitment of
sexual abstinence
Bishops offer this definition: chastity
means integrating ones thoughts, feelings
and actions in the area of human sexuality
in a way that values and respects ones
own dignity and that of others
The Symbolic Life of Human Sexuality
A shift in view represents a richer appreciation of the symbolic
life of sexuality

Humans invest experience with significance

Sex has a symbolic life

Sex is part of procreation and also part of pleasure

In sexual sharing shaped by love and respect, the physical union

can become sacramental-effecting the communion it symbolizes

Maturity brings the rhythm of feasting and fasting to lives of

committed love
The Symbolic Life of Human
Sexuality
Addiction, too, is symbolic activity
Afflicted with an unbearable distress, we
sometimes turn to the brief but powerful
surge of sexual arousal-in pornography or
promiscuity-to distract us from the pain
The intent is to flee from some part of
personal experience that cannot be
embraced
With its compulsive swing between excess
and remorse, addiction performs a painfully
a parody of the rhythm of feasting and
fasting
 The Symbolic Life of Human Sexuality
Gay Christians have been instructed that
their sexual lives must be a fast without a
feast
Burdened with a sexual orientation whose
delight and attraction are deemed
essentially self-indulgent, lesbians and gay
men are counseled to live as celibates
Many Christian homosexuals testify to the
crippling and unfruitful results of following
these directives
 Conclusion
Conversation with gay and lesbian members of
our faith communities will be welcomed as a
gift in a community that knows itself as
semper reformanda always in need of reform
Christians will continue to disagree about
many questions of human sexuality
In such risky but necessary conversations, God
will show us who our family is and how we are
to love in the image of Jesus Christ
 CHURCH: Path to Holiness
As humans we are born with the desire to be
relational and want to be loved and feel connected to
something greater than ourselves.
People that have deep relationships with others are
healthier and live more fulfilled lives.
The ultimate goal as adults is to form and sustain
meaningful relationships with others.
The Catholic Church states that one does not have to
engage in sexual acts in order to experience intimate
relationships and that homosexual persons can still
live a fulfilled life with intimate but non-sexual
relationships.
 CHURCH: Path to Holiness
The Church also states that homosexual
persons are called to chastity and to use
the support of prayer and sacramental
grace to resist acting on sexual urges.
It is important to remember that the Church
believes a persons identity transcends
sexual orientation and that all people share
the right to freedom, happiness.
The Church also states that the intrinsic
dignity of each person must always be
respected in word, in action and in law.
Societys view on
Homosexuality
Christian homosexuals embrace many types
of lifestyles, some choose the spiritual
abstinence and others choose to abstain due
to circumstance more than by choice.

Homosexuals are not generally accepted in

society, they either hide and deny themselves
or go out in a dramatic maner.

Although secrecy promiced refuge, the denial

errodes ones personal integrity
 REMEMBER!
Homosexual persons are made in the image and likeness of
God.

A homosexual orientation is not in itself morally wrong as it

is not freely chosen.

All Christians are called by God to be chaste and honor the

gift of sexuality.

Being a Homosexual isnt a sin, the act of doing

homosexual acts is the sin.

Sexual behavior outside of marriage is morally wrong and a

sin.
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 Reflection Questions
Is it okay to be a homosexual?

What is the best way to handle homosexuality?

From what you have learned today, would you still

treat homosexuals the same? Why?
SOURCES:
https://sites.psu.edu/kwetzrclblog/2012/10/2
5/view-on-homosexuality-in-america/
http://www.apa.org/helpcenter/sexual-
orientation.aspx