Thursday, January 24, 2013

Theology of the Body, Talk #9: Moving from homosexual attraction(s) to heterosexual attraction(s): What is “the redemption of the Body”? What is the “transformation of our desires”? As well as a few words about the sadness of 40 years of legalized abortion in our country from a Theology of the Body perspective.


Is it possible for a person to change from a homosexual orientation and attraction, to a heterosexual orientation?  If someone has been sexually attracted to the same sex for many years, how could it be possible for them to become attracted to the opposite sex once again?  Is that possible at all?  What if someone has struggled with a same-sex attraction for as long as they can remember?  What if they were “born with this condition”?  Is it fair for the Church, and Jesus Christ Himself, to require that marriage is reserved for one man and one woman (Gen. 2:23-25; Mt. 19) despite those who long for sexual embrace with persons of the same sex?
 
In short, the answer is yes.  Yes, it is possible to change from a homosexual orientation and attraction to a heterosexual orientation – due to the reality of what St. Paul referred to as “the redemption of the body” (Rm 8:23).  Last week I attempted to articulate Catholic teaching regarding whether or not homosexuality is a sin.  We can recall the Church does not teach that a “same-sex attraction” is morally wrong or sinful; but that homosexual “acts” are intrinsically disordered and morally wrong (Catechism of the Catholic Church, #2357).  In other words, to experience a same-sex attraction is not sinful.  But, to engage in sexual conduct or action outside of marriage, anytime, is sinful.  Since God created marriage to exist between one man and one woman, then Christ elevated it to the dignity of a Sacrament, this potentially condemns those with same-sex attraction to a life of singleness, or coerced celibacy.  “But, what if I don’t want to be celibate?”  I concluded that blog with a brief story of some holy friends of mine who continue to struggle with same-sex attraction but have embraced the virtue of chastity, and a life of singleness.  I can now continue this conversation by a very serious, and unmistakably insufficient, discussion of “the redemption of the body” (Rm. 8:23) and the redemption of our sexual desires. 

If God has the power, and the desire, to raise us from the dead, then he can literally change us in miraculous ways.  As Christians we follow Christ, and we are very interested in His closest followers – such as St. Paul.  Christ has all the divinity and the authority, of course, but it’s really cool to see how Christ changed St. Paul.  He was a persecutor of Christians and murdered several of them.  Paul encountered Christ in a transformative vision, then changed his heart to become the greatest Christian missionary of all time, and then to die a martyr (see Acts 9:1-20 for more of that amazing story).  What caused this drastic change of heart?  Christ has the power to change our hearts and He seems to want this change in us. 

Recently, I met an inspiring and holy man who leads a Christian ministry to help those with same-sex attraction.  He shared his story with a group of us about his amazingly miraculous life.  He suffered from same-sex attraction (and still does from time-to-time) when he was a young man.  At the age of 20 or 21 he contracted HIV, the virus that causes AIDS, from this lifestyle.  Then, in time, Christ transformed his same-sex attractions through a series of very powerful encounters.  Today, he is married to a wonderful woman and has a son.  When I asked him “what caused the change of heart,” he explained to me that it was God’s amazing plan for man and womanhood found in the Bible and the sacramentality of marriage.  “I delved into the story and learned that men and women are created to image God – and that a man and woman who are married image the Divine in a communion of persons, in a unique and special way.  What changed my heart,” he shared, “was the Theology of the Body.”  He then went on to share with the group he was speaking with, not to “stop short,” of being changed from a homosexual orientation to a heterosexual orientation if homosexuality is your struggle.  “I know that Christ is the God who changes hearts and I didn't want to be condemned to a life of singleness or coerced celibacy.  I knew deep in my heart I was called to something more.  With God’s help my desires were purified, reordered, transformed and redeemed.”  If you’d like to read more about Dean Greer’s amazing story please check out his web site at:  www.desertstream.org  Dean is the founder of “Desert Stream Ministries,” which is a Christian based ministry to help impart the healing power and reality of Christ on those who are sexually broken, with special emphasis on those who suffer from same-sex attraction.   

Also, as you may or may not know, one of the ministries in the Catholic Church regarding this process of healing through the redemption of the body and the transformation of desires is:  COURAGE.  Check out their web site at:  http://couragerc.net/   COURAGE is a Catholic Apostolate that exists to provide help, healing and support to those who suffer from same-sex attraction, yet want what God calls them toward. 

To conclude this portion of the blog, I’d like to site a text from Christopher West in his book:  At the Heart of the Gospel.  Reclaiming the Body for the New Evangelization.  Image Books, 2012.  He describes this “redemption of the body” and the “transformation of our desires” in the following way:

“As experience attests, the battle with lust remains fierce.  For the man bound by lust, ‘Turn away your eyes from a shapely woman,’ (Sir 9:8) retains all its wisdom. . . But, Christ invites us ‘to a pure way of looking at others, capable of respecting the spousal meaning of the body’ said Pope John Paul II.”  (The Pope said this statement regarding Jesus’ teaching of the Sermon on the Mount which reads:  “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery.’  But I say to you, everyone who looks a at a woman with lust has already committed adultery with her in his heart” (Mt. 5:27-31).).  “This means that, although we all experience lust, we can also experience a real transformation of our hearts through the salvation Christ offers us… Christ did not die on a cross and rise from the dead merely to give us coping mechanisms for sin (we already had plenty of those without a savior).  Christ died and rose again to set us free from sin.  To the degree that a man’s heart has been transformed and vivified by the Spirit of the Lord, he need not merely “cope” with lust by turning his eyes away from a woman – or a man, or visa verse.  Through continual death and resurrection, our desires take on “new form.”  The more we grow in mastery of ourselves, the more we experience a proper way to see (Theology of the Body 63:6).  We become empowered to look at others purely – and not only to “look” but to see others purely, to see the true beauty of the person revealed, not despite the body, but in and through the body.” 

We will have to return to this point regarding the “redemption of the body” time and time again so as to form a rigorous, yet divinely inspired, pathway of transformation whether you suffer from same-sex attraction or not. . . We are all affected by lust and the disordered desires of lust.  We are all in need of healing, purification and the transformation of our desires.

A few words about the sadness of 40 years of legalized abortion in our country from a Theology of the Body perspective

What can I say to you at this time after 40 years of legalized abortion in the United States, since the year 1973?  I've personally been involved in the Pro-Life movement since 1999 and made 10 pilgrimages to Washington D.C. to protest, pilgrimage and pray on January 22, which is the anniversary of Roe vs. Wade; spent countless hours of prayer in front of abortion clinics; met numerous women and men who've suffered from abortion only to assure me it was a grave mistake they've regretted for the rest of their life.  This holocaust of abortion in our country trumps any holocaust I've ever known:  the Rwandan Genocide of 1994 which killed one million people in three months because of tribal unrest; the Nazi Holocaust which lasted over a period of approximately 8-9 years killing an estimated 6-8 million people who were mostly Jewish; even the situation of the Aztec people native to the present day country of Mexico who performed human sacrifice to their gods – once killing 80,000 people in one day.  None of these aforementioned tragedies get close to the horror of today’s holocaust of abortion in our country.  An estimated 55 million babies have suffered legal abortions since 1973 in the United States of America.

The entire point of the Christian message is, as I said above, redemption.  Truth, freedom, redemption, salvation – all of these things necessarily go together.  We humans, the glorious crown of God’s creation (in addition to the angels), are just that – creatures that are created for a divine purpose.  We are not capable of defining what is “good” and what is “evil.”  We can only choose what is “good” and what is “evil,” after we ascent, by way of reason and faith, to the good which God has set before us in Christ. 

On this 40th anniversary week of the legal holocaust of abortion in our country, I tremble before God at how it is possible for Americans to have decided collectively, by way of that Supreme Court decision, to choose this type of evil . . . and then to have allowed that type of decision to remain "lawful" for the past forty years.  I am very afraid that from now until the Second Coming of Christ . . . none of us are safe in this climate.       

 

  

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