Why Would A Guy Want To Marry A Guy?

In 1959, Tony Curtis and Jack Lemmon starred in a movie entitled, "Some Like It Hot", about two musicians in the 1920's who witness the St. Valentine Day's Massacre in Chicago and have to run for their lives from the Mob.  They decide to pretend they are women in an all-girl's band, with the idea that no one would like for them in an all-girl's band.  A very rich man becomes interested in Jack Lemmon's character, thinking he is a woman.  Jack Lemmon does all he can to discourage the rich playboy without actually telling him he is a man, not a woman, but without success.  The playboy proposes marriage.  Below is the scene where Jack Lemmon tells Tony Curtis he is engaged:

Tony Curtis's question, "Why would a guy want to marry a guy?"  was considered ludicrous and funny in 1959.  How our society has changed in 50 years. 

As I have previously posted here, I believe that militant homosexuals are the biggest threat the Catholic Church faces when it come to persecution.  They know that the Catholic Church is their enemy because the Church will never accept homosexuality as an accepted lifestyle. Every other organization and church is slowly giving into their agenda, little by little, starting by no longer labeling homosexuality as a deviant and sinful lifestyle.   Once that hurdle is overcome, it is only a matter of time before homosexuality is considered just another lifestyle choice, and anyone who disagrees with this is labeled a bigot and homophobe and guilty of a hate crime.

Acceptance of homosexuality is following the same path of acceptance as that of artificial birth control in the early 20th Century.  Protestant religions at one time were as much against artificial birth control as Catholics still are.  But then came the  Seventh Lambeth Conference in 1930  when the Anglican Communion  issued the first statement permitting birth control "when there is a clearly felt moral obligation to limit or avoid parenthood and where there is a morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence."  How there can ever be a "morally sound reason for avoiding complete abstinence" is beyond my understanding.  Be that as it is, this was the true beginning of the sexual revolution. The primary purpose of sex was no longer viewed as procreation but as just a pleasurable experience.  By separating sex from procreation, the door was opened to every kind of perversion possible.  And that is exactly what we have seen in our world.  Acceptance of birth control has led to almost every evil we see around us, and that includes acceptance of homosexual sex.  Birth control also leads automatically to abortion, the ultimate "birth control."  But that is for another discussion.

1997 Time Magazaine Cover showing
Ellen DeGeneres "out of the closet"

As little as 20 years ago, homosexuals were still not accepted in general society.  The real breakthrough came when a popular comedienne, Ellen DeGeneres, "came out" on her television show and in real life as a lesbian.  She was and is a very likable person.  The public felt a little queasy about it, but they liked her and so they felt to reject her because of a deviant lifestyle just wasn't fair.  And we shouldn't reject her personally.  But that doesn't mean we should accept her sinful lifestyle as normal.  By accepting her as a lesbian, we are actually helping to condemn her to hell.  After proclaiming to the world that she was a lesbian, the MSM then followed her in her relationships with other women just as though it was as normal as following the relationships of heterosexual couples. 

It was this act that broke down the barriers in television and throughout mainstream society.  Now almost every TV show has a "gay" character, and we are to accept them as just as another person and ignore the fact that we are accepting a sinful and deviant lifestyle.   We are to think nothing of it whenever anyone proudly declares that they are homosexual.  In fact, we are not to be just tolerant, but we must be approving and supportive of them.  Anything less than that is considered hateful and bigoted. 

Mark Andrew, left, and Bishop Gene Robinson during
their private civil union ceremony

In 2003, the Episcopal Church elected its first openly homosexual bishop, Gene Robinson.  He was unabashedly homosexual, living with his partner.  He and his partner were married in June 2008.  Robinson's comment was "I always wanted to be a June bride."  A friend of mine, who is a member of the Episcopal church, was horrified a year ago when she found out that her minister married his partner here in New York when it became legal, and he proudly announced his "marriage" at a church service.  The minister's partner was his assistant of many years. 

Just as the Episcopal/Anglican church led the way in the acceptance of birth control in the 20th Century, they are leading the way to acceptance of homosexuality in the 21st Century.  And they have now become the first major church to say they will bless same sex "marriages."   The United Church of Christ, which has a little over one million members, was the first church to accept same sex unions in 2005.  The door has been swung wide open, and the dominoes will fall as other churches follow suit.

Below is an article from msnbc.com regarding the Episcopal Church's recognition of same sex marriage. 

Episcopal Church becomes biggest US church to bless gay unions

By Becky Bratu, msnbc.com

The U.S. Episcopal Church became the biggest church in the United States to approve a provisional rite for blessing gay unions after its House of Deputies gave its final approval Tuesday.

The resolution passed with 78 percent approval in the lay order and 76 percent in the clergy order. The House of Deputies is made up of both clergy and lay people.

In the lay order, 86 deputations voted in favor, 19 against; five were divided. In the clergy order, 85 deputations voted in favor, 22 opposed the resolution and four were divided.

The proposed blessing liturgy was initially approved by the Church's House of Bishops Monday during the 77th General Convention in Indianapolis, with 111 votes in favor to 41 opposed and three abstentions.

Deputies of opposite views spoke in alternate succession Tuesday afternoon, with those against the proposal urging more time to consider a decision of such magnitude. [Did anyone think to bring up the teaching of Almighty God on this subject?  I guess that just doesn't enter into the question.]
The Rev. Sharon Lewis, alternate deputy of the Diocese of Southwest Florida, said the liturgy is more than a “pastoral provision.”

"Let us move together in the heart of Christ, not turn this great big old church that I love so much on a dime,” Lewis said.  [At least Jesus Christ got some mention.] 

Speaking in favor of the blessings, Deputy Jenna Guy from Iowa said the resolution is important to the younger generation of Episcopalians, adding that passing the resolution would bring more people into the Church.  [The Episcopal/Anglican church is imploding, losing people at a rapid rate, many of them becoming Catholics.  They actually think that by becoming more secular and less obedient to God than they already are that this will help their church grow?  We are watching them dig their own grave.]

"It’s always with great pride that I tell [people] of the inclusive nature of this Church,” Guy said. [I guess they don't consider God to be very "inclusive."  I Cor 6:9 - "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals."]

A deputy from Alaska added, "There is never anything wrong with celebrating love.”  [This shows the exact problem with protestantism.  They have no authority but their own. They make up their own rules as they go along, including defining "love."] 

The new Episcopal same-sex liturgy is called "The Witnessing and Blessing of a Lifelong Covenant."

In the proposed rite, each person would make a vow to the other, exchange rings and be declared "bound to one another in a holy covenant, as long as they both shall live." The liturgy is expected to go into effect for provisional use starting the first week of Advent -- beginning on Dec. 2, 2012 -- and will undergo a review process before the next General Convention in 2015. Congregations and clergy wishing to use the liturgy would need the permission of their bishops. [How interesting that they choose the season of Advent - which is the preparation of our Lord's first coming to earth - in which to implement this anti-Christian practice.]

In states that currently allow same-sex civil marriage, such as Massachusetts and New York, Episcopalians may already bless same-sex marriages, but there is no formal church-wide liturgy. Commitment ceremonies for gay couples are allowed elsewhere in the church at the discretion of the local bishop.

The Episcopal Church is an independent U.S.-based church affiliated with the worldwide Anglican Communion. The church has about 2 million members, most in the United States.

It is not the only major U.S. denomination considering same-sex marriage issues.

The United Church of Christ, a mainline Protestant denomination with about 1 million members voted in 2005 to support full civil and religious marriage equality for same-sex couples.

The U.S. Presbyterian Church on Friday narrowly rejected a proposal for a constitutional change that would redefine marriage as a union between "two people" rather than between a woman and a man. The church, with around 2 million members, currently allows ministers to bless gay unions but prohibits them from solemnizing gay civil marriages.

There is one institution in the world that will never accept homosexuality as right and good, and that is the Catholic Church.  That is not to say that there are not elements within the Church that would like to see Catholics join up with the rest of the world in going against God's law, as can be seen in the picture at left.  But the Magesterium of the church will always stand strong.  As a result, faithful Catholics can expect to suffer terrible persecution for standing up for what is right.  This is something we really need to pray about and ask for God's grace to do what is right while the rest of the world follows Satan in his deceptions. 

Our world has never been more anti-Christian than it is right now, and more specifically, anti-Catholic, as we see so many of the Protestant churches going along with the evil agenda in the world.  When I was a kid in the 60's and 70's, it was cool to be "anti-establishment."  Well, if you are a faithful Catholic in these present evil times, you will be anti-establishment, and no one will think you are cool.  We all may pay a heavy price for following the Church, but it is something we must be willing to do.  This is the cross we have been given to bear at this time.  And as I have posted before, we must never allow ourselves to hate those who persecute us.  As our Saviour told us in the Sermon on the Mount, "Love your enemies and pray for those who persecute you."

Summorum Pontificum Five Years Later

Let's-All-Join-In-and-Use-Our-Own-Baked-Bread Mass

In December 1969, a new Mass was introduced to the Catholic Church by Pope Paul VI.  This was the first time in 1500 years that this happened in the Catholic church  Up to that time, the Church had basically celebrated the same Mass, now known as the Traditional Latin Mass, from the time of Pope St. Gregory the Great in the 6th Century.  This Mass produced probably millions of saints down through the centuries.  It had organically evolved over time, but was for the most part the same Mass celebrated  through the ages. 

Dancing-Girls Mass

But after Vatican II, some in the church thought the Mass had to be made more "relevant" to the people, that the lay people needed a more "active role" in the Mass.   Disregarding even the teachings of Vatican II, Latin was thrown out.  Gregorian chant became a thing of the past as lay people actually invaded the Sanctuary and guitars, drums and dancing became part of the New Mass.  People turned away from the altar and turned to each other.  The emphasis of the Mass was no longer one of Sacrifice but had become a "communal celebration." 

Gymnasium Mass

What was the result?  People left the church in droves.  Weekly attendance went from 75% of Catholics to less than 20% in many places in the US, and down into single digits in Europe and other parts of the world.  The number of priests, nuns and other religious dropped drastically.  Catholics began to pick and choose what they wanted to believe, e.g., artificial contraception, abortion and homosexuality.  The majority of Catholics even stopped believing in the Real Presence of Jesus Christ in the Eucharist.  Participation in the Sacraments, especially the Sacrament of confession, became a thing of the past (although ironically enough, for those who did attend Mass, everyone received Communion - in the hand, of course).  Prior to this time, most churches had daily confession before Mass, and they all had weekly confession, with a couple of hours Saturday afternoon, again on Saturday night for a couple of hours, and once more before Sunday Mass.  The lines were long and continuing.

Confession Line - a rare sight in the Catholic Church today

Since the introduction of the New Mass, however, long lines to the confessional are rarely seen in the Catholic Church.  According to a recent survey done by Georgetown University:

Three-quarters of Catholics report that they never participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation or that they do so less than once a year.

How often, if ever, do you participate in the Sacrament of Reconciliation or Confession?

                                                2005                            2008
Once a month or more                 2%                                2%
Several times a year                   10                                 12
Once a year                                14                                 12
Less than once a year                 32                                 30
Never                                           42                                 45

About one in eight Catholics (12 percent), participate in Reconciliation once a year and an identical proportion do so several times a year. Two percent report that they participate in Reconciliation at least once a month.

Many people in the Church, at least among traditional Catholics, believe the root of the Church's problem is Vatican II.  Although there were many problems at Vatican II, and there is no doubt there were subversive elements who attended Vatican II, I don't believe this council alone can be blamed for the problems in the Catholic Church.  I remember the time between Vatican II and the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass.  The Church was still strong and Mass attendance and participation in the sacraments was high.  It was only after the introduction of the Novus Ordo Mass that we began to truly see the smoke of Satan, as described by Pope Paul VI, become apparent in the Church.  I think that while it is true that the Novus Ordo Mass would not have been created without Vatican II, the Novus Ordo Mass is apart and separate and, I believe, at the real root of the church's problems.  The Mass, which is the re-presentation of the saving Sacrifice of Jesus Christ, is the salvation of the church and the world, and the destruction, or attempted destruction, of the Mass is at the heart of the problems of both the church and the entire world.

Archbishop Lefebvre

In 1969, when the New Mass was instituted, it was close to impossible to find the Traditional Latin Mass anywhere.  But there was a good number of people who threw all their effort into saving the Traditional Latin Mass against seemingly insurmountable odds, the Society of St. Pius X being at the forefront.  Many feel that Archbishop Marcel Lefebvre, the founder of the SSPX,  is the one individual who can truly be said to have saved the Mass.  By founding the society, which says only the Traditional Latin Mass, he ensured that the Mass would never disappear.

In 1984, 15 years after the institution of the Novus Ordo Mass, Blessed John Paul II granted permission for use of the 1962 Roman Missal.  There continued to be widespread and strong opposition to use of the 1962 Missal, and in 1988,  with the added pressure from the then schismatic SSPX, Pope John Paul II issued a moto propio stating the following:

To all those Catholic faithful who feel attached to some previous liturgical and disciplinary forms of the Latin tradition I wish to manifest my will to facilitate their ecclesial communion by means of the necessary measures to guarantee respect for their rightful aspirations. In this matter I ask for the support of the bishops and of all those engaged in the pastoral ministry in the Church. 

Despite this Moto Propio, many bishops still resisted the wishes of those who asked for the TLM, and on July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict XVI, despite much opposition, issued his Summorum Pontificum in which he stated that the TLM could be said without restriction and without need of the local bishop's permission.  The faithful would only need to say they wanted what was now known as the Extraordinary Form of the Mass, and the priests and bishops must comply with those requests.  From the Apostolic Letter issued by Pope Benedict XVI:

Art. 5. § 1 In parishes, where there is a stable group of faithful who adhere to the earlier liturgical tradition, the pastor should willingly accept their requests to celebrate the Mass according to the rite of the Roman Missal published in 1962, and ensure that the welfare of these faithful harmonises with the ordinary pastoral care of the parish, under the guidance of the bishop in accordance with canon 392, avoiding discord and favouring the unity of the whole Church.

There is still tremendous opposition to this most beautiful Mass, and as noted in the following article from catholicnews.com, many of those who love the Mass and wish to preserve it are often still fighting to implement it.  Fortunately, the Vatican is on the side of those who wish to preserve the Mass of the Ages.

For Cardinal Burke, restoring tradition is a work in progress  

 
Cardinal Burke in the chapel of his residence at the Vatican. (CNS/Paul Haring)

By Francis X. Rocca

Catholic News Service

VATICAN CITY (CNS) -- Five years after Pope Benedict XVI lifted most restrictions on celebration of the Tridentine Mass, a senior Vatican official says that much work remains to make the traditional liturgy fully accessible to the faithful, and to bring its influence to bear on the form of the Mass most Catholics attend. 

"There's no question that there remains in certain places a resistance to what the Holy Father has asked, and that's sad," says Cardinal Raymond L. Burke, prefect of the Supreme Court of the Apostolic Signature and a former archbishop of St. Louis. "It's sometimes even an expression of disagreement with the Holy Father's discipline and even an expression that this is harmful for the church."   

 With his apostolic letter "Summorum Pontificum," issued July 7, 2007, Pope Benedict allowed priests to offer the Tridentine Mass without special permission from their bishops. The decree also provided for the establishment of "personal parishes" dedicated to the traditional liturgy, which had passed out of use amid the modernizing changes that followed the Second Vatican Council of 1962-1965.

"What earlier generations held as sacred, remains sacred and great for us too, and it cannot be all of a sudden entirely forbidden or even considered harmful," the pope wrote at the time in a letter presenting his announcement to the world's bishops.  [How could a Mass that is responsible for helping to create millions of saints over 1500 years suddenly become harmful to the Church?]

Pope Benedict made it clear that he was acting in part to promote reconciliation with the disaffected traditionalists of the Society of St. Pius X, who had broken from Rome to protest some of the teachings of Vatican II and subsequent changes to the liturgy.   [God bless our wonderful Holy Father]

Last month, following three years of on-again, off-again talks, the Vatican announced that the traditionalists had been offered formal terms of reconciliation. Though the SSPX has warned of persistent "doctrinal difficulties" that could prolong negotiations, Cardinal Burke has told Catholic News Service that he believes a reunion will ultimately take place.  [From the Cardinal's lips to God's ears.  The reunion of the SSPX and the Vatican is vitally important to the restoration of the Mass.] 

But satisfying the demands of the traditionalists was not Pope Benedict's only purpose in issuing "Summorum Pontificum." The pope wrote that he acted in order to "preserve the riches which have developed in the church's faith and prayer, and to give them their proper place."

New Mass

In the same letter, the pope also affirmed that the older and newer versions of the Mass could be "mutually enriching." For Cardinal Burke, such mutual enrichment is part of the so-called "reform of the reform," the process of repairing the deficiencies of the liturgy introduced under Pope Paul VI.

Old Mass

The reform of the Roman Missal in the period following Vatican II was "too radical," and "went beyond, and in some senses perhaps not completely coherently with, what the council fathers had set forth," the cardinal says.  [My feelings exactly.  If the Church had stayed true even to the Vatican II council, we would not have the problems in the Church that we are presently facing.]

Creative Liturgy - Soon to be a thing of the past?

"There was a stripping away, a changing of the form of the rite that in my judgment was too much," he says. "You can't take a living reality, the worship of God as God has desired that we worship him, and tamper with it without doing violence and without in some way damaging the faith life of the people."  [Here the Cardinal is confirming that the crisis of faith in the Church can be directly linked to liturgical abuse]

The use of Latin was far from the most important loss, the cardinal says, noting that even the newer form of the Mass is still regularly celebrated in the church's universal language. 

Can we please put a stop to this kind of travesty?

Among the other elements of tradition that Cardinal Burke hopes the church eventually will restore to the Mass in its newer version are the opening prayers at the foot of the altar, which he says provide an "immediate tie-in" to the liturgy's Jewish heritage: the psalms once sung by the high priest in the temple in Jerusalem. 

Prayers at the foot of the altar

Other features of the Tridentine Mass that the cardinal would welcome in the newer liturgy include the priest softly reciting the prayers before Communion, a period of near-silence that, he explains, "draws our attention to this most sacred part of the Holy Mass"; and the closing recitation of the prologue of the Gospel of St. John, a "hymn to the redemptive incarnation" that "sets in your mind once again the great reality which you have encountered and in which you have participated." [All of the constant talking in the Novus Ordo Mass makes it almost impossible to pray.  We are at the foot of the cross during Mass, there should be silence so that we can prayerfully meditate upon that.  And why did we ever dispose of the Last Gospel, which is the first chapter of the book of John?  It completely and thoroughly explains who Jesus Christ is and His mission to this world.  It is a beautiful way to end the Mass.] 

Consecration in the Traditional Mass

 On the other hand, Cardinal Burke says, the practice of reading scriptural passages in modern languages has been a "tremendous gift" of the post-Vatican II liturgy that should be incorporated in the Tridentine Mass. [But can we stop the laity from doing the readings (especially the women) and have only servers and clergy in the Sanctuary during Mass?]  And he says that the newer version of the Mass, in which the priest typically faces the congregation, can encourage a deeper appreciation of the "transparent devotion" with which priests should celebrate both forms of the liturgy.   [Here I have to disagree with the good Cardinal.  As our Holy Father himself has said, with the priest and people facing each other, it creates a closed circle.  I think it is much more edifying and prayerful to have the priest and people both facing the altar.] 

Of course, for the two forms of the Mass to enrich each other, both must be available. But after half-century of neglect, the cardinal notes, there is a shortage of priests with any knowledge of Latin, not to mention experience with the older liturgy, a problem which he says calls for revising seminary curricula.

In the meantime, the cardinal counsels patience to traditionalists who feel "embattled" when well-meaning bishops cannot satisfy their demands quickly enough.

"It would be improper and even offensive to our Lord," he says," to have someone offering the Mass who doesn't know what he's saying or doesn't even know how to say it."  [True enough, Your Eminence, but let's be honest, that is not always the reason why the bishops try to stop the Traditional Latin Mass]

This interview with Cardinal Burke gives me great hope for the future.  I must admit that it is actually painful for me when I attend a Novus Ordo Mass.  I find it very difficult to pray and to even concentrate on the fact that this is a re-presentation of Christ's sacrifice on Calvary.  It gives me hope that the Vatican realizes the spiritual vapidness that has occurred as a result of this Mass of the 20th Century. 

The times they are a changin' (finally!)

Christian Convert Beheaded by Muslims

From a video immediately before
this Christian convert was slowly beheaded

You will not find this anywhere on the MSM because no one in the MSM cares about Christians, but in Tunisia a Christian convert was recently beheaded for no other crime than that he had converted to Christianity from Islam.  The killers made a video of it and it was run on Egyptian TV.  Egypt, as you may be aware, is now governed by the Muslim Brotherhood.  This is all part of the "Arab Spring" which, of course, is supported by the United States government.

Is it a coincidence that in almost every country supported by the United States, there is widespread persecution and killing of Christians?  Can we really put our heads in the sand and not believe that this kind of persecution is coming to our own land?  Christians here are already called bigots and homophobes.  How soon before we start to physically feel this persecution?


From answersforthefaith.com

Tunisia: Christian Convert Beheaded by Muslims

by Dr. D ~ June 8th, 2012


(Flag of Tunisia: Wikipedia)



Tunisia was the country where the ‘Arab Spring’ started last year. The Western media proclaimed it a revolution for Western-style freedom but a year later the results are far different than advertised.

Tunisia has now gone from a moderate Muslim country with a more Western style rule of law and has reverted to a radical sharia nation where converts to Christianity are now slaughtered for ‘apostasy.’  [This could not have happened without support from the West]
You will not find this referenced by the Western MSM but here is the story and a link to a gruesome video (warning: the video is worse than expected – I couldn’t view all the way through so didn’t embed it) It shows a new convert to Christianity being sentenced to death and beheaded along with a celebration in the aftermath. Here’s the story from the Middle East Forum:

A young man appears held down by masked men. His head is pulled back, with a knife to his throat. He does not struggle and appears resigned to his fate. Speaking in Arabic, the background speaker, or "narrator," chants a number of Muslim prayers and supplications, mostly condemning Christianity, which, because of the Trinity, is referred to as a polytheistic faith: "Let Allah be avenged on the polytheist apostate"; "Allah empower your religion, make it victorious against the polytheists"; "Allah, defeat the infidels at the hands of the Muslims"; "There is no god but Allah and Muhammad is his messenger."

Then, to cries of "Allahu Akbar!"—or, "God is great!"—the man holding the knife to the apostate’s throat begins to slice away, even as the victim appears calmly mouthing a prayer. It takes nearly two minutes of graphic knife-carving to sever the Christian’s head, which is then held aloft to more Islamic cries and slogans of victory.

Response: So much for the glorious hope springing forth from last year’s wonderful ‘Arab Spring.’ The Western media reporters and cameras are long gone and the people are left with a sharia government that harkens back to the Middle Ages.

Don’t forget that the present American administration supported the regime change in Tunisia, Libya, and Egypt –all of which have brought on more radical sharia adhering governments than heretofore.  [Can anyone really doubt that this was the true aim of the "Arab Spring"?]

I am very sad to have to say that my country, the United States of America, has become a very evil country.  Everywhere we go in the world there is bloodshed and war.  Every society we touch degenerates into a much worse place in which to live, and Christians, without exception, are persecuted and even murdered, as we see here.  God bless the soul of this brave young man who was willing to die for his belief in Christ.  I pray that he is safe in the arms of his Saviour now, and that he will pray for us still here on this earth who must face the growing evil tide around us every day.



"The blood of the martyrs is the seed of the church"
Tertullian

Normalizing Homosexuality

I firmly believe that the homosexual movement is going to cause the greatest persecution of the Catholic Church in America that this country has ever seen.  As I have posted in the past, there can be no doubt that same sex marriage will become a federal law.  Just this week, we are told by the Huffington Post that:  "The Justice Department filed two petitions for writs of certiorari to the Supreme Court in challenges to Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act (DOMA)."  Section 3 has to do with same sex couples receiving the same benefits as heterosexual married couples.  If this happens, then everyone must recognize same sex marriage as legitimate, as the law of the land.  It will be criminal to speak out in any way against homosexuality, and it's only a matter of time before the government will tell churches, specifically the Catholic Church, that they must marry homosexual couples or they will be closed down.  The government is already laying the groundwork for the accepted persecution of the Catholic Church in their attempts to force Catholics to support artificial birth control and sterilization.

I have posted this before, but I think it is worth posting again the quote from the Catechism of the Catholic Church concerning homosexuality:

#2357 Homosexuality refers to relations between men or between women who experience an exclusive or predominant sexual attraction toward persons of the same sex. It has taken a great variety of forms through the centuries and in different cultures. 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. They do not proceed from a genuine affective and sexual complementarity. Under no circumstances can they be approved. 

 Homosexual activists protesting outside of Holy
Name Cathedral in Chicago

In the past, all religious organizations could be counted on to speak out against homosexuality as a sin.  It wasn't that long ago - less than 30 years - when the vast majority of people agreed that homosexual acts, as the Catholic Church says, are "intrinsically disordered."  Even medical science considered homosexuality to be disordered.  The  American Psychiatric Association  declassified homosexuality as a mental disorder in 1973.  The American Psychological Association Council of Representatives followed in 1975.  Thereafter other major mental health organizations followed and it was finally declassified by the World Health Organization in 1990. The homosexual groups have been so successful in pushing their agenda that speaking out against homosexuality is equated with racism.  A large portion of society, at least elite society, labels those who speak out against homosexuality as bigots and homophobes. 

The sad fact is that those engaged in the homosexual lifestyle are condemning themselves to hell, and society is helping them in every way possible.  Homosexuality is condemned in the Bible in no uncertain terms:

Lev 18:22-23 "You shall not lie with a male as one lies with a female; it is an abomination."   

Lev 20:13 "If there is a man who lies with a male as those who lie with a woman, both of them have committed a detestable act; they shall surely be put to death."   

1 Cor 6:9 "Or do you not know that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Do not be deceived; neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor homosexuals"   

1 Tim 1:9-10 "realizing the fact that (civil) law is not made for a righteous man, but for those who are lawless and rebellious, for the ungodly and sinners, for the unholy and profane, for those who kill their fathers or mothers, for murderers and immoral men and homosexuals and kidnappers and liars and perjurers"  

Rom 1:26-27 "For this reason God gave them over to degrading passions; for their women exchanged the natural function for that which is unnatural, and in the same way also the men abandoned the natural function of the woman and burned in their desire toward one another, men with men committing indecent acts and receiving in their own persons the due penalty of their error."  

Even for those not concerned about the souls of those involved in homosexuality, they should at least be concerned about the effect of this deviant lifestyle on the physical and mental health of homosexuals.  Just a few statistics:

• One study reports 70% of homosexuals admitting to having sex only one time with over 50% of their partners.
• One study reports that the average homosexual has between 20 and 106 partners per year. The average heterosexual has 8 partners in a lifetime.
• Many homosexual sexual encounters occur while drunk, high on drugs, or in an orgy setting.
• Homosexuals account for 3-4% of all gonorrhea cases, 60% of all syphilis cases, and 17% of all hospital admissions (other than for STDs) in the United States. They make up only 1-2% of the population.
• Homosexuals live unhealthy lifestyles, and have historically accounted for the bulk of syphilis, gonorrhea, Hepatitis B, the "gay bowel syndrome" (which attacks the intestinal tract), tuberculosis and cytomegalovirus.
• 73% of psychiatrists say homosexuals are less happy than the average person, and of those psychiatrists, 70% say that the unhappiness is NOT due to social stigmatization.
• 25-33% of homosexuals and lesbians are alcoholics.
• Of homosexuals questioned in one study reports that 43% admit to 500 or more partners in a lifetime, 28% admit to 1000 or more in a lifetime, and of these people, 79% say that half of those partners are total strangers, and 70% of those sexual contacts are one night stands (or, as one homosexual admits in the film "The Castro", one minute stands). Also, it is a favorite past-time of many homosexuals to go to "cruisy areas" and have anonymous sex.
• 78% of homosexuals are affected by STDs.

• Homosexuals were responsible for spreading AIDS in the United States, and then raised up violent groups like Act Up and Ground Zero to complain about it. Even today, homosexuals account for well over 50% of the AIDS cases in the United States, which is quite a large number considering that they account for only 1-2% of the population.
• Homosexuals account for a disproportionate number of hepatitis cases: 70-80% in San Francisco, 29% in Denver, 66% in New York City, 56% in Toronto, 42% in Montreal, and 26% in Melbourne.
• 37% of homosexuals engage in sadomasochism, which accounts for many accidental deaths. In San Francisco, classes were held to teach homosexuals how to not kill their partners during sadomasochism.
• 41% of homosexuals say they have had sex with strangers in public restrooms, 60% say they have had sex with strangers in bathhouses, and 64% of these encounters have involved the use of illegal drugs.
• The median age of death of homosexuals is 42 (only 9% live past age 65). This drops to 39 if the cause of death is AIDS. The median age of death of a married heterosexual man is 75.
• The median age of death of lesbians is 45 (only 24% live past age 65). The median age of death of a married heterosexual woman is 79.
• Homosexuals are 100 times more likely to be murdered (usually by another homosexual) than the average person, 25 times more likely to commit suicide, and 19 times more likely to die in a traffic accident.
• 21% of lesbians die of murder, suicide or traffic accident, which is at a rate of 534 times higher than the number of white heterosexual females aged 25-44 who die of these things.
• Homosexuals commit more than 33% of all reported child molestations in the United States, which, assuming homosexuals make up 2% of the population, means that 1 in 20 homosexuals is a child molestor, while 1 in 490 heterosexuals is a child molestor.
• 73% of all homosexuals have had sex with boys under 19 years of age.
• Many homosexuals admit that they are pedophiles: "The love between men and boys is at the foundation of homosexuality".

A children's book promoting homosexuality
as natural and normal

Despite the above facts, our society is now pushing the homosexual lifestyle as just another "choice."  Here in New York City, they start "teaching" acceptance of homosexuality in Kindergarten, and continue through all grades.  The New York Times recently had a very interesting article about a group called Exodus International which, for years, worked in bringing people out of the homosexual lifestyle.  They have been, in effect, helping to save people from hell.  Well, now some of the leaders have begun to feel that they are just asking too much of homosexuals, that asking them to change is much more than we ask of anyone else.  We are told by our Saviour to preach the Kingdom of God, which includes bringing the message of repentance and salvation to sinners, and that includes homosexuals.  We can't turn our backs on them just because it seems difficult.

July 6, 2012 

Rift Forms in Movement as Belief in Gay ‘Cure’ Is Renounced 

By ERIK ECKHOLM

For more than three decades, Exodus International has been the leading force in the so-called ex-gay movement, which holds that homosexuals can be “cured” through Christian prayer and psychotherapy.

Exodus leaders claimed its network of ministries had helped tens of thousands rid themselves of unwanted homosexual urges. The notion that homosexuality is not inborn but a choice was seized on by conservative Christian groups who oppose legal protections for gay men and lesbians and same-sex marriage.

But the ex-gay movement has been convulsed as the leader of Exodus, in a series of public statements and a speech to the group’s annual meeting last week, renounced some of the movement’s core beliefs. Alan Chambers, 40, the president, declared that there was no cure for homosexuality and that “reparative therapy” offered false hopes to gays and could even be harmful. [It's harmful to lead people out of sin??]His statements have led to charges of heresy and a growing schism within the network.  

“For the last 37 years, Exodus has been a bright light, arguably the brightest one for those with same-sex attraction seeking an authentically Christian hope,” said Andrew Comiskey, founder and director of Desert Stream Ministries, based in Kansas City, Mo., one of 11 ministries that defected. His group left Exodus in May, Mr. Comiskey said in an e-mail, “due to leader Alan Chambers’s appeasement of practicing homosexuals who claim to be Christian” as well as his questioning of the reality of “sexual orientation change.”

In a phone interview Thursday from Orlando, Fla., where Exodus has its headquarters, Mr. Chambers amplified on the views that have stirred so much controversy. He said that virtually every “ex-gay” he has ever met still harbors homosexual cravings, himself included. Mr. Chambers, who left the gay life to marry and have two children, said that gay Christians like himself faced a lifelong spiritual struggle to avoid sin and should not be afraid to admit it. [What sin does not leave us with "cravings?" Is there an alcoholic who has stopped drinking who does not still crave alcohol, even years later? Is there an ex-drug user who does not still crave drugs? Are there former pedophiles who do not still need to fight those urges? What overeater does not fight gluttony? Homosexuality is no different than any other sin. Just because we still feel "urges", that doesn't mean we shouldn't try to overcome sin.]

He said Exodus could no longer condone reparative therapy, which blames homosexuality on emotional scars in childhood and claims to reshape the psyche. And in a theological departure that has caused the sharpest reaction from conservative pastors, Mr. Chambers said he believed that those who persist in homosexual behavior could still be saved by Christ and go to heaven. [Even as a Protestant, Mr. Chambers is going against church teaching.]

Only a few years ago, Mr. Chambers was featured in advertisements along with his wife, Leslie, saying, “Change is possible.” But now, he said in the interview, “Exodus needs to move beyond that slogan.”

“I believe that any sexual expression outside of heterosexual, monogamous marriage is sinful according to the Bible,” Mr. Chambers emphasized. “But we’ve been asking people with same-sex attractions to overcome something in a way that we don’t ask of anyone else,” he said, noting that Christians with other sins, whether heterosexual lust, pornography, pride or gluttony, do not receive the same blanket condemnations.   [They do in the Catholic church.  Anyone guilty of these sins and refusing to repent is on his way to hell just as surely as any practicing, unrepentant homosexual.]

Mr. Chambers’s comments come at a time of widening acceptance of homosexuality and denunciation of reparative therapy by professional societies that say it is based on faulty science and potentially harmful.  [Again, this is not happening in the Catholic Church, and despite opposition even within the church itself, it never will happen.]

A bill to outlaw “conversion therapy” for minors has passed the California Senate and is now before the State Assembly. Earlier this year, a prominent psychiatrist, Dr. Robert L. Spitzer, apologized for publishing what he now calls an invalid study, which said many patients had largely or totally switched their sexual orientation.  [Our Masonic society is determined to help people destroy themselves in any way they can, and homosexuality is just one more way to do it.]

Defenders of the therapy say that it can bring deep changes in sexual orientation and that the attacks are politically motivated.

David H. Pickup, a therapist in Glendale, Calif., who specializes in the treatment, said restricting it would harm people who are unhappy with their homosexuality by “making them feel that no change is possible at all.”

Mr. Pickup, an officer of the National Association for Research and Therapy of Homosexuality, composed of like-minded therapists, said reparative therapy had achieved profound changes for thousands of people, including himself. The therapy, he said, had helped him confront emotional wounds and “my homosexual feelings began to dissipate and attractions for women grew.”

Some in the ex-gay world are more scathing about Mr. Chambers.

“I think Mr. Chambers is tired of his own personal struggles, so he’s making excuses for them by making sweeping generalizations about others,” said Gregg Quinlan, a conservative lobbyist in New Jersey and president of a support group called Parents and Friends of Ex-Gays & Gays.

The PCUSA is the Presbyterian church
which now allows openly gay ministers

Exodus International, with a budget of $1.5 million provided by donors and member churches, is on a stable footing, Mr. Chambers said. He said the shifts in theology had the support of the Exodus board and had been welcomed by many of the 150 churches that are members in North America, which increasingly have homosexuals in their congregations. More opposition has come from affiliated ministries specifically devoted to sex-related therapies, with 11 quitting Exodus so far while about 70 remain. 

In another sign of change, the vice chairman of the Exodus board, Dennis Jernigan, was forced to resign in June after he supported anti-sodomy laws in Jamaica. The board pledged to fight efforts anywhere to criminalize sexual acts between consenting adults. [What hope can there be for a society that has institutionalized sin?]

Robert Gagnon, an associate professor at the Pittsburgh Theological Seminary and author of books on homosexuality and the Bible, last week issued a public call for Mr. Chambers to resign. “My greatest concern has to do with Alan’s repeated assurances to homosexually active ‘gay Christians’ that they will be with him in heaven,” he said in an e-mail.

Gay rights advocates said they were encouraged by Mr. Chambers’s recent turn but remained wary of Exodus, which they feel has caused enormous harm.

“Exodus International played the key role in planting the message that people can go from gay to straight through religion and therapy,” said Wayne Besen, director of Truth Wins Out, a group that refutes what it considers misinformation about gays and lesbians. “And the notion that one can change is the centerpiece of the religious right’s argument for denying us rights.”

Many of the local ministries in Exodus continue to attack gays and lesbians, said David Roberts, editor of the Web site Ex-Gay Watch, and they often have close ties with reparative therapists. He speculated that Mr. Chambers was trying to steer the group in a moderate direction because “they were becoming pariahs” in a society that is more accepting of gay people. [I think this is absolutely correct.  Protestants did not accept artificial birth control until the 1930's.  Because they do not have the authority of Jesus Christ and his Vicar, the Holy Father, they tend to sway with the wind in whichever way society is going.  That is exactly what is happening with homosexuality.]

Mr. Chambers said he was simply trying to restore Exodus to its original purpose when it was founded in 1976: providing spiritual support for Christians who are struggling with homosexual attraction.

He said that he was happy in his marriage, with a “love and devotion much deeper than anything I experienced in gay life,” but that he knew this was not feasible for everyone. Many Christians with homosexual urges may have to strive for lives of celibacy.

But those who fail should not be severely judged, he said, adding, “We all struggle or fall in some way.”

I completely agree that we should be kind and compassionate to those who struggle with homosexuality, as I recently posted.   But that doesn't mean we should whitewash the fact that practicing homosexuals are involved in grave sin and their eternal souls are in jeopardy.

It will not be long before expressing the point of view that homosexuality is sinful will be against the law.  It already is in Canada, and that day is coming soon to America, as more and more Americans accept homosexuality as a normal, legitimate lifestyle, despite that nagging voice inside of us that says this is completely wrong.  We have come to accept the legal killing of our children, and we will accept the complete destruction of marriage and family in the same way. 

We all know the story of boiling water and the frog.  Put a frog in boiling water and he will immediately hop out. Put the frog in cool water and slowly turn up the heat, and you will be able to cook him to death and he won't even know what is happening.  This is what we see all around us.  People are being slowly boiled to death in sin.  For those of us who can still see what is happening, we have a duty to pray deeply about this and, as our Lady of Fatima told us, offer sacrifices and reparations:

"More souls go to Hell because of the sins of the flesh than for any other reason.  Pray, pray a great deal, and make sacrifices for sinners, for many souls go to Hell because they have no-one to make sacrifices and pray for them."

St. Stephen praying for those who
stoned him to death

For the past 40 years we have seen the constant erosion of Christian values in our society and in the world in general, and the acceptance of sin as normal and natural.  Those who attempt to lead holy lives consecrated to God are looked upon as pariahs.  But we cannot let that stop us from continuing to pray for sinners and to resist the pull of the devil, who holds sway over the vast majority of humanity.  We need to pray as never before, especially with the coming persecution.  Just as our Lord prayed for those who crucified him on the cross, and just as St. Stephen, the first martyr of the Church, prayed for those who stoned him to death, so we must pray for those who persecute us. 

For those who struggle with homosexuality, you have been called to carry a very heavy cross.  But our Lord promises us that he will never give us more than we can bear:

“No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.” - 1 Corinthians 10:13

Like everyone else struggling with sin, those burdened with the sin of homosexuality cannot bear this by themselves, but as soon as you take up your cross, our Lord will be right there to help you carry it.  As he has told us, "I will never leave you, never forsake you."  (Hebrews 13:5).  The world and Satan will attempt to pull you away from Christ and away from the Cross that will save you.  Just continue to cry out for help, and you will receive the help you need.  The Catholic church has a ministry for homosexuals that you can be sure will never forsake you.  It is called Courage.  Their website can be viewed here.  As the Courage website says:  "You don't have to climb this mountain alone."