Janet E. Smith - Living the Truth in Love: Pastoral Approaches to Same Sex Attraction

LIVING THE TRUTH IN LOVE

Pastoral Approaches to
Same-Sex Attraction

Edited by
Janet E. Smith
and
Father Paul Check

IGNATIUS PRESS SAN FRANCISCO

Unless otherwise noted, Scripture quotations (except those within citations) have been taken from the Revised Standard Version of the Holy Bible, Second Catholic Edition, 2006 by the Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America.
All rights reserved.

In several chapters the authors changed the names of individuals in order to protect their privacy.

Cover art:

Christ as Good Shepherd , early Christian mosaic
Mausoleum of Galla Placidia, Ravenna, Italy
Scala / Art Resource, NY

Cover design by John Herreid

2015 by Ignatius Press, San Francisco
Finding the Water in the Desert 2015 by J. Budziszewski
All rights reserved
ISBN 978-1-62164-060-8 (PB)
978-1-68149-668-9 (E)
Library of Congress Control Number 2015940332
Printed in the United States of America

Foreword
Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Ph.D., S.T.L .

Preface: Moving Forward
Janet E. Smith, Ph.D .

Introduction
Father Paul Check, S.T.B., S.T.L .

Eros Divided: Is There Such a Thing as Healthy Homoerotic Love?
Rachel Lu, Ph.D .

Restoring Wholeness in Christ
Bob Schuchts, Ph.D .

The Healing Role of Friendship in Aelred of Rievaulxs De spiritali amicitia
Dennis J. Billy, C.Ss.R .

At the Heart of the Matter: Lived Experience in Saint John Paul IIs Integral Account of the Person
Deborah Savage, Ph.D .

Finding the Water in the Desert: The Conversational Use of Natural Law in the Context of Same-Sex Attraction
J. Budziszewski, Ph.D .

Homosexual Inclination as an Objective Disorder: Reflections of Theological Anthropology
Monsignor Livio Melina, Ph.D., S.T.L .

The Curse of the Ouroboros: Notes on Friendship
Joseph Prever

Total Abandonment to Divine Providence and the Permissive Will of God
Daniel C. Mattson

Why Maintaining Biblical Language Matters
Robin Beck

In This Our Exile
Eve Tushnet

Breaking Free
David Prosen

Married and Same-Sex Attracted: Are We Hiding the Light of the Gospel under a Basket?
Doug Mainwaring

From Pain to Peace
Bob and Susan Cavera

Do No Harm: Considerations in Supporting Youth with Same-Sex Attraction
Janelle Hallman, Ph.D .

Same-Sex Attractions as a Symptom of a Broken Heart: Psychological Science Deepens Respect, Compassion, and Sensitivity
Timothy G. Lock, Ph.D .

HIV and Other Health Risks Associated with Men Who Have Sex with Men
Timothy Flanigan, M.D .

Understanding the Sexual Revolution
Jennifer Roback Morse, Ph.D .

Our Prophetic Moment
Peter Herbeck

Archbishop Allen Vigneron, Ph.D., S.T.L .

From the first hours of his taking up the office of universal pastor, Pope Francis has called for the whole Church to invest herself completely in the urgent work of the New Evangelization. To that end the Holy Father determined that the family would be the topic during two sessions of the Synod of Bishops. For the first, which met in 2014, he determined that focus was to be the pastoral challenges to the family in the context of evangelization.

With these decisions, Pope Francis is signaling that a first priority in the New Evangelization must be proposing anew the light that Christs good news sheds on family life. Progress in evangelizing our society requires doing everything in our power to strengthen the unambiguous witness that familiesdomestic churchescan give to the good news by their living out the Lordship of Jesus to the full.

The difficulties we face in responding to the challenges Pope Francis has set before us are daunting, given the many wounds that afflict families today. Nonetheless we must face these challenges with courage and a spirit of self-sacrifice, since the evangelization of society depends upon embracing this mission. We must also embark upon this mission with serene confidence, since it is Gods own work and we are merely his agents.

Pope Francis has called upon not only the members of the synod but also on all the People of Godclergy, religious, and lay faithfulto ponder anew on what God, both in his creating and in his revealing, has told us about his plan for families. It is in loving response to this request of the Vicar of Peter that the authors in this volume offer the fruit of their attentive listening to Gods word. Specifically, these essays aim to offer insights that advance the Churchs response to the questions posed by the Lineamenta for the 2015 meeting of the synod regarding Pastoral Attention towards Persons with Homosexual Tendencies.

A common touchstone for these essays is the firm conviction that Christ reveals man to himself. As the Fathers of the Second Vatican Council testify, Only in the mystery of the incarnate Word does the mystery of man take on light. For Adam, the first man, was a figure of Him Who was to come (cf. Rm 5: 14), namely Christ the Lord. He is, as the Liturgy says, the Word through whom the Father made the universe and by whom all have been redeemed.

As the firstborn of the human race made new by grace, the Lord Jesus has renewed every dimension of our existence, not least our being created male and female. Being sexual is part of the very fabric of being human, and the New Adam has, by his coming, uncovered for our sinful race Gods plan from the beginning about human sexuality (see Mt 19:4). And he offers to all the strength to live out their sexuality in accordance with the Fathers plan.

In looking to assist the members of the synod in their efforts to discern how in our time the disciples of Jesus can more faithfully live out this original plan, these essays seek to remind us not to lose sight of the fact that Gods plan from the beginning for family life and human sexuality is not first of all a set of abstract socio-political norms (though our convictions can be theoretically defended). Rather, this plan is Someone, the Eternal Word himself, in whom, by whom, and for whom the Father spoke to bring the human race into being (see 1 Cor 8:6; Gen 1:26). Were any of us who respond to Pope Francis invitation to contribute to the work of the synod to forget that at their roots all the questions being discussed are Christological questionsquestions about who Jesus is and how his disciples can most faithfully imitate himthen we will have failed to stand in that bright light which offers the only secure illumination for recognizing Gods truth.

A second key teaching from the Second Vatican Council that has shaped the contributions made to this volume is the Universal Call to Holiness.

This holiness of life, given by the Spirit and cultivated in response to his workings in our hearts, means, as Saint Paul says, that we must give ourselves over to whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, [and] whatever is gracious, as well as to what is excellent, if there is any excellence, and what is worthy of praise, if there is anything worthy of praise (Phil 4:8). And in the living out of our sexuality what is excellent and worthy of praise is the virtue of chastity. Chastity is the name for authentic excellence in human sexuality, after the pattern of Jesus Christ.

Essential to every disciples call to share in Christs own holiness is, then, being called to share in our Lords chastity: to live our sexuality as a participation in his experience of sexuality as self-giving lived out in the flesh. This conviction that the universal call to holiness necessarily includes a universal call to live chastely has shaped the way this volume, in response to Pope Francis invitation, explores questions of how those who experience same-sex attraction can best advance in the virtue of chastity and the pursuit of holiness, and how most effectively to supportas Pope Francis so often puts it, to accompanythem on the path to purity and holiness of life. To that end, there has been a concerted effort to include in this collection personal testimony from persons with same-sex attraction and from those who are committed to accompanying them. Hearing these reports of their efforts to live out their unconditional commitment to imitating the chastity of Christ, along with the accounts of other Christians who invest themselves in helping their brothers and sisters meet these challenges, is an invaluable contribution to preparing for the synod.