Apparently, my classes on homosexuality have caused quite a stir on the gay blogosphere so to all who flooded youtube and this blog with comments please know that while I am on vacation, I will try to reply when I get back.
As a former Trappist and Religious Ed teacher, I find your theology an embarrassment. As an educator, I find your positions on human sexuality and social order to constitute nothing short of abuse of the students for depriving them of a balanced and educated response to their questions and their nurturing. That you take the positions you do only reveals that you are more interested in climbing the hierarchical social order than in being inclusive and respectful of all God's children and creation. But then: you're not the only one. I give you credit for having the balls to post yourself in cyberspace... and exposing your bias and prejudices for all to see. The Roman Church has a long history of incompetent teachers and clerics... and even popes. I don't really expect THAT tradition to change! And as a healthcare professional of 40 years, I have had countless numbers of lives that I have had to help heal, and attempt to save from the physical consequences of the positions and ignorance and intolerance you promulgate. Good luck on your climb to a red cap! Pierre
Embarrassing and disgusting. You have villified millions of innocent people - for what reason? Gay men and women are who they are - and, like straight individuals - only want to live their lives in peace with their loved ones, with fairness and equality. Gay people are not going away. What is the purpose of your bashing? Should we hide in shame? Keep ourselves hidden? Be treated as outcasts? Is that what you are advocating?
Here is something that you need to read, and take to heart, and then ask yourself why you are attempting to inflict such harm on people, and continue to spread lies and vicious, baseless misinformation.
Geeez people... Realize that Fr. John Hollowell is only teaching what the Catholic religion believes. He didn't write it! He is doing his job and in my opinion a better job than most, by talking about the difficult topics. I wish we had covered this in school when I was there. I see no "gay bashing". Please don't fill his blog with such hateful messages when all Fr. Hollowell is doing is trying to teach the Catholic Message.
Funny how the only angry people are the gay people who feel like everyone owes them something. Get over it. The world doesn't revolve around you, and people are entitled to think outside the liberal media's picture of what they think is "right." Why should anyone who believes marriage is between a man and woman be persecuted? Do we not have a right to believe in the fundamental principle of marriage? Again, get over yourselves and get a hobby besides marching in parades in disgusting outfits waving slanderous signs around in everyone's faces. No one wants to see it!
@Tim, you go ahead and believe what you want. Just don't foist your idiotic views on others. Although slavery is banished and interracial marriages are now legal, no one is stopping white supremacists from saying what they say. However, whenever these biased, to put it more nicely than it deserves, religious beliefs infringe on the rights of others for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you do need to the shouted down and stopped from allowing discrimination to continue. The handwriting is on the wall, John Hallowell's students see through his idiotic towing of the party line and, even in the benighted Hoosier state, have enough exposure to gays leading positive lives and engaged in life-giving relationships that they see the holes in his logic. In time, he'll be an anachronistic Father Coughlin.
The basic fairness or equality for all is more and more recognized by the younger generation, and the hateful posturing of the right, be they religious or just social conservatives, will become a quaint relic of the past.
Poor John Hallowell, in a position to educate and lead, he has made a mockery of spirituality and is as far from Jesus's revolutionary message as the Pharisees of Jerusalem.
So why would a person's belief that marriage is between a man and a woman be idiotic? Does that mean everyone in the thousands of years past was an idiot? It's amazing that you can feel good about associating the belief in the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman with being a racist and white supremacist. Really? And what exactly are gays not allowed to do besides obtain a marriage license in most states? It's a matter of upholding the traditional view of marriage. There are civil unions, but that's not good enough apparently. If it wasn't this topic, it would be something else until the time comes when everyone feels they deserve everything and anything they want in the name of "freedom". Certainly you would agree that you can't just do whatever you want in the name of freedom and pursuit of happiness. There are lines drawn for a reason, and it's just unfortunate that one of them is one you don't happen to like.
Praise God for people like Father Hallowell. You are filling the shoes of so many parents out there who are blindly misleading their children. Thank you for loving Christ the way you do and for being a brave enough Christian to spread the living word of OUR God. OUR God, is the same God as homosexuals, God knows of the sin they choose to live in, and all of us heterosexuals also, yet, He still chooses to love us and wait for us. Amazing:) I have a very close family friend who at one time in her life went down the path of homosexuality. Knowing the extreme sinful nature it was, she went onto a few years of confession (protestant confession), self torture, and finally onto counseling, therapy, deliverance and healing. She is a beautiful woman of God, and knows that it is her choice, and not the way she was made. She is now a heterosexual, with at times, sinful thoughts, but in the end, she let God take over, trusted Him, and came out on the right side. If she can do it, acknowledge the lie she thought was truth, and turn her life over to God, then anyone can. I have hope for all people who were deceived that homosexuality is just a "way of life". I will continue to keep them in my prayers. Again, thank you Father Hallowell.
I've read through some of the comments and the things people are saying about you. First, I am sorry you have to read that, it's extremely disheartening to read what people say by literally teaching God's Word. Please know that many people appreciate your unmoving belief and teachings.
Haven't met a Catholic faithful to the Church who would ever hate or hurt someone because of their sexuality. The Church teaches mercy and love for all, whether you be gay, straight, prostitute, molester, or serial rapist. What is inseparable with that mercy and love however, is the humility to repent, the humility to realize that your sexuality is not just about you and what you do behind closed doors.
@Dennis- I suggest you read your Bible and get to know the Jesus of Christianity rather than New Age Jesus, peacenik guru of love. He talks explicitly about the intention of marriage in the plan of God.
To all the people who posted attacking Fr. Hallowell; realize that while many of my generation do agree with you, not all do. The revival is happening, and many are recognizing that the call to chastity and true sexual expression rings of a truth and a joy that is nowhere to be found in the wanton, self-centered sexual norms that are destroying so many of our peers.
In my study and my living, I have come to believe what the Catholic Church (and Fr. Hallowell) teaches to be true. The message of God's intention for human sexuality "in the beginning" is beautiful, and it is unfortunate that so many go on in ignorance imagining that their sexuality is simply another natural itch to be scratched. The truth is that those who study and prayerfully reflect what the Church says about sex and marriage would never dismiss it, even if they disagree.
The truth is that hatred toward our faith is the only violence I have ever witnessed in this issue. I have never heard of hateful acts or vandalism or attacks being mounted upon gays by the Catholic Church or any church (aside from Westboro Baptist, a true hate group lol). That having been said, the vitriol, harassment, vandalism, and physical assaults perpetrated by the "enlightened" against not only Catholics but evangelicals and even Mormons is something everyone is aware of yet everyone is oddly accepting of. Strange world, ain't it? Can you imagine the backlash if Catholics protested homosexuality in front of any LGBT center? Front-page news scandal for sure. However, a homosexual group of cross-dressers protests in front of an unsuspecting church or even desecrates their liturgy, and nary a word is said aside from "They deserve it." So much for freedom, so much for respect, so much for tolerance. Get a grip.
You make me sad. This is why people turn away from the Church and I honestly encourage it if it means that you will belittle those who are different than yourself. Whether it's biological or simple choice - or a mixture of both depending on the circumstances - a human being has the right to make his or her own choices.
I also would like to direct you towards this, in your start towards enriching your empty skull:
When will the Catholic Church begin teaching what has been proven in science? Homosexuality is natural. It's been seen in humanity and nature since the beginning of time. If God created humankind realize he created homosexuality as well.
At one time the Church railed against the FACT that the earth wasn't flat. That's been proven false, yet the Church killed many people that disagreed with it. You're continuing to do it today with this subject.
Why not except Truth and begin focusing on things that affects all humanity, like global warming and poverty.
Quit hating and instead focus on love. The Church is really missing that.
Those in favor of Marriage Equality have no problem with those who don't believe in it. What we oppose is the Anti-Marriage Equality people FOISTING their beliefs on the rest of society.
Don't like gay marriage? OK. Fine.
Just don't stop gay people from have EQUAL rights. Not more. Not special. Not extra.
Barring unusual co-parenting relationships between gay and lesbian couples, same-sex oriented people generally do not reproduce. Yet each generation anywhere between two and five percent of the population matures to be same-sex oriented.
As a rule, nature does not allow for the persistence of deleterious phenotypes. If we expand 'survival of the fittest' from an individual level and apply it to the species as a whole, it is not unreasonable to conclude that same-sex oriented people, i.e. ones whose energies are not distracted by procreation, confer some selective advantage on homo sapiens. In other words Padre, somebody has to paint the Sistine Chapel. Also design that pretty building in the picture on the top of this page.
That dicta about people who live in glass houses applies especially to those living in stained-glass ones.
Thank you so much for standing up for what Jesus actually teaches and for addressing this important topic, especially with the younger generation. I will keep you in my prayers.
Wow, what hate and bigotry from the gay communtiy on display here and on other forums. The gay communtiy comparing their plight to slavery, etc., is the real outrage. MTV, Bravo, etc., have made coming out the hippest thing you can do! Why would you waste your time bashing a priest, an uncool Christian for simply stating his beliefs?? That's right, your only open minded and loving if you agree with the others opinons. Try being homosexual in a fundamental islamic country, and you will be thankful your neighbors are just ignorant Christians. But I keep forgetting, its not cool to bash islam yet.
All the hate filled posters have written is exactly that...hate. I have not read a single quote from Father's homily that is offensive. Please enlighten us...what EXACTLY is it in Father's homily that offends you. Use quotes, please. Only then can we have a real discussion.
Anonymous, this "priest" is about as "Christian" as Fr. Coughlin! If you don't know who that is, you should look it up. Combine your search with "President Rosenfeld" and it will bring you right there!
On the topic of gay marriage, I actually side with Gore Vidal, who thinks it's a big red herring. What needs to be challenged is the legal standing of marriage itself, which is essentially a religious ceremony that has no business being supported by the laws of a secular state. Instead the legally binding agreement between adult couples, straight and gay, should be a domestic partnership. This is how it has been in most of Europe for over a century, beginning with the French Revolution and reinforced by Bismark's Faulk Laws on the late 19th Century. In France you could get married in Notre Dame by the Archbishop of Paris and it wouldn't count unless you registered with the government clerk.
In all of the gospels, Jesus said nothing on the topic of Homosexuality. That was all done by Paul, the inventor of Christianity, a generation after his death.
I do not for a moment believe that the Pharisaical Rabbi commonly known as Jesus intended for his followers to be anything other than what we today would identify as Orthodox Jews.
Gadflyonthewall, So we are now using Europe as our standard for marriage??? Great idea! Keeping with your logic, we'll use Ireland as our financial advisors, too.
@Tim, you go ahead and believe what you want. Just don't foist your idiotic views on others.
Hey, Dennis! Please don't foist your idiotic statements on others! Expressing beliefs is NOT foisting anything. Doing it from behind a gun IS!
If you and the rest of the liberal, progressive heterophobes posting here would like, I'll be happy to arrange a personally conducted demonstration on the lot of you so you all will be clear about what it means to have our views foisted on you.
We'll show up at night with a truckload of thugs in jackboots and cart you off to a special concentration camp just for homosexualist activists and sympathizers. Between torture methods and brainwashing techniques your brains will be so fried you may never want sex again except with someone of the oppostite sex.
Of course, this is all tongue-in-cheek (although I hesitate to use the phrase with someone of your twisted sexual proclivities). You evidently don't have a clue what it means for anyone to impose their views upon you. Get a clue, and think!
This priest merely explained Church teaching, which I support 100%. You guys keep up this level of hostility too long and eventually the backlash will be far beyond your manufactured complaints about your treatment now.
Dear Fr. Hollowell, Thank you and God Bless you for your excellent and brave teaching. Your teaching style, as well as the content is extremely solid. I appreciate how you have abstracted this issue, by one degree, to get the students to think through the topical questions themselves, rather than doing all of the thinking for them. You have truly honored their personhood, and demonstrated that your trust their inherent goodness, reasoning skills and desire for truth, by creating a safe environment where they can ask questions, and discuss a very laden issue. Your students clearly trust you, and your integrity is transparent. I will keep you in my prayers. ~M
@ Peter Liao, thanks for your advice to go read the Bible. You're preaching to the wrong choir, honey... I'm an atheist (see religious folk comments above) and don't look to the Bible for guidance on how to live my life, or to make public policy for my country for that matter. Oops, I forgot we're a theocracy. But, one good thing, I hate the New Agers, too, PL. They're so hollow. Well, I need your Catholic mercy and compassion like I need a hole in my head. You godly folk are truly our frenemies.
Your assertion of never witnessing violent and hateful acts toward gays by the Catholic Church is willfully naive at best, but I promise not to bring up the German pesants who lived hear concentration camps. Words hurt, and words from powerful people inflame others. When the Pope equates saving the rain forest from ecological destruction with saving humanity from homosexuality, those words have ripples all over the world and they do inspire violence, either directly or indirectly, like through anti-equality policies. Oh, and speaking of Bento, here's a nice picture of him with his cute secretary, Georg Auswein: http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5357346018_b6d38a9605_z.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/43747862%40N04/5357346018/&usg=__QKYQ1wt6YPUx1tY6qLLjrg6pUSE=&h=344&w=224&sz=37&hl=en&start=77&zoom=1&tbnid=qUeOXXqsIbd9AM:&tbnh=168&tbnw=108&ei=zP-TTcCtI8LegQfmpb3BCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpope%2Bbenedict%2Bgeorg%2Bganswein%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1625%26bih%3D873%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C1097&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=776&vpy=490&dur=4727&hovh=275&hovw=179&tx=109&ty=132&oei=qP-TTc27EYvogQe9zJXLCA&page=3&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:77&biw=1625&bih=873
@Blouseman, the little fantasy your painted shows your innate creepiness too, well, creepily for me to wish to engage further. We gonna get you, Blouseman!!!!!
People, we just want to be happy, have a family and have stability just like y'all take for granted. I know so many wonderful kids with gay parents. They are exactly like all other kids - wonderful, annoying, loving, needy, teachers, learners, criers, comforters. Protecting these families with the stability of marriage is the only right thing to do. There are also elderly gays who have to face the death of their long term partners with none of the economic safeguards that heterosexual widows and widowers take for granted. The sheer heartlessness of your discrimination is the real evil.
@Tim, the sanctity of marriage?? Hah! If you look at the current social pages of American and European newspapers, then go all the way to heterosexual marriages in the third world, you can see that the institution of marriage is as much about the consolidation of power, the pursuit of lust (Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, and 75% of rich guys, anyone?), and any other profane motives, all accompanied by dowries and prenups, as it is about any sacrosanct thousand-year-old institution. Yeah, I know Newt repented, as he surely will do again in the future.
And, Tim, thanks for your magnanimous offer of civil unions. You must not be a Hoosier, since those godly folk also want to ban civil unions (sort of like getting rid of the back of the bus altogether). But no thanks! There are over 1000 federal benefits available only to married couples, from being able to marry a non-citizen, receiving Social Security benefits or health benefits of a spouse, to guaranteeing the rights of hospital visitation.
I don't think these fall under the category of "doing whatever you please in the name of the pursuit of happiness." I am enraged at your heartlessness and annoyed by your idiocy.
-Dennis (plus the previous post, typos and all, I know it's spelled peasants and they didn't live "hear" the camps)
Guess what, folks. There are plenty of devout Christians and Biblical experts who are fine with homosexuality. The Bible - just like any religious text of folklore and mythology - can be interpreted many ways, and it often is - depending on the motivation of the one doing the interpreting.
The reality is that what the Bible says about homosexuality has zero relevence on my life. We do not live in Iran. This is not a Christian theocracy. Even if you could get all Christians, including Catholics, to agree on what the Bible says - - which you can't - - it wouldn't matter. We live in a free country, and that means equality of ALL Americans. Even gay ones.
If you don't want to have a gay marriage, then don't. But guess what - it's coming. It's already legal in 5 states and DC. It came within an eyelash of being legalized in Maryland, and it will be legal there in the future. Several other states offer civil unions. DADT has been repealed. There is progress being made every day - - slowly, yes, but surely.
Look at the opinion polls - for the first time ever, a majority of Americans support gay marriage.
Oh yes, it is coming. You can wail about it and whine about it, jump up and down and make up whatever lies about gays that you want, but the trend lines show that ultimately gay marriage will be the law of the land in the US, just as it is in many other countries.
The young people of this nation support gay marriage by a WIDE margin. As the generations pass, as older people die away, the total support for gay marriage will only increase.
It's an issue of fairness and equality. You can argue back and forth about whatever mythology you choose to believe in, and sit on the sidelines clutching your pearls all ya want - - but you will watch progress and society pass you by. Enjoy being on the wrong side of history, just like those who used the Bible to justify their opposition to ending segregation, and interracial marriage. The Bible is a great tool when you want to force other people to live by the rules YOU want them to live by. It's called power.
But we are free in this country, and while we have a long way to go, we will certainly get there. What baffles me is why so many people who proclaim to follow a religion about peace and love try so so so very hard to try and prevent the joy and happiness of others; strangers that you've never met, and know nothing about.
I am married to my husband - proudly. Legally. And soon more and more people will have that opportunity. You can either join in their happiness and celebrate it, or fall back on old superstitions that even the most educated theologians CAN NOT agree upon. But either way, you will watch it happen.
Just so everyone knows, the kids at that high school have great respect and admiration for Father Hollowell.
The reason this makes the other side so uncontrollably mad is because they know they are losing the hearts and minds of the youth. The militant gay agenda has no future and they are beside themselves in rage
I'm always astounded as I read through various forums and article comments by the large number of adults who have the maturity of a 12 year old just because of the anonymity of the internet. So many people who oppose Fr. John are using words like "disgusting," "idiotic," "abuse," and "hateful." Yet people from that same group are making accusations of child molestation (on one of the homosexual websites that had an article on Father's videos) and saying that Nero was right, all Catholics deserve to burn (a comment on youtube). After watching all of Father's videos, I found nothing he said to be hateful or disgusting, definitely nothing was said that was on par with the comments being left about him.
I am always forced to chuckle when people claim that Father and/or the Church have some secret agenda by disagreeing with homosexual marriage. That Father's sole goal of these lectures is to become pope or that the Church wants the money it gains through straight marriages (not sure I totally understand that one). Father was simply teaching his students what the Catholic Church says about homosexual marriage, in a Catholic religion class, in a Catholic school. Pretty sure there is nothing outlandish about that. Thank you Father, for all the work that you do. God bless!
That anonymous gay guy is a true hater. His comment about marriage being a "consolidation of power, lust, money etc..." seems ultimately contradictory for someone crying in agony for the right to marry. Seems if you think so little of it, why are you so adamant about getting it? Get over yourself. You probably throw a hissy fit when you throw your pink socks in with your man thongs in the laundry too...
"You probably throw a hissy fit when you throw your pink socks in with your man thongs in the laundry too..."
LOL, too funny! You don't like to be stereotyped? You are offended when someone points out the long history of pedophile priests in the Catholic church? Snide comments like the one you made above just shows the level of disdain and ignorance many of you espouse. If there is a God, who do you think He will look more kindly upon: two loving adults who only want to live their lives together in peace and happiness and with equal rights? Or those who sit around pointing fingers at others rather than looking at their OWN lives, and trying to put up roadblocks to the happiness and joy of others. For many of you, belief in your ancient superstitions has translated into an arrogant sense of moral superiority. When anybody in the Catholic church speaks out about the "sins" of others, guess what comes to mind first and foremost? The LONG HISTORY of child abuse by MANY in the Catholic church. That is a stain that you will always have to live with. Do you enjoy being stigmatized? Not very fun, is it?
Dear Father Hollowell, thank you for faithfully teaching what the Catholic Church has always held to be true about human sexuality. This message was life-giving to me, a gay man. Please pray for me* as I have many sins to rid out of my life: lust, covetousness, arrogance, selfishness, etc.; and many virtues I need to grow in: humility, charity, compassion, generosity, etc. I will also pray for you. Thanks.
*Everybody is welcome to pray for me, and I will pray for anybody who asks it!
@Chris, congratulations on your marriage and for telling it like it is. So funny the pink socks gay goes from labeling someone who called out the hypocrisy in some hetero marriages as a "hater" and then does a quick turn on his heels into the "thong-owning-hissy-fit-throwing gays-are-fastidious-with-their laundry" trope. The irony of the Church wanting to destabilize healthy gay relationships while its beliefs have propagated the kind of self-hate and confusion that have resulted in the ongoing clergy abuse scandal seems so obvious. Why doesn't the right wing of the CC take its head out of the sand??? We live in a continually evolving world, and the advances of gays and lesbians, despite years of abuse and discrimination, in forming life-giving relationships and contributing to the good of the greater community is wonderful in my book. Society embraces positive change and positive contributions, and the stabilizing influence of gay marriage will shine the sunlight of truth on their ridiculous arguments twenty years from now and show them for the benighted prejudice they are.
Woodrow, the problem is not you and your sins. You are being abused by the Catholic Church. You are as you were created and that is good, you are good. Your sexuality is an intrinsic part of you are and is not a sin. Go get yourself a therapist who will help you realize who you are and not a charlatan who will try to make you be someone you are not. Our spirit is fortunately resistant to attempts to become who we are not. There are millions of people who validate you as you are and in no way think your sexuality is a sin. Good luck to you.
@Anonymous-8:57 pm: Thumbs up for using "benighted"!
@Anonymous-9:05 pm: Thanks for the words of comfort. Please know, however, that I don't feel bad about myself because of my sexuality. I know it is not a sin. The Catholic Church *does not* teach that a homosexual orientation is sinful. The Church *does* teach that any sexual activity outside of a heterosexual marriage consisting of one man and one woman is sinful because it is an abuse of the way God designed human sexuality.
"Go get yourself a therapist who will help you realize who you are and not a charlatan who will try to make you be someone you are not." This statement makes me concerned because I'm afraid you may be under the impression that the Catholic Church requires gays to become ex-gays. Evangelicals and some individual Catholics do (even some priests, sadly), but the Church does not. Back in my Evangelical days (I'm a convert to the Catholic Church), I tried the ex-gay thing. It didn't work, and it was spiritually bad for me. What the Catholic Church teaches about sexuality brings me life. You're welcome to read my story on my blog (click on my name, and look down the right side for "My story...).
"Good luck to you." Thank you. My best wishes for you, as well. Indeed, may God pour out His blessings abundantly on you and your life!
"Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake."
That says it all. God bless you and I will pray for you!
Fr. Hollowell, I'm the author you met at Hanceville last July. Thank you for having the integrity to teach what the Catholic Church teaches. I'll be praying for you during this time of persecution.
LOL @ "time of persecution". It is always hilarious to me when folks somehow twist pushback against hate and persecution of gay people into "persecution" of themselves.
"Stop telling me not to bash, hate and spread lies about gay people!!! You're persecuting me!!! Waaaaaaaah!!!!"
The height of irony. But then, Catholics and Christians in general are expert at playing the martyr.
As Lydia McGrew put it: this is a zero-sum game. Many good Catholics think silence will keep them out of trouble. Nope, because only the public formal acceptance of perverse acts will suffice for the homosexualists. Implying "slippery slope!" when one is just ducky with where things slip to is disingenuous.
Thank you for your words. Its easy to see from your writing that you truly are at peace with your sexuality, and that being Catholic has helped you to reach that peace. I hope many will read your story. God Bless you!
The reason this makes the other side so uncontrollably mad is because they know they are losing the hearts and minds of the youth. The militant gay agenda has no future and they are beside themselves in rage"
as far as I see there is no rce armed with weapons no group that is seeking to harm others if what call "rage" is anger to those like you who made there lifes as children a living hell and only seek to keep them from being able to be happy (I guess you could call that selfish but that would be double standards since they did define a marriage as a way to express love and commitment to one another) the yeah I guess that is rage and rightfully so.
if you guys are going to disagree on gay marriage then fine but dont dehumanize them the same goes for the other side, are they ignorant yes, does the words only cause others to suffer yes are they hippocrites yes but they are still human.
I believe that teaching Religion to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea. I went to Ritter and I know what it is like to sit through one of those ridiculous classes. I feel bad for the students that are forced, by their parents, to attend such a place. I learned more about life in a public school and I didn't need a priest to tell me what was right and wrong.
The people who disagree with Father's posts have turned this from an intellectual conversation to a bash fest for homosexuals who disagree with the Catholic Church's teachings. I currently am a student at Cardinal Ritter and I take these theology courses. While I do not know where I stand with homosexuality yet, I can confidently say that I am glad that Father and other theology teachers at Ritter know what the Church teaches and teach it to us in turn. It seems to me that many people confuse the Catholic Church with people who are simply homophobic. I have never met a TRUE catholic who wants to hurt or bash a homosexual. If they say they are Catholics and doing this, then they are simply talking the talk but not walking the walk. PS: To the person who also went to Ritter and calls these theology classes ridiculous: Ignorance is not something to boast of. Even if you do not agree with these teachings, if you were forced to attend Ritter than what was the harm in listening to what the Church believes. Dismissing something that has such significance in our world because you're mad at your parents or because you disagree with it is a foolish move on your part.
To the person who said that they learned more about "life" in public school, can you specify what that consists of? Not trying to bash you at all, I would just love to hear from a public school point of view.
Thank you for being a faithful son of the Church and for using your gifts to pass on Her beautiful truths to the next generation.
If the Governor of New York had had teachers like you instead of the dissidents to whom he was exposed, our state might not be in the mess it now finds itself.
As a former Trappist and Religious Ed teacher, I find your theology an embarrassment. As an educator, I find your positions on human sexuality and social order to constitute nothing short of abuse of the students for depriving them of a balanced and educated response to their questions and their nurturing. That you take the positions you do only reveals that you are more interested in climbing the hierarchical social order than in being inclusive and respectful of all God's children and creation. But then: you're not the only one. I give you credit for having the balls to post yourself in cyberspace... and exposing your bias and prejudices for all to see. The Roman Church has a long history of incompetent teachers and clerics... and even popes. I don't really expect THAT tradition to change! And as a healthcare professional of 40 years, I have had countless numbers of lives that I have had to help heal, and attempt to save from the physical consequences of the positions and ignorance and intolerance you promulgate. Good luck on your climb to a red cap! Pierre
ReplyDeleteEmbarrassing and disgusting. You have villified millions of innocent people - for what reason? Gay men and women are who they are - and, like straight individuals - only want to live their lives in peace with their loved ones, with fairness and equality. Gay people are not going away. What is the purpose of your bashing? Should we hide in shame? Keep ourselves hidden? Be treated as outcasts? Is that what you are advocating?
ReplyDeleteHere is something that you need to read, and take to heart, and then ask yourself why you are attempting to inflict such harm on people, and continue to spread lies and vicious, baseless misinformation.
http://www.salon.com/life/feature/2011/03/27/presbyterian_minister_changes_mind_about_gays
When one of your students grows up to hate, hurt or even kill someone simply because of their sexuality, the blood will be on your hands.
ReplyDeleteThe fact that you blatantly force your archaic and idiotic "views" on these children is absolutely disgusting. You are a sorry excuse for an educator.
Geeez people... Realize that Fr. John Hollowell is only teaching what the Catholic religion believes. He didn't write it! He is doing his job and in my opinion a better job than most, by talking about the difficult topics. I wish we had covered this in school when I was there.
ReplyDeleteI see no "gay bashing".
Please don't fill his blog with such hateful messages when all Fr. Hollowell is doing is trying to teach the Catholic Message.
Funny how the only angry people are the gay people who feel like everyone owes them something. Get over it. The world doesn't revolve around you, and people are entitled to think outside the liberal media's picture of what they think is "right." Why should anyone who believes marriage is between a man and woman be persecuted? Do we not have a right to believe in the fundamental principle of marriage? Again, get over yourselves and get a hobby besides marching in parades in disgusting outfits waving slanderous signs around in everyone's faces. No one wants to see it!
ReplyDelete@Tim, you go ahead and believe what you want. Just don't foist your idiotic views on others. Although slavery is banished and interracial marriages are now legal, no one is stopping white supremacists from saying what they say. However, whenever these biased, to put it more nicely than it deserves, religious beliefs infringe on the rights of others for life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, you do need to the shouted down and stopped from allowing discrimination to continue. The handwriting is on the wall, John Hallowell's students see through his idiotic towing of the party line and, even in the benighted Hoosier state, have enough exposure to gays leading positive lives and engaged in life-giving relationships that they see the holes in his logic. In time, he'll be an anachronistic Father Coughlin.
ReplyDeleteThe basic fairness or equality for all is more and more recognized by the younger generation, and the hateful posturing of the right, be they religious or just social conservatives, will become a quaint relic of the past.
Poor John Hallowell, in a position to educate and lead, he has made a mockery of spirituality and is as far from Jesus's revolutionary message as the Pharisees of Jerusalem.
So why would a person's belief that marriage is between a man and a woman be idiotic? Does that mean everyone in the thousands of years past was an idiot? It's amazing that you can feel good about associating the belief in the sanctity of marriage between a man and woman with being a racist and white supremacist. Really? And what exactly are gays not allowed to do besides obtain a marriage license in most states? It's a matter of upholding the traditional view of marriage. There are civil unions, but that's not good enough apparently. If it wasn't this topic, it would be something else until the time comes when everyone feels they deserve everything and anything they want in the name of "freedom". Certainly you would agree that you can't just do whatever you want in the name of freedom and pursuit of happiness. There are lines drawn for a reason, and it's just unfortunate that one of them is one you don't happen to like.
ReplyDeletePraise God for people like Father Hallowell. You are filling the shoes of so many parents out there who are blindly misleading their children. Thank you for loving Christ the way you do and for being a brave enough Christian to spread the living word of OUR God. OUR God, is the same God as homosexuals, God knows of the sin they choose to live in, and all of us heterosexuals also, yet, He still chooses to love us and wait for us. Amazing:)
ReplyDeleteI have a very close family friend who at one time in her life went down the path of homosexuality. Knowing the extreme sinful nature it was, she went onto a few years of confession (protestant confession), self torture, and finally onto counseling, therapy, deliverance and healing. She is a beautiful woman of God, and knows that it is her choice, and not the way she was made. She is now a heterosexual, with at times, sinful thoughts, but in the end, she let God take over, trusted Him, and came out on the right side. If she can do it, acknowledge the lie she thought was truth, and turn her life over to God, then anyone can. I have hope for all people who were deceived that homosexuality is just a "way of life". I will continue to keep them in my prayers. Again, thank you Father Hallowell.
Father Hallowell:
ReplyDeleteI've read through some of the comments and the things people are saying about you. First, I am sorry you have to read that, it's extremely disheartening to read what people say by literally teaching God's Word. Please know that many people appreciate your unmoving belief and teachings.
Haven't met a Catholic faithful to the Church who would ever hate or hurt someone because of their sexuality. The Church teaches mercy and love for all, whether you be gay, straight, prostitute, molester, or serial rapist. What is inseparable with that mercy and love however, is the humility to repent, the humility to realize that your sexuality is not just about you and what you do behind closed doors.
ReplyDelete@Dennis- I suggest you read your Bible and get to know the Jesus of Christianity rather than New Age Jesus, peacenik guru of love. He talks explicitly about the intention of marriage in the plan of God.
To all the people who posted attacking Fr. Hallowell; realize that while many of my generation do agree with you, not all do. The revival is happening, and many are recognizing that the call to chastity and true sexual expression rings of a truth and a joy that is nowhere to be found in the wanton, self-centered sexual norms that are destroying so many of our peers.
In my study and my living, I have come to believe what the Catholic Church (and Fr. Hallowell) teaches to be true. The message of God's intention for human sexuality "in the beginning" is beautiful, and it is unfortunate that so many go on in ignorance imagining that their sexuality is simply another natural itch to be scratched. The truth is that those who study and prayerfully reflect what the Church says about sex and marriage would never dismiss it, even if they disagree.
The truth is that hatred toward our faith is the only violence I have ever witnessed in this issue. I have never heard of hateful acts or vandalism or attacks being mounted upon gays by the Catholic Church or any church (aside from Westboro Baptist, a true hate group lol). That having been said, the vitriol, harassment, vandalism, and physical assaults perpetrated by the "enlightened" against not only Catholics but evangelicals and even Mormons is something everyone is aware of yet everyone is oddly accepting of. Strange world, ain't it? Can you imagine the backlash if Catholics protested homosexuality in front of any LGBT center? Front-page news scandal for sure. However, a homosexual group of cross-dressers protests in front of an unsuspecting church or even desecrates their liturgy, and nary a word is said aside from "They deserve it." So much for freedom, so much for respect, so much for tolerance. Get a grip.
@ Peter Liao -- very, very well said.
ReplyDeleteThank you, Father.
Peter...spot on.
ReplyDeleteYou make me sad. This is why people turn away from the Church and I honestly encourage it if it means that you will belittle those who are different than yourself. Whether it's biological or simple choice - or a mixture of both depending on the circumstances - a human being has the right to make his or her own choices.
ReplyDeleteI also would like to direct you towards this, in your start towards enriching your empty skull:
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/booster_shots/2010/06/lesbian-parents-welladjusted-teens-makes-sense.html
I know you only have twenty four hours in the day, but maybe you'll put in some effort with some guidance. Hope you make it, "teacher".
When will the Catholic Church begin teaching what has been proven in science? Homosexuality is natural. It's been seen in humanity and nature since the beginning of time. If God created humankind realize he created homosexuality as well.
ReplyDeleteAt one time the Church railed against the FACT that the earth wasn't flat. That's been proven false, yet the Church killed many people that disagreed with it. You're continuing to do it today with this subject.
Why not except Truth and begin focusing on things that affects all humanity, like global warming and poverty.
Quit hating and instead focus on love. The Church is really missing that.
Why does everyone miss spell Fr. HOLLOWELL!?!?!
ReplyDeletenot Hallowell... HOLLOWELL!
Those in favor of Marriage Equality have no problem with those who don't believe in it. What we oppose is the Anti-Marriage Equality people FOISTING their beliefs on the rest of society.
ReplyDeleteDon't like gay marriage? OK. Fine.
Just don't stop gay people from have EQUAL rights. Not more. Not special. Not extra.
E-Q-U-A-L.
Hey Father, I just wanted to say I appreciate your integrity and your standing for the truth. God love you!
ReplyDeleteBarring unusual co-parenting relationships between gay and lesbian couples, same-sex oriented people generally do not reproduce. Yet each generation anywhere between two and five percent of the population matures to be same-sex oriented.
ReplyDeleteAs a rule, nature does not allow for the persistence of deleterious phenotypes. If we expand 'survival of the fittest' from an individual level and apply it to the species as a whole, it is not unreasonable to conclude that same-sex oriented people, i.e. ones whose energies are not distracted by procreation, confer some selective advantage on homo sapiens. In other words Padre, somebody has to paint the Sistine Chapel. Also design that pretty building in the picture on the top of this page.
That dicta about people who live in glass houses applies especially to those living in stained-glass ones.
Father Hollowell,
ReplyDeleteThank you so much for standing up for what Jesus actually teaches and for addressing this important topic, especially with the younger generation. I will keep you in my prayers.
I admire your courage, Father.
ReplyDeleteWow, what hate and bigotry from the gay communtiy on display here and on other forums. The gay communtiy comparing their plight to slavery, etc., is the real outrage. MTV, Bravo, etc., have made coming out the hippest thing you can do! Why would you waste your time bashing a priest, an uncool Christian for simply stating his beliefs?? That's right, your only open minded and loving if you agree with the others opinons. Try being homosexual in a fundamental islamic country, and you will be thankful your neighbors are just ignorant Christians. But I keep forgetting, its not cool to bash islam yet.
ReplyDeleteAll the hate filled posters have written is exactly that...hate. I have not read a single quote from Father's homily that is offensive. Please enlighten us...what EXACTLY is it in Father's homily that offends you. Use quotes, please. Only then can we have a real discussion.
ReplyDeleteAnonymous, this "priest" is about as "Christian" as Fr. Coughlin! If you don't know who that is, you should look it up. Combine your search with "President Rosenfeld" and it will bring you right there!
ReplyDeleteIf the church continues to find homosexuality so exceptional, they should blow up St. Peters and paint over the Sistine Chapel with a thick coat of primer as both are the production of a well-known homosexual.
And while they're at it, finish Lazlo Toth's job and smash the Piéta. For as the god-man himself said "And if thy right hand offends thee, cut it off, and cast it from thee, for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell" (Matthew 5:30)
On the topic of gay marriage, I actually side with Gore Vidal, who thinks it's a big red herring. What needs to be challenged is the legal standing of marriage itself, which is essentially a religious ceremony that has no business being supported by the laws of a secular state. Instead the legally binding agreement between adult couples, straight and gay, should be a domestic partnership. This is how it has been in most of Europe for over a century, beginning with the French Revolution and reinforced by Bismark's Faulk Laws on the late 19th Century. In France you could get married in Notre Dame by the Archbishop of Paris and it wouldn't count unless you registered with the government clerk.
ReplyDeleteIn all of the gospels, Jesus said nothing on the topic of Homosexuality. That was all done by Paul, the inventor of Christianity, a generation after his death.
ReplyDeleteI do not for a moment believe that the Pharisaical Rabbi commonly known as Jesus intended for his followers to be anything other than what we today would identify as Orthodox Jews.
Gadflyonthewall,
ReplyDeleteSo we are now using Europe as our standard for marriage??? Great idea! Keeping with your logic, we'll use Ireland as our financial advisors, too.
Gadflyonthewall,
ReplyDelete"I do not for a moment believe that the Pharisaical Rabbi commonly known as Jesus..."
Luckily, no one cares what you believe about Jesus!
God Bless you Father for teaching the Truth to my generation! It’s amazing how so many people are blinded by this sin. Love the sinner hate the sin!
ReplyDeleteDennis said...
ReplyDelete@Tim, you go ahead and believe what you want. Just don't foist your idiotic views on others.
Hey, Dennis! Please don't foist your idiotic statements on others! Expressing beliefs is NOT foisting anything. Doing it from behind a gun IS!
If you and the rest of the liberal, progressive heterophobes posting here would like, I'll be happy to arrange a personally conducted demonstration on the lot of you so you all will be clear about what it means to have our views foisted on you.
We'll show up at night with a truckload of thugs in jackboots and cart you off to a special concentration camp just for homosexualist activists and sympathizers. Between torture methods and brainwashing techniques your brains will be so fried you may never want sex again except with someone of the oppostite sex.
Of course, this is all tongue-in-cheek (although I hesitate to use the phrase with someone of your twisted sexual proclivities). You evidently don't have a clue what it means for anyone to impose their views upon you. Get a clue, and think!
This priest merely explained Church teaching, which I support 100%. You guys keep up this level of hostility too long and eventually the backlash will be far beyond your manufactured complaints about your treatment now.
This is no threat - it's merely predictable.
Dear Fr. Hollowell,
ReplyDeleteThank you and God Bless you for your excellent and brave teaching. Your teaching style, as well as the content is extremely solid. I appreciate how you have abstracted this issue, by one degree, to get the students to think through the topical questions themselves, rather than doing all of the thinking for them. You have truly honored their personhood, and demonstrated that your trust their inherent goodness, reasoning skills and desire for truth, by creating a safe environment where they can ask questions, and discuss a very laden issue. Your students clearly trust you, and your integrity is transparent. I will keep you in my prayers. ~M
@ Peter Liao, thanks for your advice to go read the Bible. You're preaching to the wrong choir, honey... I'm an atheist (see religious folk comments above) and don't look to the Bible for guidance on how to live my life, or to make public policy for my country for that matter. Oops, I forgot we're a theocracy. But, one good thing, I hate the New Agers, too, PL. They're so hollow. Well, I need your Catholic mercy and compassion like I need a hole in my head. You godly folk are truly our frenemies.
ReplyDeleteYour assertion of never witnessing violent and hateful acts toward gays by the Catholic Church is willfully naive at best, but I promise not to bring up the German pesants who lived hear concentration camps. Words hurt, and words from powerful people inflame others. When the Pope equates saving the rain forest from ecological destruction with saving humanity from homosexuality, those words have ripples all over the world and they do inspire violence, either directly or indirectly, like through anti-equality policies. Oh, and speaking of Bento, here's a nice picture of him with his cute secretary, Georg Auswein:
http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://farm6.static.flickr.com/5045/5357346018_b6d38a9605_z.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.flickr.com/photos/43747862%40N04/5357346018/&usg=__QKYQ1wt6YPUx1tY6qLLjrg6pUSE=&h=344&w=224&sz=37&hl=en&start=77&zoom=1&tbnid=qUeOXXqsIbd9AM:&tbnh=168&tbnw=108&ei=zP-TTcCtI8LegQfmpb3BCA&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dpope%2Bbenedict%2Bgeorg%2Bganswein%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26biw%3D1625%26bih%3D873%26tbs%3Disch:10%2C1097&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=776&vpy=490&dur=4727&hovh=275&hovw=179&tx=109&ty=132&oei=qP-TTc27EYvogQe9zJXLCA&page=3&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:4,s:77&biw=1625&bih=873
@Blouseman, the little fantasy your painted shows your innate creepiness too, well, creepily for me to wish to engage further. We gonna get you, Blouseman!!!!!
People, we just want to be happy, have a family and have stability just like y'all take for granted. I know so many wonderful kids with gay parents. They are exactly like all other kids - wonderful, annoying, loving, needy, teachers, learners, criers, comforters. Protecting these families with the stability of marriage is the only right thing to do. There are also elderly gays who have to face the death of their long term partners with none of the economic safeguards that heterosexual widows and widowers take for granted. The sheer heartlessness of your discrimination is the real evil.
@Tim, the sanctity of marriage?? Hah! If you look at the current social pages of American and European newspapers, then go all the way to heterosexual marriages in the third world, you can see that the institution of marriage is as much about the consolidation of power, the pursuit of lust (Newt Gingrich, Donald Trump, and 75% of rich guys, anyone?), and any other profane motives, all accompanied by dowries and prenups, as it is about any sacrosanct thousand-year-old institution. Yeah, I know Newt repented, as he surely will do again in the future.
ReplyDeleteAnd, Tim, thanks for your magnanimous offer of civil unions. You must not be a Hoosier, since those godly folk also want to ban civil unions (sort of like getting rid of the back of the bus altogether). But no thanks! There are over 1000 federal benefits available only to married couples, from being able to marry a non-citizen, receiving Social Security benefits or health benefits of a spouse, to guaranteeing the rights of hospital visitation.
I don't think these fall under the category of "doing whatever you please in the name of the pursuit of happiness." I am enraged at your heartlessness and annoyed by your idiocy.
-Dennis (plus the previous post, typos and all, I know it's spelled peasants and they didn't live "hear" the camps)
God Bless you Fr. Hollowell.
ReplyDeleteKeep on standing up for the truth.
Another God bless you for you Fr. and my prayers. I've linked your site and hope some of my cantankerous but friendly allies read you and contribute.
ReplyDeleteGuess what, folks. There are plenty of devout Christians and Biblical experts who are fine with homosexuality. The Bible - just like any religious text of folklore and mythology - can be interpreted many ways, and it often is - depending on the motivation of the one doing the interpreting.
ReplyDeleteThe reality is that what the Bible says about homosexuality has zero relevence on my life. We do not live in Iran. This is not a Christian theocracy. Even if you could get all Christians, including Catholics, to agree on what the Bible says - - which you can't - - it wouldn't matter. We live in a free country, and that means equality of ALL Americans. Even gay ones.
If you don't want to have a gay marriage, then don't. But guess what - it's coming. It's already legal in 5 states and DC. It came within an eyelash of being legalized in Maryland, and it will be legal there in the future. Several other states offer civil unions. DADT has been repealed. There is progress being made every day - - slowly, yes, but surely.
Look at the opinion polls - for the first time ever, a majority of Americans support gay marriage.
Oh yes, it is coming. You can wail about it and whine about it, jump up and down and make up whatever lies about gays that you want, but the trend lines show that ultimately gay marriage will be the law of the land in the US, just as it is in many other countries.
The young people of this nation support gay marriage by a WIDE margin. As the generations pass, as older people die away, the total support for gay marriage will only increase.
It's an issue of fairness and equality. You can argue back and forth about whatever mythology you choose to believe in, and sit on the sidelines clutching your pearls all ya want - - but you will watch progress and society pass you by. Enjoy being on the wrong side of history, just like those who used the Bible to justify their opposition to ending segregation, and interracial marriage. The Bible is a great tool when you want to force other people to live by the rules YOU want them to live by. It's called power.
But we are free in this country, and while we have a long way to go, we will certainly get there. What baffles me is why so many people who proclaim to follow a religion about peace and love try so so so very hard to try and prevent the joy and happiness of others; strangers that you've never met, and know nothing about.
I am married to my husband - proudly. Legally. And soon more and more people will have that opportunity. You can either join in their happiness and celebrate it, or fall back on old superstitions that even the most educated theologians CAN NOT agree upon. But either way, you will watch it happen.
Just so everyone knows, the kids at that high school have great respect and admiration for Father Hollowell.
ReplyDeleteThe reason this makes the other side so uncontrollably mad is because they know they are losing the hearts and minds of the youth. The militant gay agenda has no future and they are beside themselves in rage
God Bless you, Father. You have my immense admiration and my prayers. We so desperately need priests like you right now. Thank you.
ReplyDeleteI'm always astounded as I read through various forums and article comments by the large number of adults who have the maturity of a 12 year old just because of the anonymity of the internet. So many people who oppose Fr. John are using words like "disgusting," "idiotic," "abuse," and "hateful." Yet people from that same group are making accusations of child molestation (on one of the homosexual websites that had an article on Father's videos) and saying that Nero was right, all Catholics deserve to burn (a comment on youtube). After watching all of Father's videos, I found nothing he said to be hateful or disgusting, definitely nothing was said that was on par with the comments being left about him.
ReplyDeleteI am always forced to chuckle when people claim that Father and/or the Church have some secret agenda by disagreeing with homosexual marriage. That Father's sole goal of these lectures is to become pope or that the Church wants the money it gains through straight marriages (not sure I totally understand that one). Father was simply teaching his students what the Catholic Church says about homosexual marriage, in a Catholic religion class, in a Catholic school. Pretty sure there is nothing outlandish about that. Thank you Father, for all the work that you do. God bless!
That anonymous gay guy is a true hater. His comment about marriage being a "consolidation of power, lust, money etc..." seems ultimately contradictory for someone crying in agony for the right to marry. Seems if you think so little of it, why are you so adamant about getting it? Get over yourself. You probably throw a hissy fit when you throw your pink socks in with your man thongs in the laundry too...
ReplyDelete"You probably throw a hissy fit when you throw your pink socks in with your man thongs in the laundry too..."
ReplyDeleteLOL, too funny! You don't like to be stereotyped? You are offended when someone points out the long history of pedophile priests in the Catholic church? Snide comments like the one you made above just shows the level of disdain and ignorance many of you espouse. If there is a God, who do you think He will look more kindly upon: two loving adults who only want to live their lives together in peace and happiness and with equal rights? Or those who sit around pointing fingers at others rather than looking at their OWN lives, and trying to put up roadblocks to the happiness and joy of others. For many of you, belief in your ancient superstitions has translated into an arrogant sense of moral superiority. When anybody in the Catholic church speaks out about the "sins" of others, guess what comes to mind first and foremost? The LONG HISTORY of child abuse by MANY in the Catholic church. That is a stain that you will always have to live with. Do you enjoy being stigmatized? Not very fun, is it?
Dear Father Hollowell, thank you for faithfully teaching what the Catholic Church has always held to be true about human sexuality. This message was life-giving to me, a gay man. Please pray for me* as I have many sins to rid out of my life: lust, covetousness, arrogance, selfishness, etc.; and many virtues I need to grow in: humility, charity, compassion, generosity, etc. I will also pray for you. Thanks.
ReplyDelete*Everybody is welcome to pray for me, and I will pray for anybody who asks it!
@Chris, congratulations on your marriage and for telling it like it is. So funny the pink socks gay goes from labeling someone who called out the hypocrisy in some hetero marriages as a "hater" and then does a quick turn on his heels into the "thong-owning-hissy-fit-throwing gays-are-fastidious-with-their laundry" trope. The irony of the Church wanting to destabilize healthy gay relationships while its beliefs have propagated the kind of self-hate and confusion that have resulted in the ongoing clergy abuse scandal seems so obvious. Why doesn't the right wing of the CC take its head out of the sand??? We live in a continually evolving world, and the advances of gays and lesbians, despite years of abuse and discrimination, in forming life-giving relationships and contributing to the good of the greater community is wonderful in my book. Society embraces positive change and positive contributions, and the stabilizing influence of gay marriage will shine the sunlight of truth on their ridiculous arguments
ReplyDeletetwenty years from now and show them for the benighted prejudice they are.
Woodrow, the problem is not you and your sins. You are being abused by the Catholic Church. You are as you were created and that is good, you are good. Your sexuality is an intrinsic part of you are and is not a sin. Go get yourself a therapist who will help you realize who you are and not a charlatan who will try to make you be someone you are not. Our spirit is fortunately resistant to attempts to become who we are not. There are millions of people who validate you as you are and in no way think your sexuality is a sin. Good luck to you.
ReplyDelete@Anonymous-8:57 pm: Thumbs up for using "benighted"!
ReplyDelete@Anonymous-9:05 pm: Thanks for the words of comfort. Please know, however, that I don't feel bad about myself because of my sexuality. I know it is not a sin. The Catholic Church *does not* teach that a homosexual orientation is sinful. The Church *does* teach that any sexual activity outside of a heterosexual marriage consisting of one man and one woman is sinful because it is an abuse of the way God designed human sexuality.
"Go get yourself a therapist who will help you realize who you are and not a charlatan who will try to make you be someone you are not." This statement makes me concerned because I'm afraid you may be under the impression that the Catholic Church requires gays to become ex-gays. Evangelicals and some individual Catholics do (even some priests, sadly), but the Church does not. Back in my Evangelical days (I'm a convert to the Catholic Church), I tried the ex-gay thing. It didn't work, and it was spiritually bad for me. What the Catholic Church teaches about sexuality brings me life. You're welcome to read my story on my blog (click on my name, and look down the right side for "My story...).
"Good luck to you." Thank you. My best wishes for you, as well. Indeed, may God pour out His blessings abundantly on you and your life!
Dear Fr. Hollowell,
ReplyDelete"Blessed shall you be when men shall hate you, and when they shall separate you, and shall reproach you, and cast out your name as evil, for the Son of man's sake."
That says it all. God bless you and I will pray for you!
Fr. Hollowell, I'm the author you met at Hanceville last July. Thank you for having the integrity to teach what the Catholic Church teaches. I'll be praying for you during this time of persecution.
ReplyDeleteLOL @ "time of persecution". It is always hilarious to me when folks somehow twist pushback against hate and persecution of gay people into "persecution" of themselves.
ReplyDelete"Stop telling me not to bash, hate and spread lies about gay people!!! You're persecuting me!!! Waaaaaaaah!!!!"
The height of irony. But then, Catholics and Christians in general are expert at playing the martyr.
As Lydia McGrew put it: this is a zero-sum game. Many good Catholics think silence will keep them out of trouble. Nope, because only the public formal acceptance of perverse acts will suffice for the homosexualists. Implying "slippery slope!" when one is just ducky with where things slip to is disingenuous.
ReplyDeleteWoodrow,
ReplyDeleteThank you for your words. Its easy to see from your writing that you truly are at peace with your sexuality, and that being Catholic has helped you to reach that peace. I hope many will read your story. God Bless you!
The reason this makes the other side so uncontrollably mad is because they know they are losing the hearts and minds of the youth. The militant gay agenda has no future and they are beside themselves in rage"
ReplyDeleteas far as I see there is no rce armed with weapons no group that is seeking to harm others if what call "rage" is anger to those like you who made there lifes as children a living hell and only seek to keep them from being able to be happy (I guess you could call that selfish but that would be double standards since they did define a marriage as a way to express love and commitment to one another) the yeah I guess that is rage and rightfully so.
if you guys are going to disagree on gay marriage then fine but dont dehumanize them the same goes for the other side, are they ignorant yes, does the words only cause others to suffer yes are they hippocrites yes but they are still human.
with that I am done good day
I believe that teaching Religion to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea. I went to Ritter and I know what it is like to sit through one of those ridiculous classes. I feel bad for the students that are forced, by their parents, to attend such a place. I learned more about life in a public school and I didn't need a priest to tell me what was right and wrong.
ReplyDeleteYou are all crazy!!!
ReplyDeleteThe people who disagree with Father's posts have turned this from an intellectual conversation to a bash fest for homosexuals who disagree with the Catholic Church's teachings. I currently am a student at Cardinal Ritter and I take these theology courses. While I do not know where I stand with homosexuality yet, I can confidently say that I am glad that Father and other theology teachers at Ritter know what the Church teaches and teach it to us in turn. It seems to me that many people confuse the Catholic Church with people who are simply homophobic. I have never met a TRUE catholic who wants to hurt or bash a homosexual. If they say they are Catholics and doing this, then they are simply talking the talk but not walking the walk.
ReplyDeletePS: To the person who also went to Ritter and calls these theology classes ridiculous: Ignorance is not something to boast of. Even if you do not agree with these teachings, if you were forced to attend Ritter than what was the harm in listening to what the Church believes. Dismissing something that has such significance in our world because you're mad at your parents or because you disagree with it is a foolish move on your part.
To the person who said that they learned more about "life" in public school, can you specify what that consists of? Not trying to bash you at all, I would just love to hear from a public school point of view.
ReplyDelete"I believe that teaching Religion to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea."
ReplyDeleteI believe that teaching English to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Spelling to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Respect for Others to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Mathematics to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Reading to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Biology to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Music to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Ethics to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
I believe that teaching Logic to students who do not care about it is a terrible idea.
Need I go on?
Fr. Hollowell,
ReplyDeleteThank you for being a faithful son of the Church and for using your gifts to pass on Her beautiful truths to the next generation.
If the Governor of New York had had teachers like you instead of the dissidents to whom he was exposed, our state might not be in the mess it now finds itself.