I went to college to study music - vocal performance, to be precise. I had dreams of doing something magnificent with music, like start a band, or teach voice, or become a music therapist or, on da…
Another great commentary from one of my friends. He articulates well why I believe that teaching that all gay people must be celibate is problematic—even from a Theological perspective. One of the things that really convinced me of this back when I was “a good Catholic" was when my prayers for the grace to control my passions continually went unanswered. I became very angry at God and myself as those passions intensified instead of diminishing.
I thought to myself “Well, there must be something wrong with me. Clearly I am not praying enough!" One day while praying at Eucharistic Adoration, something just “clicked" in my mind. Maybe there wasn’t anything wrong with me, and God wasn’t abandoning me either. As someone who has been discerning a vocation to the priesthood for many years now, I realized at that point that I simply wasn’t called to celibacy. One of the things my priests always told me was that if I was called to the priesthood, God would provide me with the graces and open the doors to help me grow towards that goal. I felt those graces. I did not, however, feel those graces when it came to celibacy, despite me earnestly trying to find them. I realized the reason I was slowly being driven insane was not because I was resisting God’s Grace, but I was desperately trying to manufacture that grace myself and, ironically, I was turning away from God by doing so.
Again—I do believe some gay people are called to celibacy, just like some straight people are—but I believe that is a very unique vocation which, just like the priesthood, requires a special calling from God and special discernment.
This. Celibacy is only a good thing, when God gives us that unique special calling.
