The teachings of the Catholic Church regarding homosexual behaviour are clear. It is gravely immoral and offensive to God. Under no circumstances can it be approved. However, in the Catechism the Church further teaches: "Homosexual persons are called to chastity... by prayer and sacramental grave, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection" (2359).
In asserting that homosexuals can aspire to a life of holiness (that is intimacy with God, which is the ultimate happiness on earth despite the sufferings), the Church is answering concretely the Lord's question once put to His disciples: "But when the Son of Man comes, will He find any faith on earth? (Luke 18-8).
It is important to note that upon His return, the primary virtue Christ will demand is not, for example, chastity or hope, but faith. The latter is not solely a matter of believing in doctrine or precepts. It also believes that, with prayer and the sacraments, conversion of heart and mind is possible for all of us who, it is important to affirm, are all sinners in one way or another.
Sadly, it is often happening that love and mercy are indeed being shown towards our frailties, but the whole matter just rests there. This effectively distorts the Lord's teachings and shows a worrying lack of faith in the merits of Christ's passion and resurrection. It is far removed from Jesus' behaviour towards the sinners that surrounded Him. His love and understanding were unequalled, but 'sinning no more' was to remain a priority.
Thus, to the man at the pool of Bethesda (John 5-14), whom He had just cured, He made it clear that unless He stopped sinning worse would befall him. Christ had, humanly speaking, such trust in man's ability to reform provided he had faith, that he even called Matthew, whose job as a tax collector had such unpleasant connotations, to be one of His inner circle. Demonstrating compassion towards sinners and leaving them in their situation without showing them that, with God's help, matters can change, is like a doctor who, after diagnosing a serious illness, shies away from giving his patient a possible cure. The difference between a doctor and Christ is that the cure offered by the latter never fails and is everlasting.
Jacqueline Calleja
Balzan