n this first episode of a two-part series we look at ways to pastorally minister to students who struggle with LGBTQ+ issues. Jose is joined by Jason Evert and Kim Zember this week. Jose and Jason discuss gender and how to love those who struggle with same-sex attraction. Kim shares her own personal story of struggling with homosexuality with Jose and discusses how Christ’s deep love for each of us can lead to true healing and freedom.
n this second episode of our two-part series on teaching LGBTQ+ students, Jose was joined by Emmanuel (Manny) Gonzalez to discuss practical ways to make students of all ages feel loved and like they are not defined by their sexuality.
Abortion is one of the gravest systematic injustices against human beings in the history of humankind. The unborn baby — at every stage of development — is not simply an innocent human being; he or she is the most defenseless of us all.
Pornography is any print, video, or written material that provides an erotic depiction of human nakedness for the purpose of sexual arousal. Pornography treats the body as an object, removing the sexual act from the intimacy of the marital relationship and perverting it, removing any opportunity for self-giving love and replacing it with the selfish pursuit of pleasure.
Many today falsely believe the Catholic Church’s teaching on homosexuality to be prejudiced, insensitive, and even bigoted. In truth, the Church differentiates between those who experience same-sex attraction, which is not sinful in and of itself, and the choice to actively engage in homosexual activity, which is sinful. Scripture prohibits homosexual acts — like other sexual sins — because it reflects a turning away from God and His will for sexual activity, jeopardizing our eternal salvation.
Our modern world has long critiqued the Catholic Church’s steadfast prohibition of contraception, claiming she is out of touch, or that her teaching is oppressive and sexist. At the height of the Sexual Revolution, Pope St. Paul VI strongly reaffirmed the Church’s teaching against contraception and predicted dire effects of contraception use that have today come true. The Church promotes Natural Family Planning as an alternative to contraception that cooperates with God’s will and respects the natural cycles of a women’s reproductive system.
The culturally acceptable, and even encouraged, practices of premarital sex and cohabitation before marriage are seen as good and healthy steps towards marriage. But the reality is much bleaker. The data shows that both premarital sex and cohabitation have negative effects on the quality and duration of future marriage — if marriage happens at all — and lead to much greater divorce rates. Both the Old Testament and Jesus prohibited premarital sex, a teaching not intended to be prudish or controlling, but rather as loving direction toward our true purpose as human beings made in God’s image, which is love.
