Tracy B. Hummel posted on Dec 11, 2005 00:16:52

Great website! Are you a member of Courage?

Rosadel C. posted on Sep 23, 2005 09:54:07

Thank you for this website. I find it to be a very good resource for someone like me who struggles with SSA and tries to remain faithful to the true moral teachings of the Catholic Faith. With God's grace and supportive websites like this, I and others in similar situations as myself can be helped.

Joma Fera posted on Jun 1, 2005 16:45:57

Keep up the good work! http://www.esi2.us.es/GT/reformas/

Avgustyn posted on May 30, 2005 12:42:18

Dear Charles; As one who can share many of the personal struggles you described, and who has to this day (in my 50's) still a struggle to be chaste, yet I know that I am helping to build up the Body of Christ, His Church, by my efforts to obey, follow, and love Christ. My life would be filled with despair were it not for the hope, the compassion, the courageous example, the understanding, and -- above all -- the love that many in the Catholic Church have shared with me, not excluding the Saints whose sufferings and struggles and enemies were so much greater than ours. My struggles may be very specific (SSA), and I may understand well where they came from (family background), but with Christ's grace, I can see that they are a blessing, just as any suffering accepted and borne with patience and prayer is a blessing. Our struggles break open our hearts and allow the grace, the light, the compassion, the LOVE of Christ to come in, if we let it. And this is how we are all to be transformed into His Image. And who are we to argue with God about what is "best" for us? God, as a loving Father with children who are very ill (from original sin and personal failures in sin) takes desperate measures to cure, heal and make grow his much loved children, although these children (us) often think he is being cruel and unfair, because our perspective is so limited. You articulately present Catholic Church teaching, and you encourage those of us who accept these teachings as coming from Christ to continue to make the effort to be faithful as well as pray for the grace to do so. A suggestion to have an annotated reading list. I would include authors like John Harvey, several of Fr. Groeschel's book, Fr. Jordan Aumann, Fr. Paul Quay, Dr. Conrad Baars, and others. Email me back and we can kick around ideas. Blessings on your work and your life. And don't be discouraged at the response of many. You are seeking to sow seeds, but God gives the increase in his own time. blessings avgustyn Aug

Charles Silesia posted on Apr 13, 2005 17:10:26

Dear Bob and Jerri, Thanks for your messages. Bob, I invite you to open your mind, put aside your gay ideological dogma and listen to Christ and the Church in their teaching on sexuality. I think there is nothing worse than slavery to sinful activity and a sinful lifestye. Chastity is freedom from sterile sexual activity. It is liberation. The early Church valued chastity, but our sex-craxed culture tells us that sexual gratification is the highest good in life. The culture is wrong. My experience and my mind tells me that is the case. I believe in the Church's teachings, and I have a right to believe in the Church's teachings. No gay activist has any right to tell me what I must believe or how I must act. Jerri, same sex attraction is not evil, it is just an inclination to a particular sin, which is the activity. If we accept the challenge and embrace chastity and holiness, then there is no evil. If we give into temptation, then there is an evil act, just as there is for anyone who gives into temptation to any kind of sin. Blessings, Charles S.

Bob posted on Apr 13, 2005 02:16:34

Charles: I plead with you, my brother, to put aside for a moment all the church teaching and exhaustive arguments you make on this website and to be silent in your mind and just be still in your heart. Open your heart to the Spirit and allow yourself to question the harsh, damaging, soul-killing positions that are expressed on this website. The arguments and history presented seem to be non-negotiable with you, yet when followed puts gay people in "prison" - their spirits crushed and their emotional lives ruined. Believe me, that is not of God. Give yourself permission to question official church teaching in this area and to question the hurtful positions religious people use to put down gay men and women. (Religious folk don't mean to hurt them but it doesn't make their position right, just, holy, or ethical.) It is deeply wrong that you must live with such burdens since you simply have a predominant sexual attraction towards men - that you simply are inclined to love a man. Please keep in mind that "God is love" as Paul says. What's being offered here to us gay and lesbian people is not loving and not of God. We are like Lazurus praying that Jesus will say "untie him and set him free." Bob

jerri olivas posted on Mar 30, 2005 13:46:47

oh, I forgot.... God bless you.

jerri olivas posted on Mar 30, 2005 13:43:41

I dont understand why being gay is evil. I'm catholic and acknowledge the fact that the bible says this and says that, but I dont believe that God,if he is merciful, would condem his own creations for being what he made them.

Patrick posted on Mar 9, 2005 00:14:52

Charles, You have a great site. Many people will benefit from your unapologetic presentation of Truth. May God continue to bless your life and your mission!

Jeff posted on Feb 20, 2005 18:01:21

Did Jesus Christ advocate acceptance of homosexuality? A 2004 article in _The New Wine Press_, the journal of the Kansas City Province of the Missionaries of the Most Precious Blood order, makes this argument, cited below: "I don't think many of the people who voted for the [state of Missouri's] marriage amendment to the state constitution are mean-spirited people. *Many of them are probably very religious people who can quote the passages of scripture which seem to say that homosexuality is wrong.* They are probably people who see themselves following God's will, just like the priest and Levite in the Good Samaritan story. "Which brings us back to the moral of the Good Samaritan Story. The story makes Jesus point that the duty to love outweighs the commands of individual passages of scripture (but not scripture as a whole). We can't get around doing the hard work of discerning what is the most loving thing to do in any situation we encounter. We even have to risk becoming unclean if the law of love calls for it. "How does the law of love (not individual scripture passages) call us, as a culture and as a church, to respond to homosexuals? It seems to me that it calls us to treat gays as we would anyone else -- lovingly. If we condemn a heterosexual person to a life of forced celibacy we would call that immoral, inhumane, and illegal. If we forcefully prevented a heterosexual couple from having children it would likely be called obscene and dehumanizing. If the government told heterosexuals who they could and could not marry, there would be full scale revolt. If treating heterosexual people this way would not be loving, how is it loving to treat homosexual people this way? "In Mark 7:15-16 Jesus says 'Nothing that enters a person from outside can make that person impure (unclean); that which comes out of the person, and only that, constitutes impurity. Let everyone heed what they hear!' In the same spirit, homosexuals cannot make us, our children, our country, our culture, our church, or our institution of marriage unclean. Only that which comes out of us, like our fear, prejudice, hatred, and insensitivity towards gays or anyone else can make us unclean..." -Rev. Garry Richmeier, C.P.P.S., "No Room for 'Unclean' Homosexuals"; _The New Wine Press_, Sep. 25, 2003, Vol. 14, No. 2, p. 865 http://www.catholic-forum.com/cpps-kc/NWP_Sept04.pdf (boldface added). In Jesus Christ our King, Jeff, intolerant bigot

anonymous posted on Feb 6, 2005 11:48:38

I find your ongoing denial sad and pathetic. God made you one way and you've spent much of you life traying to other than what God made you. Eventually, I hope you realize that no amount of praying will change the person you were intended to be. good luck

Marty posted on Jan 28, 2005 18:23:48

Dear Charles, this is a great website! I had visited here before and had no idea you were the hidden webmaster! God Bless you for all your work! _ Marty

Brother Christopher posted on Aug 28, 2004 16:59:18

I am a traditionalist Anglican (Anglo-catholic- "Forward in Faith") and yes i am Gay! i am so pleased i came across your website... i came out to my familiy when i was 17, now i am 25, and a member of a traditionalist relgious order, preparing to take my first Temporary Vows.... what a change to read something supportive by someone who IS Gay, and knows exactly what we're going thru. I do not accept the innovations of Gay marriage, women priests, etc... i am a traditionalist thru and thru.. I am actually scared to tell people i am Gay... coz as soon as i say i am Gay they assume i am a liberal, etc... but i am Gay and traditionalist! YES WE DO EXSIST AND SOME OF US WANT TO BE TRADITIONALIST!! May The Lord bless your work, and may The Blessed Virgin, the Immaculate Mother of God pray for all of us Gay/Lesbian Christians in our daily struggle to take up The Cross of our sexuality and give it to The Lord!! JESUS DIED FOR ALL SINNERS! NOT JUST STRAIGHT ONES!!

Stephen posted on Aug 10, 2004 11:08:44

Hey Man, God Bless you. Your doing a great service here to everyone by your witness. I've been dealing with same problem and I thank God for your actions.

David posted on May 4, 2004 10:47:03

Christ Is Risen! http://orthodox.riewe.com

Nick posted on Mar 14, 2004 04:22:54

I don't think I've met anyone who is homosexual but also accepts the Church teaching and call to chastity. Knowing such people would be helpful, to see that there are others who take this view despite the challenge. Please email me if anyone would be interested in sharing more about their story.

cody posted on Mar 8, 2004 22:55:10

l jones posted on Jan 10, 2004 08:30:44

hi

A Former Traditional Catholic posted on Dec 24, 2003 23:58:36

Re: Many Chaste Lives are Fulfilled Lives Heterosexuals who do not have sexual intimacy for whatever reason still have hope throughout their lives that it may happen someday. Also, they do not have to hide the fact that they are attracted to the opposite sex. They are not made to think that their romantic desires make them disgusting sicko's. People with physical disabilities barring them from intercourse still can become sexually intimate in other ways. At the very least, they can form a romantic relationship w/ someone else and do not have to hide it. Priests and nuns are your best example, however, they have their religious order to take place of romantic/erotic fulfillment. Not all homosexuals will become priests/nuns (besides the fact that they may be barred from doing so) because not all are called to the religious order. Ultimately, a lot of homosexually oriented people see past your kind of rhetoric, and cannot bring themselves to believe in a God who will not allow them to live out their lives fully.

Tiffany posted on Oct 23, 2003 15:35:15

Thank you so much for this great website! It is so rare to find people who promote the freedom of same-sex attracted persons and practicing homosexuals to change or to remain chaste. I am glad that you are out there!

anon posted on Aug 29, 2003 14:36:02

Thanks Charles!!! I just wanted to say thank you!! As a married female and fellow struggler, I am so happy to see a website such as this. We especially need to reach youth because of all the pro-gay propaganda that has becoming a big part of society. My husband is aware of the struggle and is very supportive. We are expecting our first child in October. I just cringe when I see some of the responses to your website. You are an articulate young man who is very diplomatic, by they way!! You speak the truth so wonderfully. Keep up the great work!! If it wasn't for the Catholic church and people like you who are not afraid to speak the truth, I don't know what I would have done.

Anonymous posted on Aug 14, 2003 09:02:00

Regarding your post of August 12, 2003 ... Thank you for articulating the Christian position so well. I would just like to add that as orthodox (small 'o') Christians, we should remember that this 'gay agenda' is just the latest part of the deterioration of Western society's sexual and other morality. Having let fornication and pornography become 'normal', we should not in the least bit be surpised by the homosexual revolution. It has been a long time coming. I propose that we keep this in perspective, that as orthodox Christians, we should not focus on SSA issues, but on the whole sexual ethic of the church.

mark jamison posted on Jul 27, 2003 21:18:25

ever since i came out i have been still feeling depressed and suicidal. this burden of secrecy has been too much for me to bare. i am considering suicide and i would liek to talk to someone about this. call me please:718-980-4244

Wim Boomsma posted on May 27, 2003 14:33:05

Nice site

Rose Hafley posted on May 2, 2003 23:29:27

Thankyou for a informative, disinterested website. Your site is an invaluable resource to my self-education on this matter--"Domine, ut videam!" HE has opened my eyes to my imprisonment to same-sex attraction, Deo Gracias.

George McKenzie posted on Mar 27, 2003 23:13:13

As a recently proclaimed gay man of a spiritual nature I found alot of valuable info in your site!

Charles Silesia (Webmaster) posted on Dec 21, 2002 12:34:22

[Response to "Proud Gay Youth" below:] Dear Proud, Thanks so much for your message! I address my points below: >From: "Proud Gay Youth" <> >Homosexuality is a natural born, God given sexual identity. It may or may not be "natural" in the sense of biological in origin. No conclusive proof exists one way or another. However, even if the origin is biological, that does not mean that God wills it. We are all born with original sin and its affects on our wills. Some are born with various physical or mental deformities or defects. While these don't destroy the image of God inherent in every man, it is not clear that a particular sex drive that does not match how biology is supposed to work in humans is from God. God allows evil to exist, perhaps as a challenge for us, but He is not the author if it. >Homosexual love and commitment is no less valid than being heterosexual. Certainly there is nothing wrong in close friendship, but sexual activity except in the circumstances in which in God's design it should take place (i.e., a lifelong marriage between a man and a woman) is wrong and has always been taught by the Church to be such. > I thank God everyday that my mind is not contaminated with fear and ignorance, based on dangerous misconceptions and outdated sexual taboos. I wonder if your mind has not been contaminated by the rigid and intolerant ideology of "gay pride" so that you only identify yourself by a sex drive rather than viewing yourself as an entire human being in all his dignity. By the way, just because something is considered more "modern" or "up-to-date" or popular, why does that make it better? Something newer is not necessarily better. I would imagine that a Jew experiencing both Wilhelmine Germany and Hitler's Germany would not think that the latter was an improvement on the former, even though Nazism was of course much more "up-to-date" than the troglodytic pre-World War I situation. >I love God, and am grateful to have Gods presence in my life today. I am very happy to hear of your love of God. I am grateful as well, and pray that He sends many blessings upon you. Peace, Charles Silesia

Proud Gay Youth posted on Nov 28, 2002 05:22:47

Homosexuality is a natural born, God given sexual identity. Homosexual love and commitment is no less valid than being heterosexual. I thank God everyday that my mind is not contaminated with fear and ignorance, based on dangerous misconceptions and outdated sexual taboos. I love God, and am grateful to have Gods presence in my life today.

Hampus posted on Oct 28, 2002 11:37:15

cool site ,thanks.

june posted on Oct 10, 2002 17:37:43

great site!

michael meehan posted on Aug 26, 2002 20:41:19

Great web site!!! I am an overcomer myself .... The Holy Spirit lead me to Courage and then to Dr. Satinover then Exodus, Life in the Spirit,Living Waters,Companions of the Cross, sex addicts anonomous, and has worked through many people. I didn't choose ssa but I did choose not to be a slave to it!

John Bulger posted on Jul 14, 2002 13:06:32

Charles, I liked the forum for expanded comments on the pride rant and your website in general. I felt a little sad, that my story is so much more torrid than yours - but I still think God loves me anyway. Thank you for taking the time to put the website up and to provide information. I will visit it again to see what you have to say that may not appear in a CO post. God bless you brother, John

Richard Healey posted on May 31, 2002 05:33:09

Congratulations on a nicely crafted site. Although there is much more that could be said on the subject, you provide great starting reflections. The pain that you share in your personal reflections/background was obviously deeply felt yet strangely liberating. Thankyou for your honesty and 'courage'.

Tomas Harrigan posted on May 30, 2002 22:30:43

Your site was great to see - I hope that you continue to add articles and other resources to it. I was drawn to prayer for you, as I felt your life has been pained but at the same time nourished in an extraordinary way by God's grace. I admire and commend the value of your witness by having this site. I am a Catholic priest and I want you to know that, even though I no not your name, I will frequently remember you at the altar. May our Blessed Mother be the woman in your life!

Stuart Van Dorn posted on May 21, 2002 09:12:49

It is good to see a Catholic approach to same sex attraction. I hope that in light of what is happening in the Church today, that many of the men who suffer with homosexuality may find not just comfort but a way out. God bless your work.

David Hecht posted on May 14, 2002 21:01:06

Got vectored here from Eve Tushnet's blog site. I admire and respect your courage and commitment. God bless you and give you strength for your ministry...I reckon you'll need it once "the usual suspects" sniff out your site! Yours in Christ.

Jessica M. Jose posted on May 13, 2002 22:50:05

I am awed and inspired by your life story and your website. I never imagined how much can be said about your situation in relation to the Church until I read your website. Thank you for the tips you gave on how we (heterosexuals) can give people like yourself more respect and dignity. God has certainly showered you with much grace. To Him be honor and glory and praise! Keep up the good work! God bless you.