{"id":153088,"date":"2019-04-30T09:30:14","date_gmt":"2019-04-30T13:30:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-gay-and-virgin-am-i-on-the-right-path\/"},"modified":"2024-10-22T15:09:52","modified_gmt":"2024-10-22T19:09:52","slug":"ask-a-priest-gay-and-virgin-am-i-on-the-right-path","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/ask-a-priest-gay-and-virgin-am-i-on-the-right-path\/","title":{"rendered":"“Ask a Priest: Gay and Virgin \u2013 Am I on the Right Path?”"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n
Q: I’m sort of a rare individual. I have never smoked, never did any drugs, don’t drink alcohol, never been violent with others. I am still a virgin. Now the punchline: I’m a gay, 55-year-old gentleman. I’ve always lived alone since I left my parents’ home at 20. I knew I was gay since I was around the age of 7. The Bible passages that have really helped me to stay clean are the following: The five out of 10 virgins that kept the oil reserves full; “Blessed are those who are pure of heart — they shall see God”; and “Be holy as your Father who is in heaven is holy.” Have I been on the right path and does my sacrifice have any value? I think so! I pray and offer my life and myself to God the Father united with Jesus crucified for all the gay and transgender people of the world, for their conversion. I received the grace of chastity and held on to it — it was a blessing from God because my virginity was my strength over all these years. Father, I would very much appreciate your comments. \u2013 R.<\/address>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Answered by Fr. Edward McIlmail, LC<\/em><\/p>\n

A:\u00a0You are definitely on the right path! Your sacrifice has clearly born fruit for Christ\u2019s Kingdom and will continue to do so.<\/p>\n

It seems as though you have had a great grace from God. You have lived precisely the way that the Church counsels those with same-sex attraction to live: chastely.<\/p>\n

It sounds as though you have dedicated your life to prayer, Scripture reading and, I’m guessing here, the sacraments.<\/p>\n

In a sense you are living out what the Catechism in No. 2359 says:<\/p>\n

“Homosexual persons are called to chastity. By the virtues of self-mastery that teach them inner freedom, at times by the support of disinterested friendship, by prayer and sacramental grace, they can and should gradually and resolutely approach Christian perfection.”<\/p>\n

You have therefore given glory to God through your chaste living. And you might have been a model for many people over the years without realizing it. This is the kind of thing that will be revealed at judgment day.<\/p>\n

It is wonderful, too, that you pray for people with same-sex difficulties and related issues. That, too, is a great work of mercy.<\/p>\n

Stay close to the Blessed Virgin Mary, continue to pray and do acts of charity and mercy, and you can become a saint. I hope you achieve that.<\/p>\n

Keep learning more with Ask a Priest<\/a><\/h3>\n

Got a question? Need an answer?<\/h3>\n

Today\u2019s secular world throws curve balls at us all the time. AskACatholicPriest is a Q&A feature that anyone can use. Just type in your question or send an email to AskAPriest@rcspiritual.wpenginepowered.com<\/a> and you will get a personal response back from one of our priests at RCSpirituality. You can ask about anything \u2013 liturgy, prayer, moral questions, current events\u2026 Our goal is simply to provide a trustworthy forum for dependable Catholic guidance and information. So go ahead and ask your question\u2026<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Q: I’m sort of a rare individual. I have never smoked, never did any drugs, don’t drink alcohol, never been violent with others. I am still a virgin. 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He was an assistant publisher of the National Catholic Register and Faith & Family magazine and an editor of the Zenit news agency\u2019s English edition. He has written for\u00a0SpiritualDirection.com\u00a0and\u00a0ePriest. Fr. McIlmail also worked in spiritual retreats in the Northeast, New England, the Midwest, and the South\u00a0and assisted with mission work in Mexico. Born in Philadelphia, he worked in journalism and was active in the pro-life movement before entering the novitiate of the Legion of Christ in 1992. His contributions to RCSpirituality include responding to\u00a0Ask A Priest\u00a0questions and sharing his insights in our\u00a0Weekly Newsletter.","url":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/author\/emcilmail\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153088","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/362"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=153088"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/153088\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/145952"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=153088"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=153088"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=153088"},{"taxonomy":"post_folder","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.regnumchristi.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/post_folder?post=153088"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}