OF HONOLULU Mailing:
P. H
Mailing:
P. O. Box 1116 Kaneohe, Hawaii
Services:
Phone: Rev.
O. Box 1116
2500 Pali Honolulu,
Highway Hawaii
(808) 247-2738 Ron Hanson, Pastor Sunday: 7:30 PM
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HARMONY CONGREGA TION
OF SACRAMENTO 902 "J" Street Sa c r arn errto , California Phone: Rev.
~gl 2t
I
95814
(916) 443-5575 Joseph H. Gilbert, Sunday: 5:00 PM
Pastor
sin (even if one does not feel it sinful) invalidates the confession; in addition, it adds the sin of sacrilege to the unconfessed sins in the eyes of Holy Mother Church. He must confess to believe these acts to be mortal sins, which means he must either devalue his love to the status of gross sex, or else he must make a farce of the confessional by stating his actions to be sinful while not believing them to be so. If he is to have what the Church considers a valid confession, he must detest the physical expression of his love since the Church calls it sin. In his determination not to repeat it, he must break all contact with his partner AND with all othe~ homosexual friends and acquaintances (the "proximate occasion" factor. He must be resolved to lead a heterosexual life or else a life of celibacy if he possesses the necessary determination not to repeat his "sin" of hanosexual expression. So confession becomes much more than a rutualistic exercise for the Catholic homosexual. It becomes -- if done validly and seriously in accordance with the Church's standards -- about as feasible as changing one's hei~ht or eve coloration through prayer. And without confession after the commission of a mortal sin, canmunion is denied by Church law, along with all other sacraments. And if the Catholic does not go to confession and receive communion at least once a year (in order to fulfill his "Easter duty"), then he is automatically excommunicated. Earlier I mentioned the natural law as the primary basis for the Church's listing birth control, masturbation and hanosexual fulfillment as mortal sins. The natural lavJ is a firmly drawn teaching based on vaguely drawn conclusions. As it is stated briefly by Msgr. Philip Hughes in The Catholic Faith in Practice: "The first and basic reason:Eor which the differentiation of sex exi~t~ is reproduction. To use sex powers in a way that makes reproduction impossible is therefore to misuse sex completely, and to misuse completely a thing meant for such mighty ends cannot but be seriously wrong. Hence the grave prohibitions of individual sex actions and also of the practices known as birth control". It might be mentioned that Msgr. Hughes' 276-page hand100k of the faith makes not the slightest reference even to the mere existence of homosexuailty.