- Feb 5, 2002
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When asked to write something for Ex-Gay Visibility Day, I was elated. I hold OnePeterFive and its readers in high regard. This publication has many talented and prolific writers, and I don’t hold a candle to any of them. However, once the elation wore off, I realized that I would be confronted with having to write about my past. There is nothing I wish to be “visible” about it, save that it reveals the power of God’s transforming love. And it is solely for His glory that I share the following.
Those who decide to share their testimonies, especially concerning matters of faith, must do so cautiously. The process of conversion takes a long time. If on the right path, conversion is a daily event. The means to a true and lasting conversion can only be attained through the Sacraments and a radical lifestyle change. I’ve been asked, “If a non-Catholic sought your counsel on how one goes about leaving the homosexual lifestyle (or any sin, really), what would you tell them?” My answer: Become Catholic. Circumventing the Sacraments is not an option because God Himself instituted them for a reason. Willpower is not sufficient to overcome sin and disorder. Without the Eucharistic Jesus and regular Confession, we cannot overcome the temptations of the sins of the flesh. It is even a temptation to pride to say that one has overcome something. To refer to myself as a former Lesbian would be an error. It’s true that I no longer feel those disordered passions and would love nothing more than to refer to myself as such, but this would be attributing to myself what rightly and solely belongs to God. I am simply a cooperator in His grace. He is He who is, I am she who is not. “Sine me nihil potestis facere.” Without me, you can do nothing (John 15:5).
Continued below.
Those who decide to share their testimonies, especially concerning matters of faith, must do so cautiously. The process of conversion takes a long time. If on the right path, conversion is a daily event. The means to a true and lasting conversion can only be attained through the Sacraments and a radical lifestyle change. I’ve been asked, “If a non-Catholic sought your counsel on how one goes about leaving the homosexual lifestyle (or any sin, really), what would you tell them?” My answer: Become Catholic. Circumventing the Sacraments is not an option because God Himself instituted them for a reason. Willpower is not sufficient to overcome sin and disorder. Without the Eucharistic Jesus and regular Confession, we cannot overcome the temptations of the sins of the flesh. It is even a temptation to pride to say that one has overcome something. To refer to myself as a former Lesbian would be an error. It’s true that I no longer feel those disordered passions and would love nothing more than to refer to myself as such, but this would be attributing to myself what rightly and solely belongs to God. I am simply a cooperator in His grace. He is He who is, I am she who is not. “Sine me nihil potestis facere.” Without me, you can do nothing (John 15:5).
Continued below.
