From time to time I have been approached by an anxious parent who is concerned their son or daughter is same sex attracted.

Usually, their enquiry is centred around the Church’s teaching on their situation. Are they required to condemn their child’s behaviour? Should they oblige their child to seek counselling? Or, if the facts are more established, should they refuse to meet their child’s partner? Should they cut off contact with their child?

Until now, I’ve emphasised the primacy of love, and referred them to the Encourage apostolate. It’s advice which is always met with relief. I think it crosses people’s minds that they must choose between their child and their faith.

Now I’ve got an additional resource I can draw on. I have no idea how many of those parents I spoke to contacted Encourage. That may be something of an intimidating step. An excellent intermediary might be reading an article whose title says it all: My Catholic kid is gay! Now what?

Not only is the author a mother, but she’s also a Catholic with an ongoing same-sex attraction. As you can imagine, she writes with a lot of insight and authority. A sample:

The single greatest thing we must do if our child struggles with SSA is keep the relationship loving and open. If we worked hard while raising our child to ensure he understands the Church’s teaching about sexuality, then more preaching will only drive a wedge between you and you’ll lose the Catholic influence you could have on his life. When our children have chosen the wrong path, we need to fight their sin with prayer and sacrifice, NOT words.

To my mind, it strikes a perfect balance of compassion, supernatural outlook, and fidelity to our Lord’s teachings. See for yourself.