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I’m very attracted to women. Will this pass with time and training or will I always be tempted?
It’s natural for men to be attracted to women. It’s part of God’s plan for humanity. It helps to create unity, social harmony, and personal fulfilment, and of course it is how children come into the world. Being a celibate priest does not eliminate this natural drive. But, just as married people have to integrate their sexual urges within an exclusive, permanent, loving and faithful relationship to their spouse, so too celibate consecrated persons have to integrate their natural attractions within their life-choice, which involves a universal and non-exclusive love in imitation of the celibate Christ. This celibate way of living and loving requires a great deal of human maturity and not a little grace, but when it is lived out in freedom and with joy, it enriches and fulfils a person ‘a hundredfold’, just as a good marriage enriches and fulfils spouses, through all the ups and downs, joys and sorrows and challenges of married life.
