The attraction of the saints...

Faces of holiness.
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While I worked in retail, one of the qualifications I looked for in sales associates was friendliness, intelligence and good looks.  Upper management sometimes thought I was kidding - but I was convinced that the attractiveness and friendliness of the person attending the customers was very important.  I worked for a religious goods company and therefore I was convinced good looking, pleasant, friendly guys, who also knew the faith and their merchandise was vitally important to grow the business and attract priests from around the State.  I often said, "men are attracted to men".  And it is not a gay thing at all.  I experienced it myself growing up.  As a young man I could get in to to see just about any priest or bishop (or prioress too) I wanted, and I was frequently invited to dinner or a show - which I usually declined BTW. 
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I'm only saying this by way of introduction to my post here.  Attractive people attract people - now that I'm old and ugly, I'm invisible.  But I digress.  Nevertheless, attractive saints attract devotees and clients - clients are persons who attach themselves to a particular saint, regularly asking for favors, following their example, and so on.  The saint in turn leads them to a more devout life and aids them in becoming holy.  Sometimes divine providence attracts us to a particular saint by natural means - just as we are attracted to friends on earth.  For instance, St. Gemma and Bl. Pier Giorgio are two very attractive saints.
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Saints for outsiders.
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You will notice in my sidebar I usually have posted a couple young, attractive saints.  These guys not only appeal to young and old lay people alike, but guys - and some of these guys may be same-sex attracted for reasons deeper than friendship.  In fact, a friend of mine, Jamie Becker, a fellow artist, formerly a marketing VP at Marshall Field's/Macy's, was interested enough in the saints in my sidebar to inquire and read about them.  My friend is Jewish.
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Jamie chose Pier Girorgio to paint, although he included Jacques Fesch and Alberto Marvelli in the composition (shown above), along with images of men and boys either murdered for being gay, or imprisoned, ostracized, and executed for being so.  I asked him what he wanted to say by the painting.  He just told me he did not understand why the Church canonizes some single men, or declares some to be martyrs, yet refuses to honor gay men like those hanged to death in Muslim countries, or victims of gay bashing elsewhere.  More deeply, he may have been wondering about a lot more... like, 'how can a young man remain sinless?' - Psalm 119: 11
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The attraction of Catholicism.
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Now any knowledgeable Catholic might react to such a misunderstanding and jump to their feet to explain in no uncertain terms that these saints, Pier Giorgio, Alberto, Jacques, and others are not gay, while proceeding to instruct my friend exactly why a saint is made a saint, or a martyr is a martyr.  Nevertheless, Jamie was very sincere in asking the question and I sensed a very deep respect on his part, the very question revealed a great deal about his sensitivity to the subject.  He once told me he would like to pray but he didn't know how.  Another time he said he didn't believe in God.  On his way to Paris recently, I told him if the plane crashes to "tell God you are sorry for all your sins and ask him to take you to heaven" - he responded, "but I don't have any sins".   I laughed and told him - "just say it anyway".  So you see, there is something quite sincere and loving in this man, and he is made for God's love.  He promised to visit Rue de Bac and light a candle for me while he is living in Paris.
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Anyway - aside from the politics and controversies which surround Catholic teaching, and often embroil our relationships with one another, many of the individuals involved are not necessarily out to get us.  As Jamie's painting demonstrates - sometimes they are just trying to figure us out, while sorting through an awful lot of stuff themselves.  Sometimes non-religious people just want to know why we believe and live according to Church teaching when it is often so inconvenient to do so... frequently remaining the outsider, stranger and pilgrim - even amongst Catholics.
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Truth is...
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Of course I respectfully tried to explain, though the murder of homosexual men is unjust, they cannot be considered martyrs, or canonized by the Church.  Saints are made saints because of their heroic virtue and because they example the Christian life and teaching.  Martyrs are martyrs because they suffered for the faith, their death is their witness to Christ and the Gospel.  The Martyrs of Uganda are saints because they refused to submit to homosexual sin.  Though St. Sebastian has been adopted by gay people as a patron (his physique plays a big part here), he was martyred out of hatred for the faith.  Martyrs of chastity were killed because they resisted sexual sin, and so on.  Of course, he already knew that. 
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The truth is hard to accept sometimes, and it is only obtained by long labor and study and prayer... to paraphrase Dostoevsky.  But 'love is the teacher... and we must love not occasionally, for a moment, but forever.' 
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Art:  Blessed Pier Girorgio Frassati - Jamie Becker, 2010
Acrylic and collage on canvas.  Approx. 36"x30"