The Priest as Bridegroom

In an email exchange, another reader answered my question about the necessity of priests' "heterosexually oriented eros" by invoking the image of Christ's marriage to the Church and the self-giving nature of the bridegroom's role.  This prompted me to ask:

Why is the self-giving involved in marriage inherently heterosexual, other than the fact that we define marriage as heterosexual?  Why would a celibate homosexual priest be incapable of the self-giving called for?  Even granting the premise that homosexuality is disordered, in what particular way does that disorder negate the capacity for the self-giving function?

Mike Foley follows up on his earlier post with the following explanation:

One can argue that the nature of heterosexuality is not mere attraction to someone of the opposite sex (the minimalist definition) but a resolve to contribute to the flourishing of the human race through begetting, defending, and nourishing the next generation (the "maximalist" definition).  Seen in this light, the priest's supernatural vocation to contribute to the life of the Church by enrolling new members into the body of Christ, defending them from error and other spiritual maladies, and nourishing them with the Word and the sacraments may indeed be seen as a spiritual exercise, so to speak, of heterosexuality.  I personally do not know whether a chaste homosexual male can perform this same exercise or not, but I am at least willing to say that either way the template for the exercise remains heterosexual.

Rob