I would like to call your attention to two articles. The first is from the America Magazine site, entitled "I am gay and Catholic. Are you willing to walk in my shoes?"
It is an eye-opening first person account, also an exercise in empathy. As a parent, I don't know what advice I would have if I had a gay son or daughter.
To be honest, if they expressed that they were struggling to an impossible degree with the alone-ness that seems to be a condition of them being a Catholic in good standing, I think I might advise them to try another church community. Such as the ECUSA, or one of the "ecumenical communities in the Catholic tradition".
I have a cousin, formerly an RC, who became a priest in one of the aforementioned ecumenical communities. It was a bit of a shock to the family at first. She is not gay, but felt called to minister to people on the margins, who for one reason or another are on the "outside, looking in". Not only that, but Hades will freeze over before a married woman is able to be ordained in the RCC. Anyway, most of the family have taken the view that, who are we to say that her calling is not authentic? The Good Shepherd left the ninety-nine to find the one who was lost.
It is true that there are some gay people who are pretty anti-Catholic. Just read some of the comments at the end of the America article and you will get a good idea of what caused them to be that way.
Which brings us to the second article from NPR. The remains of Matthew Shepard have found a home at the National Cathedral, in Washington, DC. From the article:
"News of Shepard's interment comes 20 years after he was tied up, savagely attacked and left for dead in October 1998. At the time, he was a 21-year-old college student in in Laramie, Wyo. His brutal murder attracted intense media coverage at the time and galvanized support for laws protecting the rights of LGBTQ Americans."
Matthew Shepard's tragedy was a bit personal for me, since he died in Fort Collins, CO. We used to live in Fort Collins, and I was once a patient in the hospital where he died.
I hope now that his remains have a final resting place in the beautiful National Cathedral, that his family will find peace.
Update: There was a bad link for the second article. Hopefully it is fixed now.
Yes, Katherine. Many of the comments were permeated with hatred. America has become a target because of Fr. Martin, even though they toe the line more so than when Fr. Reed was in charge. Anything short of burning gays at the stake seems to fall short for these people.
ReplyDeleteI don't get the vitriol with Fr. Martin. So far as I know he hasn't gone against church teaching. They apparently hate him because he's trying to reach out to the gay community.
DeleteLast Sunday's homily came at this topic at the end of a wide-swinging arc. The take-away was "love all of God's children, even the ones of different sexual orientation," and I supposed that was good for a congregation where not everyone (not most?) is up for that. But it's what the church tells the parents too. And if you ask your mother for an egg, how come she keeps handing you a scorpion?
ReplyDeleteI was glad to see the Episcopalians gladly accepted Matthew Shepard's ashes without feeling the necessity for a long-winded, and ultimately unconvincing, theological exposition.
"Even the ones of a different orientation." That says volumes.
ReplyDeleteSat with a young person of some indeterminate gender yesterday at conference. Wasn't sure which way he or she was transitioning. Smart, witty, and pleasant. Isn't my job as a Christian to recognize Christ in everyone?
"My job as a Christian to recognize Christ in everyone." Yes. The older I get the more I realize that I am not called on to figure out other people's lives for them.
DeleteYou took the words out of my mouth! EVEN !!!! Such effing arrogance. I am far from being a young one wrestling with my sexuality. I gave up wrestling a long time ago and practicing Romanism about 5 years ago. Getting out is hard; staying out is so very, very easy.
DeleteI find it hard to stay out because so much else that the Church teaches is life-affirming and emphasizes God's mercy. But I'm not sure that the Church has the wisdom to be making a lot of really stringent rules about sex when so many of its own clergy has either run afoul of the rules themselves or has failed to support the victims of those who have run afoul.
DeleteThe author of the America article described a video game, "That Dragon, Cancer". Actually it is more of a self-guided documentary. There is a foregone conclusion, the child who is the subject of the video has died of his cancer. The purpose is to build empathy for cancer patients and their families, just as the purpose of the article was to build empathy for gay young people and their families. I have a thought experiment: suppose there was a drug discovered which could cure the cancer of the child and restore him to health. But the catch is that there is a side effect; he would be gay. Would most parents opt for the drug anyway? My feeling is that they would. Point being that being gay is not a fate worse than death, in spite of what some people say.
ReplyDelete