As a gay man in the Church, I am constantly torn between the “glass half-empty” and “glass half-full” views – or more in keeping with the imagery at hand, the question of “Is that light the coming Day of Wrath, blazing like an oven – or is it the Sun of Justice, with its healing rays?”
Could Jesus mean his “Depart from me!” precisely for those who would try to exclude others?
“What are you, a masochist?” We in the Catholic LGBTQ community sometimes hear this question from well-meaning, non-Catholic friends, who wonder how we can remain in a Church that seems, in many ways, not to want us.
These readings display the root of the Church’s traditional rejection of our LGBTQ community: it “knows about” us in a catechism sort of way…But it is only beginning to know us.”
I propose that the Solemnity of Christ the King be made the official sacred holiday of the Catholic LGBTQ community. Before I am tied to the stake and a fire lit beneath my feet, please allow me a minute to explain.
I am frankly uncomfortable with some of the ways that the Church chooses to honor Mary. Maybe more disturbing, the Church seems to proceed from the same type of theological thinking that leads to homophobia and transphobia.
I have always been drawn to the saying attributed to the 2nd-century North African theologian Tertullian, ‘Credo quia absurdum est’ — “I believe because it is absurd.”
Today’s reflection is by Michaelangelo Allocca, whose brief bio can be found by clicking here….
“My dad’s not hard of hearing — he’s hard of listening.”
Their patient waiting to be welcomed fully into the church mirrors in dramatic fashion the similar longing of so many Catholics.