Archive for 'Blog'
Journal – 3: The weakness of our God
But he’s the God of weakness, not strength. That’s the whole point; and that’s the theme of today, the crucifixion. Weakness and silence. I speculate: that’s why we hate God so much. That’s why we reject his love, why we rise against him, try to destroy him, try to eradicate his weakness from the face of the earth. We demand a God of power, who will serve us and deliver our “solutions” to the problems and limitations and constraints of this life (especially pain, death, change, Uncertainty). It doesn’t work. God is weak – as love is ‘weak’.
Full StoryHoly Week Journal – 2
I tell those voices – and the Lord – that he made me this way, and he loves me this way, and that I have to be both faithful to my nature, which is sexual and gay, and to his path, this Holy Week: this week in which we all in our different ways try to accompany Jesus in his fear, his fidelity, his incredible loneliness, his need, his humiliation, his pain, his abandonment, his death agony.
Full StoryHoly Week Journal
Was I the only one who thought of the current child abuse scandal, and the mounting chorus of questions about Pope Benedict’s own implication in it, as we walked along? This is the man who has, by general agreement, put in place exemplary structures to safeguard children now – and yet he finds himself and his beloved church sullied by a widening series of ugly revelations from the past. This is the man whose dream is the revival of the church in Europe, and with it, Catholic European culture. Where is that vision now?
Full StoryThe third sex
We share the outrage and defiance of this woman, whose accusers slink shamefacedly away before the silence of Jesus. We are the third sex. We stand alone, like her, and like her, we have nothing to fear from the judgment of men.
Full StorySave me from the hell of the righteous!
The righteous brother in the parable condemns himself to isolation and darkness, choosing his own narrow righteousness over his father’s unconditional love. Meanwhile, his gay brother enjoys the feast, which is an image of heaven – even though he’s wasted his time, his talents and burned through his inheritance. Why? Because he accepts his father’s love. Proving again that the Kiingdom of God has nothing to do with virtue, and everything to do with love.
Full StoryDid Jesus laugh?
Laughter is a fundamental part of being human, but the gospels never show Jesus laughing. Why is this? I begin a series of speculations – and some personal research – on the subject this week, exploring the nature of laughter, of God, and the existential issue at the heart of the human-divine reality: this flawed creation.
Full StoryNew schedule for Gospel posts
From now on, I’ll post a gay Gospel reflection every Monday. When I began this project back in June, I thought that a weekly reflection would be too demanding; and I wondered, legitimately enough, “Is it possible to find a gay insight that frequently, in every Gospel? But it’s been an enriching experience, and the stats show that it’s the Gospel pieces people read. So here goes: weekly reflections on the Gospel, from a gay point of view! Please keep reading!
Full StoryThe church of ‘no’
In extending an innovative welcome to disaffected and conservative Anglicans, Pope Benedict makes the church an even less welcoming place for gay people. For those of us who enjoy the protections of western societies, this makes little difference – but what about the plight of 10 million less fortunate gay Catholics, whose freedoms are constricted and threatened around the world? Where is the church for them? Where are we?
Full StoryClerical scandal, clerical isolation
A fresh clerical scandal and the disgrace of a Canadian bishop re-opens the question: is the old vocational model broken? The model in which priests are set apart in radical lives of service – and isolation? Isolation offers fertile ground for all kinds of dysfunctions. In my experience, God calls us out of isolation, not into it.
Full StoryInsiders and outsiders
Experientially, we encounter the Lord, and that encounter seems to contradict the precepts of the insiders. Does that mean that we should cherish the experience as something private and particular to us, and continue to live our own lives, in a kind of separate dispensation, apart from the larger church community?
Full Story
