John 15:9-17
Jesus said,"As the Father has loved me, so I have loved you; abide in my love. If you keep my commandments, you will abide in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commandments and abide in his love. I have said these things to you so that my joy may be in you, and that your joy may be complete.
"This is my commandment, that you love one another as I have loved you. No one has greater love than this, to lay down one's life for one's friends. You are my friends if you do what I command you. I do not call you servants any longer, because the servant does not know what the master is doing; but I have called you friends, because I have made known to you everything that I have heard from my Father. You did not choose me but I chose you. And I appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last, so that the Father will give you whatever you ask him in my name. I am giving you these commands so that you may love one another."
Blog Reflection
The news that St. Aelred is a gay saint is very new to me. I found out about it through Walking With Integrity. Here is some fascinating information about St. Aelred and his connection to Integrity USA
Who was Aelred?
Aelred was one of three sons of Eilaf, priest of St Andrew's at Hexham and himself a son of Eilaf, treasurer of Durham.
Aelred was born in Hexham, Northumbria, in 1110. He spent several years at the court of King David I of Scotland, rising to be Master of the Household before leaving the court to enter the Cistercian abbey of Rievaulx, in Yorkshire, in 1134, at the age of twenty-four. He may have been partially educated by Lawrence of Durham, who sent him a hagiography of Saint Brigid.
Aelred became the abbot of a new house of his order at Revesby in Lincolnshire in 1142, and later, abbot of Rievaulx itself in 1147. He spent the remainder of his life in the monastery. Under his administration the size of the abbey is said to have risen to some hundred monks and four hundred lay brothers. He made annual visitations to Rievaulx's daughterhouses in England and Scotland and to the French abbeys of Citeaux and Clairvaux. He is recorded as suffering from an unspecified and very painful disease in his later years.
Aelred wrote several influential books on spirituality, among them Speculum caritatis ("The Mirror of Charity", reportedly written at the request of Bernard of Clairvaux) and De spiritali amicitia ("On Spiritual Friendship"). He also wrote seven works of history, addressing two of them to Henry II of England, advising him how to be a good king, and declaring him to be the true descendent of Anglo-Saxon kings. Until the twentieth century Aelred was generally known as a historian rather than a spiritual writer; for many centuries his most famous work was his "Life of Saint Edward, King and Confessor." Aelred died on January 12, 1167, at Rievaulx.
Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ailred_of_Rievaulx
How did Aelred become the patron saint of Integrity?
At the 1985 General Convention in Anaheim, CA, at the suggestion of Howard Galley, Integrity/New York, the Standing Liturgical Commission recommended Aelred, along with a number of others, for inclusion in Lesser Feasts and Fasts. When this resolution came before the House of Bishops, the preconversion Rt. Rev. John Shelby Spong informed the house that, according to John Boswell, Aelred of Rievaulx had been gay--implying this might disqualify his inclusion. With little discussion the House of Bishops approved the others on the list but sent Aelred back to the commission which sent him back to the House of Bishops where, in spite of his being gay, and with the bishops' full knowledge that he was, he was admitted to the calendar.
During the 1987 national convention of Integrity, in St. Louis, the following resolution was submitted by the Rev. Paul Woodrum and was passed: "Whereas the Episcopal Church USA meeting in General Convention in Anaheim, California, in 1985, with full knowledge, thanks to the vigilance of the bishop of Newark, of St. Aelred's homoerotic orientation, did approve for annual commemoration in her liturgical calendar the Feast of St. Aelred on 12 January and did provide propers for the same, Therefore be it resolved that Integrity Inc. place itself under the protection and patronage of St. Aelred of Rievaulx and, be it further resolved that Integrity, Inc. dedicate itself to regularly observe his feast, promote his veneration and seek before the heavenly throne of grace the support of his prayers on behalf of justice and acceptance for lesbians and gay men."
Source: Archived material on Integrity website written by Paul Woodrum.
While the ongoing debate over the inclusion and equal rights of LGBT people continues especially among religious groups, there are some very important elements that are left out of the discussion.
Our sexuality while having a lot to do with what we do or do not do with our bodies, is also about our soul. The expression of love may come from our bodies as we share passionate love for someone, but the origin of that love comes from our heart and soul. It comes from the very essence of who we are. God has created each and every one of us out of love, for love so that we might love. Love God, neighbor and ourselves. That place within our heart and soul from which we love others is sacred space. It is a space in which God's Divine Presence dwells and communicates with us and through us. One of the most devastating effects of heterosexism and homophobia is the constant invasion and violation of an LGBTQ person's soul. No Pope, Bishop, Priest, Rev. Fred Phelps, Tony Perkins, Bryan Fischer, Paul Cameron or any other person or group has the right or business invading and violating the sacred space of the soul of an LGBTQ person. Or any other person for that matter. What is so troubling about the anti-LGBTQ rhetoric and behavior that comes from anti-LGBTQ groups including ex-gay ministries/groups is how they invade and violate the most precious sacred space of LGBTQ people. The Rt. Rev. Mark M. Beckwith of Newark and the Rt. Rev. George E. Councell of New Jersey wrote about this in their response to the death of Tyler Clementi last September. You can reread that blog post here.
Hate and violence does more than just produce hate speech and influence cruel behavior. It penetrates the person(s) to whom the talk and violence is addressed. It violates their soul where God loves them so deeply.
As we celebrate this commemoration of St. Aelred we are given this Gospel from John about loving one another as we have been loved. Loving one another is more than nice affectionate feelings we have with in us for another person. Love does not necessarily mean we have to agree with another person. Love does call us to respect each individual by also respecting that sacred space where only God and the love someone holds for a significant other should be. Laying down our lives for our friends, means going beyond our prejudices of how we think another person should be, think, say, dress, behave and seeing the beauty of God in the uniqueness of another person.
Hate may be powerful and destructive as we are seeing with the attempted assassination of Rep. Gabrielle Giffords. The hate has gone beyond gun violence as tragic as it is. It has become more rhetoric to the point of continued violence towards Jewish people, in some cases Islamic individuals, and the Westboro Baptist Church towards LGBT people. However, the kind of love that Jesus is talking about in today's Gospel is the love that surpasses labels, race, sexual orientation, gender, gender expression/identity, religion, language, culture etc. It is a love that is willing to lay down before the other and surrender ourselves to the fact that we are loved so deeply by God, that we want to share that love with others. Not to convert them. Not to make them even see our point of view. But, to know that the sacred space of their heart and soul is so precious we want to honor and respect that person as if Jesus Christ were standing right in front of us. That kind of love cannot be experienced by humankind in a way that transforms people's lives, unless we recommit ourselves to ending racism, sexism, hetersexism, gender stereo types and expectations, cultural and religious discrimination. Unless we are willing to reach out to someone who is sick and give them health care and recognize the need to help those who face mental illness, the love of one another as Christ has loved us, cannot be totally experienced. God's love must be evident in our actions, concerns and exchanges as we work towards accepting each other as diverse human beings.
This is as much of a tall order for me as it is anyone else. But, in our Baptismal Covenant on page 304 and 305 of the Book of Common Prayer invites us to commit ourselves to the love and mission of Jesus Christ.
Our being LGBTQ is about how we love God, others and ourselves. The sacred space of our hearts and souls is where God communes with us. It is where we worship, pray and live with God, others and ourselves in attitudes of love and service to others. No person has any business telling anyone else that their sacred space is less worthy of God's love than anyone else. Instead we should be admiring and helping LGBTQ people to recognize the beauty of who they are or how they love within that sacred space. If we could only do that, perhaps the Christian Faith might just become attractive to the LGBTQ communities and hate will turn in to love.
Prayers
Almighty God, you endowed the abbot Aelred with the gift of Christian friendship and the wisdom to lead others in the way of holiness: Grant to your people that same spirit of mutual affection, that, in loving one another, we may know the love of Christ and rejoice in the gift of your eternal goodness; through the same Jesus Christ our Savior, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen. (Collect for St. Aelred, Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 167).
Look with pity, O heavenly Father, upon the people in this land who live with injustice, terror, disease, and death as their constant companions. Have mercy upon us. Help us to eliminate our cruelty to these our neighbors. Strengthen those who spend their lives establishing equal protection of the law and equal opportunities for all. And grant that every one of us may enjoy a fair portion of the riches of this land; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for the Oppressed, Book of Common Prayer, page 826).
Lord, make us instruments of your peace. Where there is hatred, let us sow love; where there is injury, pardon; where there is discord, union; where there is doubt, faith; where there is despair, hope; where there is darkness, light; where there is sadness, joy. Grant that we may not so much seek to be consoled as to console; to be understood as to understand; to be loved as to love. For it is in giving that we receive; it is in pardoning that we are pardoned; and it is in dying that we are born to eternal life. Amen. (Prayer Attributed to St. Francis, Book of Common Prayer, page 833).
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