Today's Scripture Readings
Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11
John 1:6-8,19-28 (NRSV)
Blog Reflection
Those trying to push a more conservative Catholic social teaching suggest that the only way we can be truly free is to not give in to our whims and urges to do whatever we want. The idea behind this teaching is that there can only be the possibility of freedom if LGBT people forsake the idea of living our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression openly and be celibate. Women cannot be free if they are having abortions or using contraception. Men cannot be free unless they attend St. Joseph's Keepers and agree to be a family father who takes his family and children to Mass every week and becomes made in the image of the Catholic churches' teaching of how a man should be.
I am of the opinion that freedom cannot be found by becoming the ideal walking model of any particular churches' teaching. Freedom means being exactly who we are before God, others and most importantly ourselves. We can model our own lives by what we find best suits who we are. There are many interpretations of how someone should be. Everyone has some kind of social standards and/or even boundaries that suits where they are at.
God is not a partial God. God is not looking for the next poor soul to damn because she/he hasn't measured up to some moral standards laid down by some church or political group. God is a God of freedom and redemption. Every individual person is valuable and worth saving. That is why we celebrate this Advent as we prepare to celebrate the event in which God came to us, in the middle of our filth and poorest conditions in the revelation of God's Self in Christ.
In the reading from Isaiah God has sent God's anointed to "proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners." God prophesies through Isaiah that "Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples, all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed."
So many individuals who are questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression are longing to come out and acknowledge their true selves before God and the Church. They are looking for a path to personal freedom and redemption. Ex-gay groups do not provide this freedom and redemption as they work with questioning persons to further imprison such people in closets of self doubt and fear of the shame that could come should they ever choose to act on the natural sexual and gender expression that is a natural part of who she/he is.
In our Gospel today, we see the Pharisees sent to talk to John the Baptist to find out what he has been doing. They have heard of wonderful things happening in the lives of those who come to hear this man that is so badly dressed and poorly bathed. They want to confront this man who has caught the attention of so many people. In reply, John doesn't keep the attention placed on himself. John tells of one who is among them who is greater than himself. One who will bring the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and will change the order of how things have been.
Time and again, we can and are continuing to learn that it is not the conventional person only who steers society and the Church towards radical change. It is those who are most separated from the mainstream looking for their place. Those who just want a piece of bread or a little water just to make it through until their next meal who can most change society and the Church if we will only let them in.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people can call the Church to a newer understanding of who Jesus is. We can do it by doing the unconventional things that just don't seem to fit in. When we are allow ourselves to come out of our closets and develop a healthy relationship with God, others and ourselves we can help create a greater world of freedom and redemption. Just by being ourselves.
St. Paul in the reading from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 tells us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
The circumstances that make it difficult for us to come out and be who we are, are opportunities for us to face our prisons of self doubt and be released. We can rejoice and pray without ceasing, giving thanks for every moment we learn something new about ourselves and our relationships with others.
I have heard endless stories of individuals who have come out. Many who have said: "When I came out, I finally made my peace with God." Why do they (I, we) say that? Because we cannot find true redemption and freedom until we can be the person God made us to be, openly and without self destructive attitudes and behaviors thrust upon us by Christianists who continue to vilify LGBT people.
God desires the personal, social, political and religious freedom of all people. Because in Christ, God has redeemed us to God's Self. All of us are among those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Waiting for God means taking time to be alone with God with a good look in our personal mirror and seeing the wonderful person God has made in us. It means seeing those things that maybe they are not totally right all the way around, but recognizing that God does not love us any less because of imperfection.
We live in a world where many marginalized persons from LGBT to immigrants, the poor and terminally ill etc live in prisons and are captive to a society that gives all of it's prestige and opportunity to those who measure up to their wealthy standards. Our political system that is suppose to seek liberty and justice for all persons, only focuses on some who are filling their pockets with corporate interests. This is not the ideal that God has for our world or the Church.
As we await the coming of God to bring freedom and redemption, let us remember that God is already with us seeking to bring freedom and redemption in the here and now. Our sins are no match for the wonderful graces of God through Jesus Christ. God is longing to transform us and the world around us by our participation in the word of preparing the Church and society to be places where all are welcomed and all have an opportunity for a better tomorrow.
Prayers
Isaiah 61: 1-4, 8-11
John 1:6-8,19-28 (NRSV)
There was a man sent from God, whose name was John. He came as a witness to testify to the light, so that all might believe through him. He himself was not the light, but he came to testify to the light.
This is the testimony given by John when the Jews sent priests and Levites from Jerusalem to ask him, "Who are you?" He confessed and did not deny it, but confessed, "I am not the Messiah." And they asked him, "What then? Are you Elijah?" He said, "I am not." "Are you the prophet?" He answered, "No." Then they said to him, "Who are you? Let us have an answer for those who sent us. What do you say about yourself?" He said, "I am the voice of one crying out in the wilderness, `Make straight the way of the Lord,'" as the prophet Isaiah said. Now they had been sent from the Pharisees. They asked him, "Why then are you baptizing if you are neither the Messiah, nor Elijah, nor the prophet?" John answered them, "I baptize with water. Among you stands one whom you do not know, the one who is coming after me; I am not worthy to untie the thong of his sandal." This took place in Bethany across the Jordan where John was baptizing.
Blog Reflection
Those trying to push a more conservative Catholic social teaching suggest that the only way we can be truly free is to not give in to our whims and urges to do whatever we want. The idea behind this teaching is that there can only be the possibility of freedom if LGBT people forsake the idea of living our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression openly and be celibate. Women cannot be free if they are having abortions or using contraception. Men cannot be free unless they attend St. Joseph's Keepers and agree to be a family father who takes his family and children to Mass every week and becomes made in the image of the Catholic churches' teaching of how a man should be.
I am of the opinion that freedom cannot be found by becoming the ideal walking model of any particular churches' teaching. Freedom means being exactly who we are before God, others and most importantly ourselves. We can model our own lives by what we find best suits who we are. There are many interpretations of how someone should be. Everyone has some kind of social standards and/or even boundaries that suits where they are at.
God is not a partial God. God is not looking for the next poor soul to damn because she/he hasn't measured up to some moral standards laid down by some church or political group. God is a God of freedom and redemption. Every individual person is valuable and worth saving. That is why we celebrate this Advent as we prepare to celebrate the event in which God came to us, in the middle of our filth and poorest conditions in the revelation of God's Self in Christ.
In the reading from Isaiah God has sent God's anointed to "proclaim liberty to the captives and release to the prisoners." God prophesies through Isaiah that "Their descendants shall be known among the nations, and their offspring among the peoples, all who see them shall acknowledge that they are a people whom the Lord has blessed."
So many individuals who are questioning their sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression are longing to come out and acknowledge their true selves before God and the Church. They are looking for a path to personal freedom and redemption. Ex-gay groups do not provide this freedom and redemption as they work with questioning persons to further imprison such people in closets of self doubt and fear of the shame that could come should they ever choose to act on the natural sexual and gender expression that is a natural part of who she/he is.
In our Gospel today, we see the Pharisees sent to talk to John the Baptist to find out what he has been doing. They have heard of wonderful things happening in the lives of those who come to hear this man that is so badly dressed and poorly bathed. They want to confront this man who has caught the attention of so many people. In reply, John doesn't keep the attention placed on himself. John tells of one who is among them who is greater than himself. One who will bring the Baptism of the Holy Spirit, and will change the order of how things have been.
Time and again, we can and are continuing to learn that it is not the conventional person only who steers society and the Church towards radical change. It is those who are most separated from the mainstream looking for their place. Those who just want a piece of bread or a little water just to make it through until their next meal who can most change society and the Church if we will only let them in.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people can call the Church to a newer understanding of who Jesus is. We can do it by doing the unconventional things that just don't seem to fit in. When we are allow ourselves to come out of our closets and develop a healthy relationship with God, others and ourselves we can help create a greater world of freedom and redemption. Just by being ourselves.
St. Paul in the reading from 1 Thessalonians 5: 16-24 tells us to "Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances: for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you."
The circumstances that make it difficult for us to come out and be who we are, are opportunities for us to face our prisons of self doubt and be released. We can rejoice and pray without ceasing, giving thanks for every moment we learn something new about ourselves and our relationships with others.
I have heard endless stories of individuals who have come out. Many who have said: "When I came out, I finally made my peace with God." Why do they (I, we) say that? Because we cannot find true redemption and freedom until we can be the person God made us to be, openly and without self destructive attitudes and behaviors thrust upon us by Christianists who continue to vilify LGBT people.
God desires the personal, social, political and religious freedom of all people. Because in Christ, God has redeemed us to God's Self. All of us are among those redeemed by the blood of Jesus Christ.
Waiting for God means taking time to be alone with God with a good look in our personal mirror and seeing the wonderful person God has made in us. It means seeing those things that maybe they are not totally right all the way around, but recognizing that God does not love us any less because of imperfection.
We live in a world where many marginalized persons from LGBT to immigrants, the poor and terminally ill etc live in prisons and are captive to a society that gives all of it's prestige and opportunity to those who measure up to their wealthy standards. Our political system that is suppose to seek liberty and justice for all persons, only focuses on some who are filling their pockets with corporate interests. This is not the ideal that God has for our world or the Church.
As we await the coming of God to bring freedom and redemption, let us remember that God is already with us seeking to bring freedom and redemption in the here and now. Our sins are no match for the wonderful graces of God through Jesus Christ. God is longing to transform us and the world around us by our participation in the word of preparing the Church and society to be places where all are welcomed and all have an opportunity for a better tomorrow.
Prayers
Stir up your power, O Lord, and with great might come among us; and, because we are sorely hindered by our sins, let your bountiful grace and mercy speedily help and deliver us; through Jesus Christ our Lord, to whom, with you and the Holy Spirit, be honor and glory, now and for ever. Amen. (Third Sunday of Advent: Book of Common Prayer, page 212).
Gracious Father, we pray for your holy Catholic Church. Fill it with all truth, in all truth with all peace. Where it is corrupt, purify it; where it is in error, direct it; where in any thing it is amiss, reform it. Where it is right, strengthen it; where it is in want, provide for it; where it is divided, reunite it; for the sake of Jesus Christ your Son our Savior. Amen. (Prayer for the Church, Book of Common Prayer, page 816).
O Lord our Governor, bless the leaders of our land, that we may be a people at peace among ourselves and a blessing to other nations of the earth.
Lord, keep this nation under your care.
To all who have executive authority and to all who have administrative authority, grant wisdom and grace in the exercise of their duties.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.
To those who make our laws give courage, wisdom, and foresight to provide for the needs of all our people, and to fulfill our obligations in the community of nations.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.
To the Judges and officers of our Courts give understanding and integrity, that human rights may be safeguarded and justice served.
Give grace to your servants, O Lord.
And finally, teach our people to rely on your strength and to accept their responsibilities to their fellow citizens, that they may elect trustworthy leaders and make wise decisions for the well-being of our society; that we may serve you faithfully in our generation and honor your holy Name.
For yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. Amen.
(Prayer for Sound Government, Book of Common Prayer, pages 821-822).
Grant, O God, that your holy and life-giving Spirit may so move every human heart, that barriers which divide us may crumble, suspicions disappear, and hatreds cease; that our divisions being healed, we may live in justice and peace; through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen. (Prayer for Social Justice, Book of Common Prayer, page 823).
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