Fourth Sunday of Advent: Full of Grace The Inclusive House of God

Today's Scripture Readings

2 Samuel 7:1-11, 16 (NRSV)

Now when the king was settled in his house, and the LORD had given him rest from all his enemies around him, the king said to the prophet Nathan, "See now, I am living in a house of cedar, but the ark of God stays in a tent." Nathan said to the king, "Go, do all that you have in mind; for the LORD is with you."

But that same night the word of the LORD came to Nathan: Go and tell my servant David: Thus says the LORD: Are you the one to build me a house to live in? I have not lived in a house since the day I brought up the people of Israel from Egypt to this day, but I have been moving about in a tent and a tabernacle. Wherever I have moved about among all the people of Israel, did I ever speak a word with any of the tribal leaders of Israel, whom I commanded to shepherd my people Israel, saying, "Why have you not built me a house of cedar?" Now therefore thus you shall say to my servant David: Thus says the LORD of hosts: I took you from the pasture, from following the sheep to be prince over my people Israel; and I have been with you wherever you went, and have cut off all your enemies from before you; and I will make for you a great name, like the name of the great ones of the earth. And I will appoint a place for my people Israel and will plant them, so that they may live in their own place, and be disturbed no more; and evildoers shall afflict them no more, as formerly, from the time that I appointed judges over my people Israel; and I will give you rest from all your enemies. Moreover the LORD declares to you that the LORD will make you a house. Your house and your kingdom shall be made sure forever before me; your throne shall be established forever.

Romans 16: 26-38 (NRSV)

Now to God who is able to strengthen you according to my gospel and the proclamation of Jesus Christ, according to the revelation of the mystery that was kept secret for long ages but is now disclosed, and through the prophetic writings is made known to all the Gentiles, according to the command of the eternal God, to bring about the obedience of faith-- to the only wise God, through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever! Amen.

Luke 1:26-38 (NRSV)

In the sixth month the angel Gabriel was sent by God to a town in Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David. The virgin's name was Mary. And he came to her and said, "Greetings, favored one! The Lord is with you." But she was much perplexed by his words and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. The angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end." Mary said to the angel, "How can this be, since I am a virgin?" The angel said to her, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God. And now, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son; and this is the sixth month for her who was said to be barren. For nothing will be impossible with God." Then Mary said, "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be with me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her.

Blog Reflection

Every human heart has one thing in common.  Everyone wants to know where home is.  Pumba in The Lion King said: 'Home is where your rump rests."  Bugs Bunny often said: "The sanctity of the American home must be preserved."  The song artist Michael Bublé sings a song called "Home."  Of all the places he's been, he wants to go home.


The reading from the Hebrew Scriptures tells the story of a conversation between God and the prophet Nathan. God wants Nathan to deliver the message to David that God wants a house built where God can dwell.  God calls upon David to recognize God's works among the People of Israel, but God is the one that has no house.   The ark of the Covenant had been buried in a ground so that it would not be desecrated.  God wants Nathan to tell David that it is time for God to have a place where all the people of Israel can come and worship God.  God promises to make David's descendents a place in God's House by which God would bring salvation to God's people.

Christians over the centuries have understood from the Geneology leading up to the birth of Jesus in the very beginning of Matthew's Gospel, that Jesus was born of the line of David.  Thought the intention of such is not meant to be anti-Semitic, it is very easy for this to be understood that somehow Christianity came along and replaced Judaism.  I reiterate here that any religious or spiritual violence towards Judaism by Christians is offensive and non-conforming to the message of the Gospel.  Our Christian Faith is as important to us, as Judaism is to those who practice the Jewish Faith or any other for that matter.

Christians believe that Jesus came as from among David's lineage to be the salvation of those who would come to God through God's beloved Son.  So it is very interesting to find that it is Mary, a young, poor girl betrothed to a man named Joseph who was of the line of David.    But, something mysterious and wonderful happens.

There has been the misleading and inaccurate understanding over the centuries to confuse the virginal conception of Jesus in the womb of Mary to be the act that shames all forms of sexuality.  In particular any sexuality that does not produce children by the conjugal act of a man and woman.  This misconception has been literally beaten to death past the death of the horse by Roman Catholic theologians and saints throughout the ages.  However, such an interpretation and application misses entirely the purpose of Jesus being born through a virgin.

"What the first and third Gospels want us to know is that Jesus--and eventually his movement--represent the destabilization of that gender construction--because at the very level of his very tissues, Jesus has no part in it.  And to the extent that we allow Jesus' life to be our own paradigm, you and I in our spiritual rebirths are ourselves virginally conceived.  The Prologue to the Gospel of John says as much:

But to all who received him, who believed in his name, he gave power to become children of God, who were born, not of blood or of the will of the flesh or of the will of man, but of God. (John 1:12-13).

The notion of the virgin birth is not countersexual.  It is the beginning of God's healing the world's sexuality in Christ.  It is a revolutionary, radical notion; reclaim it from reactionaries."  (Gay Unions in Light of Scripture, Tradition and Reason, by Gray Temple, pages 92-93).

When Mary sings her beautiful Magnificat in Luke 1: 46-55 she sings: "He has shown the strength of his arm; he has scattered the proud in the thoughts of their hearts.  He has brought down the powerful from their thrones and lifted up the lowly; he has filled the hungry with good things and sent the rich away empty."  Mary's song is one that knows that God's grace has indeed touched her life.  God's grace has filled Mary with such an amazing experience of God's transforming love. The Rev. Dr. Titus Presler said this morning at St. Mark's Episcopal Cathedral, God randomly chose Mary for this fullness of Grace at this most precious moment in time.

The exciting news that we find here, is that God wants to build a home to dwell in each of us.  God's house of prayer in the Church and within all of us, has something that God loves so very much that God has made us all full of God's grace.  In us is an opportunity to commune with God and be given that grace to experience God's transforming power.  The transforming random fullness of grace from God calls us to participate in the establishment of justice, equality and inclusion for all people. "There is no longer Jew or Greek, there is no longer slave or free, there is no longer male and female; for all of you are one in Christ Jesus." (Galatians 3:28).

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and queer people and many others due to race, color, gender, religion, religious points of view, wealth status, immigration status etc have all been challenged by church communities who tell a nice tale of being inclusive and/or welcoming until it comes to them and/or their particular situation.   Individuals with emotional and behavioral challenges also find themselves among the "exceptions" to the "opportunities for inclusion." 

The message of the Angel Gabriel to Mary and all of us, is the God is with all of us.  Each of us can be made to be a house for the indwelling of the almighty and graceful God of love.  Our sexual orientation and/or gender identity/expression and all the other "isms" or challenges are not obstacles for God to find a place with them.  In the case of LGBTQ people, changing the essence of who we are and who we sleep with are not required to be a "more acceptable" home for God's fullness of grace.  Just as God was able to randomly use a young woman who's heart was open to be used for a transformation so big that it changed human history, so God can use any one of us at random.  

When people who were once opposed to including LGBT people and other marginalized persons into the Church and all of society, God is randomly using us to "give birth" to the Son of God once again through the fullness of God's grace through us.  When prejudice that has been fed by ignorance and fear, suddenly gives way to being open to being educated about those who are different than ourselves and how we might make friends among those we once stigmatized, God's fullness of grace is at work in us, making history that changes our communities and ourselves.

The Occupy movement is just such a movement that is filled with God's fullness of grace as they are calling on the rich to give just a little more so that the middle class and low income people can have an opportunity to live better.  Fr. Paul has a great blog post about how Mary's Magnificat can challenge the rich to pay a few more taxes.  You can read that blog here.

We are all challenged to take these final days of Advent to prepare for the transition of God making a place for God's Self disclosure in Christ.  What better way to prepare than to know that  by making ourselves more inclusive and the world around us more inclusive, that Christ can be born and reborn through all of us.  We can say together with Mary: "Here am I, the servant of the Lord; let it be done to me according to your word." (Luke 1:38).


Prayers

Purify our conscience, Almighty God, by your daily visitation,
that your Son Jesus Christ, at his coming, may find in us a
mansion prepared for himself; who lives and reigns with you,
in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.
Amen. (Book of Common Prayer, page 212).


O God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, our only Savior,
the Prince of Peace: Give us grace seriously to lay to heart the
great dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions; take away
all hatred and prejudice, and whatever else may hinder us
from godly union and concord; that, as there is but one Body
and one Spirit, one hope of our calling, one Lord, one Faith,
one Baptism, one God and Father of us all, so we may be all
of one heart and of one soul, united in one holy bond of truth
and peace, of faith and charity, and may with one mind and
one mouth glorify thee; through Jesus Christ our Lord.
Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, page 818).


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. (Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Juan de la Cruz, Mystic: Continuing to Be Lead in the Way of Truth is Very Sexy

Today's Scripture Readings

Song of Solomon 3: 1-4 (NRSV)

Upon my bed at night
   I sought him whom my soul loves;
I sought him, but found him not;
   I called him, but he gave no answer.
‘I will rise now and go about the city,
   in the streets and in the squares;
I will seek him whom my soul loves.’
   I sought him, but found him not.
The sentinels found me,
   as they went about in the city.
‘Have you seen him whom my soul loves?’
Scarcely had I passed them,
   when I found him whom my soul loves.
I held him, and would not let him go
   until I brought him into my mother’s house,
   and into the chamber of her that conceived me. 

John 16: 12-15, 25-28 (NRSV)

‘I still have many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. When the Spirit of truth comes, he will guide you into all the truth; for he will not speak on his own, but will speak whatever he hears, and he will declare to you the things that are to come. He will glorify me, because he will take what is mine and declare it to you. All that the Father has is mine. For this reason I said that he will take what is mine and declare it to you.

‘I have said these things to you in figures of speech. The hour is coming when I will no longer speak to you in figures, but will tell you plainly of the Father. On that day you will ask in my name. I do not say to you that I will ask the Father on your behalf; for the Father himself loves you, because you have loved me and have believed that I came from God. I came from the Father and have come into the world; again, I am leaving the world and am going to the Father.’ 

Blog Reflection

Juan de la Cruz also known as John of the Cross is known as one of the greatest mystics in the Church.  He was a recruited and became a companion and a Priest through the influence of Teresa of Avila.  Both of them took on the task of reforming the Calced Carmelites and experienced great suffering from that order. They later opened a new monastery for the Discalced Carmelites.  John was seized and imprisoned in the monastery at Toledo. During that time he wrote poetry. Among his greatest works was Noche obscura del alama (in English means: Dark Night of the Soul). You can find this and more information about Juan de la Cruz in Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints on page 116 with the collects and scripture readings on page 117.

Among the many points made in the Dark Night of the Soul is how we do with God in those times when we are at prayer, reading Scripture or even at the celebration of the Holy Eucharist and we don't exactly feel anything going on.  Prayer feels like a waste of time.  Why read Scripture it is all the same?  Holy Communion is just a little wafer and a sip of altar wine.  What's the point?

The reading from the Song of Solomon suggests that God can be found where ever we are willing to search for God.  Not only does that come from Juan de la Cruz, but it also comes from St.Benedict's ideal of "searching for God" at all times and in all places.  Even when we do not think we will find God there.

Dark Night of the Soul is Juan de la Cruz's reflection on that experience of not feeling God in his soul where he expected to find God. In short John of the Cross says that it is better to be with God without feeling like anything is happening, than being alone with everything going our way.

The Gospel for today's commemoration is among my favorite.  It is a careful reminder that what we know about Jesus and each other as in truth is not completed.  Truth is continually revealing itself and it doesn't come all wrapped up in ideologies, theological treatises or even mystical experiences. The Bible by itself does not contain all truth therein.

That is why I am very happy that the Episcopal and Anglican Traditions do not embrace a "Scripture alone" approach.  Anglicanism includes the Tradition of the Church both the good and the bad and human Reason. Reason is how God is revealed through the experiences of humankind.  Reason can also include scientific discoveries, psychology, physiology and just the common experiences we all share with each other.   It is the understanding that God works through many sources to reveal God's Self.  Reason respects that not everyone has the same experience of God as someone else.  The Anglican Tradition also makes room for independent thinking.

Allowing the Holy Spirit to continue guiding us into all truth also allows for us to better understand and have compassion on people who are different from ourselves.  We can be who we are and be right before God.  But, so can others who are not quite the same.  Even other religions and cultures and their unique traditions.

For many years Christians believed that Scripture, Tradition and Reason held that if one was lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, questioning and/or queer, we could not have a personal relationship with God through Jesus Christ.  Over time, however, the Holy Spirit has been guiding LGBTQ women and men to challenge the Church to examine our understandings of Scripture, Tradition and Reason as to why we can and do have holy relationships with God, others and ourselves.  And that our sexual orientation and/or gender identity expression brings us closer to God, not further away from.  Diverse sexual orientations and/or gender identities/expressions are not barriers to experiencing God, but they are an important part of our personal and spiritual relationships.

How we use the gift of our sexuality in relationships can say a lot about our own journey with ourselves as well as with God.  Are we truly seeking to love the other person (s) with a respect for who she/he is?  Are we allowing another person to draw closer to us as God desires to come close to us and lift us to an experience so great, that it feels like we have arrived in heaven and desire to stay?  Are we seeking images of another nude body or even sexual actions for the sake of witnessing the beautiful love of God's creation in the human body and in sexual expression?  Or are we just seeking to be selfish and only engulfed in our own bodies functions and personal gain?   The two can work together to create a wonderful experience of God, another person (s) and ourselves if we learn to see sexuality as a gift from God and not something to be ashamed of.

As we remember the spiritual contributions of the mystic Juan de la Cruz, let us also take the time to seek an experience of God in those places where we might not expect.

God is also found when we work toward the justice, equality, and full inclusion of all marginalized persons, including but not limited to LGBT people. 

In our Anglican/Episcopal Tradition where we are the via media between Catholic and dynamic Protestant,  we can pray and worship God in the beauty of holiness in the Sacraments and the Word, as well as by sharing the Gospel story through our work and concern for the marginalized in the Church and society.   We don't have to chose one or the other.  We can do both individually and cooperatively.  Doing such is allowing the Holy Spirit to continue to guide us into all truth.


Prayers

Judge eternal, throned in splendor, you gave Juan de la Cruz strength of purpose and mystical faith that sustained him even through the dark night of the soul: Shed your light on all who love you, in unity with Jesus Christ our Savior; who with you and the Holy Spirit lives and reigns, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.  (Holy Women, Holy Men, Celebrating the Saints, page 117).

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). 

Holy Cross Day: Jesus Includes Lifting LGBT People To Himself

Scriptural Basis

John 12:31-36a (NRSV)

Jesus said, "Now is the judgment of this world; now the ruler of this world will be driven out. And I, when I am lifted up from the earth, will draw all people to myself." He said this to indicate the kind of death he was to die. The crowd answered him, "We have heard from the law that the Messiah remains forever. How can you say that the Son of Man must be lifted up? Who is this Son of Man?" Jesus said to them, "The light is with you for a little longer. Walk while you have the light, so that the darkness may not overtake you. If you walk in the darkness, you do not know where you are going. While you have the light, believe in the light, so that you may become children of light."

Blog Reflection

As Christians we know the Cross as the universal symbol of our religion.  Of all the subjects written about in the history of the Christian Church the mystery of what the Cross means is the subject of books, prayers and whole cultures for centuries.

One such image of the Cross that has come to mean a lot for many Americans, is this image of the Cross made out of the World Trade Center after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks.
 
What does the Cross mean that Jesus gave his life on it?  What does the Cross teach us about the real world we live in?  What should our response be to what the Cross has come to mean in our own lives?   These and many questions continue to be asked among Christians.

However, the question that really needs to be asked in our time is what the Cross does not mean.

The Cross does not mean that Christianity supercedes all other religions in the world.

The Cross does not mean that all Christians must conform to one understanding only of the Christian faith.

The Cross really is not a peace symbol.  A tremendous act of violence took place there. Not only for Jesus, but for many people who were oppressed by the Roman Empire.  Crucifixion was an act of capital punishment, but does not make capital punishment an acceptable measure for dealing with crime.

The Cross is not an excuse for violence, prejudice and the dehumanization of other peoples, races, classes, religions, philosophies, cultures, sexual orientations, genders, gender identities and/or expressions.

The Cross does not condone the denial of health care to millions of sick and suffering people all across America.  Nor does the Cross condone people shouting: "Yeah, let them die" when asked if it is okay to tell a 30 year man that he will have no health care while in a coma, because he did not buy his own during a Presidential debate.

Nor does the Cross compliment an outrageous Texas Judicial ruling that the husband of a same-sex couple may not leave his children with his husband because he is "not related."

In the Gospel narrative chosen for this holy day in our Church Tradition, Jesus is talking about throwing down the evil powers of this world, by drawing all to himself.  Jesus draws all to himself in his total act of self-giving love that he exercised not only by the act of allowing himself to die on the Cross. Jesus also demonstrated a life of selfless and sacrificial love by what he did through out his life.   Jesus healed the sick.  Raised the dead.  Welcomed strangers from places outside of his own community, who had been marginalized.  Jesus made deep friendships with women and honored their faith and courage.   Jesus healed the servant and the same sex partner of the Roman Centurion (see Mt. 8:5-13) who would later stand by the Cross and acknowledge that Jesus was the Son of God.  Jesus fulfilled the prophesy of Isaiah 56: 3-5 by recognizing the eunuchs (the gay men) of his time. (See Mt. 19: 10-12).

God desires to draw all people to God's Self, not as others would like them to be, but as they are.  Different ways of living and/or behaving do not prevent God from drawing such people to God's Self.  Sexual orientation does not prohibit God from drawing a lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and/or questioning person to God's Self unless they change.  The decision of two people of the same-gender joining their hearts and lives together in marriage does not keep God from gathering them to God's heart and celebrating their love and the holiness of their life together.


All too often the Cross has been the weapon of choice along with the Bible, to become agents of division among diverse people.  Church leaders, vestries, conferences and ministers can find every use of the Cross to exclude people, but we do not see them using the Cross as the reason every person must be included.

In our Gospel today, Jesus sees his work and mission as one of drawing all to himself.  To do something that changes cultures of hostility, oppression and darkness.  Jesus wants to draw all to himself so that all may know that God loves everyone unconditionally and all-inclusively.


Prayers

Almighty God, whose Son our Savior Jesus Christ was lifted high upon the cross that he might draw the whole world to himself: Mercifully grant that we, who glory in the mystery of our redemption, may have grace to take up our cross and follow him; who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, in glory everlasting. Amen. (Collect for Holy Cross Day, Book of Common Prayer, page 244).

Lord Jesus Christ, you stretched out your arms of love on the hard wood of the Cross that everyone might come within the reach of your saving embrace: So clothe us in your Spirit that we, reaching forth our hands in love, may bring those who do not know you to the knowledge and love of you, for the honor of your Name. Amen.  (Book of Common Prayer, page 101).


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. (Book of Common Prayer, page 833).

Children: Here's Hoping to Better Days Ahead

Jesus often had the harshest things to say to the Religious leaders of his day. The Pharisees would come to Jesus to ask him questions or present him with situations in an attempt to trap him. Jesus never gave in to their tactics and often surprised them with the many things he said or did. Those who lead people in prayer came with an understanding and expectation that their robes and status brought them prestige and honor. For many of them, Jesus was a threat because of his acceptance of those who had been marginalized by the system. Up to the point in today's Gospel of Matthew 19:13 to 22, Jesus had met every challenge and the next would be no exception.

Jesus said: "Let the little children come to me, and do not stop them; for it is to such as these that the kingdom of heaven belongs." (Matthew 19:14).

According to the Collegeville Bible Commentary in the New Testament Volume when Jesus talks of the children here, he is speaking of those who have no legal rights to claim anything. (See Page 888 and 890 for references.) They come with nothing and they have no claim to anything and therefore whatever they receive is understood as a gift from the giver. It is received with gratitude and total dependence upon the one who has given the gift. They trust and they also risk. They often learn the hard way who they should and should not trust. It is by trial and error and no matter how painful the lesson learned is, they keep on looking and trusting and wondering.

How are we in our relationship with God? Do we come to God as God's people knowing full well that all that we receive from God's hand is a gift? Do we understand that every opportunity, every person, every thing big and small is from God. Or do we limit our appreciation of God's gracious love that if it doesn't come quite the way we think it should be, then we are like spoiled brats? If you have fallen into the latter category, you are in the right club. The Church is not for all those who have it together. The Church is here precisely because growing in our understanding of ourselves, one another and God is an every day and every event experience. Today is an opportunity given by God to open up our minds and hearts and to see beyond where we are and allow God to shape our lives by God's goodness.

As part of this blog post for today, I would like to talk specifically about one area in which children are constantly violated and given the wrong message. They come with their child-like innocence and they want to know about the nature of their own bodies. I am of course, talking about sexuality. I am bringing up this topic as part of the reflection on this Gospel, because children often approach the subject of sexuality as a gift to be explored and understood. Yet, all too often over the years and centuries it is the one subject that parents and religious folk have often chased them away from or tried much too hard to control. As a result children often grow up with a false view of their sexuality. And if by chance a child reaches an age of reason where they begin to understand that their sexuality is a bit different than others expectations, the responses given to them are often misguided and show a lack of compassion. This is one of the reasons why homelessness and suicides among LGBT and questioning youth is so high.

Just yesterday in the Advocate there was the story of how one church that was closed down became a place for homeless gay and lesbian teens to find a place to sleep. "A church-turned-shelter for homeless youth in Queens, New York is a far cry from sleeping on the streets after a $200,000 renovation and a partnership with the Ali Forney Center for LGBT youth." This is very great news. However, the issue that brings so many LGBT youth to this stage is not very good news at all. This means that there are still way too many LGBT children, teens and youth who are experiencing rejection from their families when they discover their sexual orientation and/or gender identity. In situations like these, the wrong messages have been sent. It is time to open up hearts and minds to new ways of talking about LGBT issues between parents and their children.

Sexuality whether heterosexual, homosexual, bisexual is a gift from God. A gift from God too is a sense of one's gender and/or their seeing with in them a gender different than the one they currently have. The body is one matter, but the person and the soul within is the one that needs to be loved, cherished and taught how much God and their parents love them no matter what the outcome. Most LGBT children when they later come out often say that their one desire is for their parents and closest friends to know that they are still the same person they always were even though they are gay, lesbian, bisexual or transgendered. When children and youth come out to their parents only to be met with rejection or a parents plea to change, the interior person in the child is just crushed and confused. I have heard story after story of some gay teens and youth who after they came out to their parents were told that if they wanted any money to go to college or if they wanted to participate in the family business, they had to go to gay "change" therapy or ex-gay ministries. These and other efforts including reparative therapy are harmful and destructive. Just this past summer The American Psychological Association produced the results of their study on "change therapy" that showed how harmful such therapies are. Yet, many ministers, Priests, Bishops and parents continue to suggest such ideas to their children when they come out. It is in moments like these that children and their understandings of their sexuality are so violated. It is scandalizing to children and it can destroy their faith. No wonder so many LGBT individuals have rejected the Church that has so often rejected them.

We need to be supporting LGBT and questioning youth services and organizations. We need to help spread the word that sexuality is not a dirty or shameful subject. LGBT and questioning youth are part of God's creation too. They need help to understand the nature of their body and their capacity to love and be loved is a beautiful and wonderful gift. There is also no doubt in my mind that safer sex practices needs to be taught so that children can know and understand how to take responsibility with their own bodies and to be concerned about the health of the bodies of others. This closed discussion and constant message that sex, sexual orientation and/or gender expression and/or identity being a subject of shame, confusion and ugliness has got to stop. Children come with their gift of sexuality all thankful to the One who made them who they are, it is a terrible message for them to receive from a parent, minister, priest, bishop or Pope that somehow their God-given gift to love and be loved by others is somehow less beautiful and wonderful than it is.

O God, giver of every good and perfect gift may we have a thankful heart; help us to be people who see our sexuality as part of your loving plan for our lives. Give to parents the ability to love unconditionally. Help parents when they are told that their child is lesbian, gay, bisexual or transgendered to still see their children as gifts and their sexuality and/or gender expression and/or identity is part of your loving plan for their lives. May there be compassion and understanding. May there be places for run away, questioning or trouble LGBT and other youth to go. May the Church rise up to these and other challenges by responding with the love and compassion and understanding of the Holy Spirit, we ask this through Jesus Christ our Lord. Amen.