By John Brown, St. John the Beloved Cathedral, San Diego, CA
We're your sons
And your daughters,
We're your brothers,
And your sisters,
We are members of your churches
And we love Jesus too.
We share the love of Jesus
To everyone far and wide
For we are gay and we are Christian
Who love Jesus, just like you.
We're your neighbors,
We're your family,
We're your friends
and we're your buddies,
We're your teammates,
We're your room mates,
and your coworkers too,
We struggle to pay the mortgage
And to see the bills paid too,
And we are gay and we are Christians
Who love Jesus, just like you.
We are proud of who God made us,
We are proud that He has saved us,
We are proud that He has called us.
And we are proud to serve Him too,
We are proud that Christ receives us
And His arms are open wide
To all who will receive Him
gay, straight, or otherwise.
We're your sons
And your daughters,
We're your brothers,
And your sisters,
We are members of your churches
And we love Jesus too.
We share the love of Jesus
To everyone far and wide
For we are gay and we are Christian
Who love Jesus, just like you.
Saturday, May 15, 2010
Sunday, May 9, 2010
The Bible Said It - I Believe It!
I'm a fan of bumper sticker theology. I really like the one that says "My Karma ran over your Dogma." - I wish I could be clever like that! But I will reflect on that one another day.
My thought today centers on a bumper sticker that was produced by a fundamentalist Christian church. It simply read: "God Said It - I believe it!" Who would dare argue with what God says? And yet, I couldn't help but feeling like a child who makes a bold declaration then sticks out his toungue and says - " God said it - so there!"
While I don't subscribe to the theology behind this kind of uncritical declaration of faith in the innerant truth of the bible, I do admire the unapologetic in-your-face core belief of those who do. Sometimes, it would be nice to simply quote scripture to defend an argument or to cherry pick a verse that tells another, "see, you are wrong, God said it - now believe it! Sometimes I wonder if those who speak like this don't also secretly stick out their toungues and say - "so there!" But remember what Saint Paul said, "when I was a child, I talked like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child, but when I became a man, I gave up childish ways (1 Cor. 13:11-12). God gave me an adult mind and the power to reason, and an insatiable desire to want to know more by questioning the whys and hows we are to live according the word of God. How come the answers to the really difficult moral, social, and political questions of the day can't simply be answered by a cleverly quoted scripture passage? It sure would be nice it they could. But then again, that is childish thinking.
I was raised in the cerebral loftiness of reflective critical thought and a "faith-chasing-understanding" Roman Catholic theology that poses more questions than it answers, and I am grateful for that. Today, as a priest of the American Catholic church, (an independent branch of the One Holy Catholic Church of the nicene creed), I celebrate the simplicity of a faith tradition that holds to the authentic teaching of Jesus (SCRPITURE) as it was handed down through the apostles (TRADITION), and I am even more grateful for that!
This belief in what is often known as the Deposit of Faith recalls how, for decades before the New Testament was written down, and before the Council of Rome decided on which scriptures would be admitted to the Canon, followers of Jesus muddled along with the questions and struggles of their time and place. It's a belief in the promise of Jesus that the Father would send the Holy Spirit , the Advocate, to "teach you all things, and to remind you all that I told you" (John 14:25-26).
When I read 2 Timothy 2:16 that tells me "all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person of God may be complete, equipped for every good work," I am comforted by the assurance of the power of believing in what God said.
Through my baptism, I was incorporated into "the household of God (is) the Church of the living God (is) the pillar and support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). It was the Church that gave us the New Testament, not the other way round. Jesus never told His disciples to go out and write to all nations, but to go out and "teach to all nations and to preach the Good News to every creature" (Matthew 28:16-20).
Today, as in the time of the early Church, we are faced with the difficult questions of our time and place in in history. The Church lives and breaths with a healthy set of two lungs: Scripture and Tradition. The divine breath she inhales flows in and out of the same divine well-spring and together makes up one sacred deposit of faith from which the Church derives its certainty of what God said so that I can believe it, and I am most grateful for that!
On this Mother's Day, along with the mother who gave me life and love, I say "Thank you mum!" and on this Mother's Day to the Mother Church that gives me spirit and life, I say "Thank you!
My thought today centers on a bumper sticker that was produced by a fundamentalist Christian church. It simply read: "God Said It - I believe it!" Who would dare argue with what God says? And yet, I couldn't help but feeling like a child who makes a bold declaration then sticks out his toungue and says - " God said it - so there!"
While I don't subscribe to the theology behind this kind of uncritical declaration of faith in the innerant truth of the bible, I do admire the unapologetic in-your-face core belief of those who do. Sometimes, it would be nice to simply quote scripture to defend an argument or to cherry pick a verse that tells another, "see, you are wrong, God said it - now believe it! Sometimes I wonder if those who speak like this don't also secretly stick out their toungues and say - "so there!" But remember what Saint Paul said, "when I was a child, I talked like a child, thought like a child, reasoned like a child, but when I became a man, I gave up childish ways (1 Cor. 13:11-12). God gave me an adult mind and the power to reason, and an insatiable desire to want to know more by questioning the whys and hows we are to live according the word of God. How come the answers to the really difficult moral, social, and political questions of the day can't simply be answered by a cleverly quoted scripture passage? It sure would be nice it they could. But then again, that is childish thinking.
I was raised in the cerebral loftiness of reflective critical thought and a "faith-chasing-understanding" Roman Catholic theology that poses more questions than it answers, and I am grateful for that. Today, as a priest of the American Catholic church, (an independent branch of the One Holy Catholic Church of the nicene creed), I celebrate the simplicity of a faith tradition that holds to the authentic teaching of Jesus (SCRPITURE) as it was handed down through the apostles (TRADITION), and I am even more grateful for that!
This belief in what is often known as the Deposit of Faith recalls how, for decades before the New Testament was written down, and before the Council of Rome decided on which scriptures would be admitted to the Canon, followers of Jesus muddled along with the questions and struggles of their time and place. It's a belief in the promise of Jesus that the Father would send the Holy Spirit , the Advocate, to "teach you all things, and to remind you all that I told you" (John 14:25-26).
When I read 2 Timothy 2:16 that tells me "all scripture is inspired by God and is profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the person of God may be complete, equipped for every good work," I am comforted by the assurance of the power of believing in what God said.
Through my baptism, I was incorporated into "the household of God (is) the Church of the living God (is) the pillar and support of the truth" (1 Timothy 3:15). It was the Church that gave us the New Testament, not the other way round. Jesus never told His disciples to go out and write to all nations, but to go out and "teach to all nations and to preach the Good News to every creature" (Matthew 28:16-20).
Today, as in the time of the early Church, we are faced with the difficult questions of our time and place in in history. The Church lives and breaths with a healthy set of two lungs: Scripture and Tradition. The divine breath she inhales flows in and out of the same divine well-spring and together makes up one sacred deposit of faith from which the Church derives its certainty of what God said so that I can believe it, and I am most grateful for that!
On this Mother's Day, along with the mother who gave me life and love, I say "Thank you mum!" and on this Mother's Day to the Mother Church that gives me spirit and life, I say "Thank you!
Saturday, May 1, 2010
I may not have come over on the Mayflower, but I got here as soon as I could!
By Fr. Dermot Rodgers, MA., M Div.
On May 15, 2010, I will mark my thirtieth anniversary of coming to the United States.
After thirty years of living through five presidencies, several wars in Eastern Europe, several more in the Middle East, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, enough experience of the ups and downs of the American economy to earn a degree in economics, our deafening silence during the Rwandan genocide, countless natural disasters, including hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, the home-grown terror attacks in Oklahoma and Columbine, and of course, the terrible events of 9/11 - I believe I have earned the right to call myself AN AMERICAN!
In my thirty years of living in the United States, I have had the privilege of studying philosophy at Borromeo College of Ohio, theology at Oblate College, Washington, D.C. and spending my adult life serving in parishes from Pittsburgh, PA, to Fall River, MA and Adjuntas, PR and now in San Diego, CA. I have had the unique blessing of caressing and anointing the foreheads of newborn babies in baptism, anointing and kissing the wrinkled and bruised hands of older people as they closed their eyes for the last time, joining the hands of young people as they made solemn vows to love each other in good times and in bad, all the days of their lives, and counseling victims of unspeakable abuse at the hands of fathers, uncles, teachers, boy scout leaders, ministers, teachers – and yes – priests like me. I believe I have earned the right to call myself A CHRISTIAN!
I count among my American heroes, the always witty, genius and endearing, Benjamin Franklin, the feisty no-nonsense nun, Frances Cabrini, and the eloquent and barrier-breaking, Barack Obama. There are many others, who have inspired me to action, brought me to my knees in prayer, and caused tears of joy and laughter to roll down my cheeks – but I cannot even begin to name them all.
It has always been my joy to welcome immigrants like me, teaching ESL, GED and citizenship classes. I am grateful to mentors and leaders who have given me the opportunity to share what I have learned, both in the classroom and at large so that the promise of a new life in America as a place where anyone who comes here with a dream can make it come true.
I am grateful that we sing of this country as the “home of the brave and the land of the free” so that in my own life, I could find the courage to come out of a dark closet and into the warm light of self-acceptance and feel the warm embrace of true friends and a loving family. With them by my side, I embrace the right to call myself A PROUD GAY MAN!
Indeed, these thirty years in America have been quite a voyage of discovery. I have discovered things about humanity, God and myself, that I would not otherwise have come to know and love if my ship had not sailed ‘ere those thirty years ago.
I have taken many journeys since then and occasionally, when I came to a fork in the road, I took the road less traveled - and that has made all the difference.
So, on May 15, 2010, hopefully in the company of friends old and new, I will raise a glass and drink a toast to - ALL “my fellow Americans”….I may not have come over on the Mayflower, but I got here as soon as I could. God Bless you all! And God bless America!
On May 15, 2010, I will mark my thirtieth anniversary of coming to the United States.
After thirty years of living through five presidencies, several wars in Eastern Europe, several more in the Middle East, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the fall of the Berlin Wall, enough experience of the ups and downs of the American economy to earn a degree in economics, our deafening silence during the Rwandan genocide, countless natural disasters, including hurricanes Andrew and Katrina, the home-grown terror attacks in Oklahoma and Columbine, and of course, the terrible events of 9/11 - I believe I have earned the right to call myself AN AMERICAN!
In my thirty years of living in the United States, I have had the privilege of studying philosophy at Borromeo College of Ohio, theology at Oblate College, Washington, D.C. and spending my adult life serving in parishes from Pittsburgh, PA, to Fall River, MA and Adjuntas, PR and now in San Diego, CA. I have had the unique blessing of caressing and anointing the foreheads of newborn babies in baptism, anointing and kissing the wrinkled and bruised hands of older people as they closed their eyes for the last time, joining the hands of young people as they made solemn vows to love each other in good times and in bad, all the days of their lives, and counseling victims of unspeakable abuse at the hands of fathers, uncles, teachers, boy scout leaders, ministers, teachers – and yes – priests like me. I believe I have earned the right to call myself A CHRISTIAN!
I count among my American heroes, the always witty, genius and endearing, Benjamin Franklin, the feisty no-nonsense nun, Frances Cabrini, and the eloquent and barrier-breaking, Barack Obama. There are many others, who have inspired me to action, brought me to my knees in prayer, and caused tears of joy and laughter to roll down my cheeks – but I cannot even begin to name them all.
It has always been my joy to welcome immigrants like me, teaching ESL, GED and citizenship classes. I am grateful to mentors and leaders who have given me the opportunity to share what I have learned, both in the classroom and at large so that the promise of a new life in America as a place where anyone who comes here with a dream can make it come true.
I am grateful that we sing of this country as the “home of the brave and the land of the free” so that in my own life, I could find the courage to come out of a dark closet and into the warm light of self-acceptance and feel the warm embrace of true friends and a loving family. With them by my side, I embrace the right to call myself A PROUD GAY MAN!
Indeed, these thirty years in America have been quite a voyage of discovery. I have discovered things about humanity, God and myself, that I would not otherwise have come to know and love if my ship had not sailed ‘ere those thirty years ago.
I have taken many journeys since then and occasionally, when I came to a fork in the road, I took the road less traveled - and that has made all the difference.
So, on May 15, 2010, hopefully in the company of friends old and new, I will raise a glass and drink a toast to - ALL “my fellow Americans”….I may not have come over on the Mayflower, but I got here as soon as I could. God Bless you all! And God bless America!
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