The diaspora, "a group of people who live outside the area in which they had lived for a long time or in which their ancestors lived." For many reasons, Catholics have experienced separation from the place where they grew up, where their ancestors lived. They live in the diaspora. The ministry of Catholics in the Diaspora is focused on reaching out to these members of the family of faith, a community that is one with the great cloud of believers. Please journey with us.
It has been quite sometime since I found myself in a place
where the imperative to write has been this strong.Life has marched on with its daily challenges
to be engaged in and present to the baptismal call to be “a holy nation, a
people set apart.”
Today, I am preparing for leading a Morning Prayer service
at the national gathering of Call to Action in Albuquerque, NM.I selected Nan Merrill’s paraphrase of
Psalm 36 as part of the service months ago.In this time of national transition, these
words touch me in a new way.
I hurt me at a visceral level to see the people I know and
cherish turning toward judgmental, shaming words focused on their neighbors and
friends.Many years ago, I lead hundreds
of high school students through an exercise that challenged them to pause
before having sexual encounters at a party by closing their eyes and seeing my
face.They all shrieked and laughed! (as
well they should.) It was a moment that brought front and center the idea of
“think before you act.”
Here we are at the open door of new leadership in the
United States of America.We know a
great deal about the groundwork being laid. We know Rudy Giuliani, Newt
Gingrich, Jeff Sessions and Chris Christy.We may not all agree with them but we know them. To know them gives each
of us important information on at least the basic framework that is
emerging.This knowledge must begin to
shape how we will each move forward in the dialectic that we cherish in this
nation of ours.
The great challenge for the Catholic in the Diaspora as it
is for all the baptized is to close our eyes and before we make a statement
that demeans or shames, no don’t see my face (although that will make you laugh
and break the tension), look into God’s eyes. See the Love that makes this
moment possible and respond in charity.
Do not fall prey to
Ignorance lives deep
in the hearts
Of those who know not
Love;
There is not reverence
for Truth
Before their eyes
Public figure, public policy, laws and governments can only
modify the structures in which we live.Fortunately, the rights of assembly and speech continue to be bedrock of
the USA.This freedom is extraordinary.
The change of the heart comes from another place.It is changed hearts that bring respect and
grace to any social framework.
Being agents of the heart in the framework of our political
process is the call of the baptized.Keep looking into the eyes of the Loving One and believe those who have been called, whether they
are Jews or Greeks, slave or free we believe in
a Christ who is both the power of God and
the wisdom of God.”Be the living expression of the freedom that
is ours in baptism.It is the freedom of
those who
Draw us in the Spirit's tether; For when humbly, in thy name,
Two or three are met together, Thou art in the midst of them:
Alleluya! Alleluya! Touch we now thy garment's hem.
As the brethren used to gather In the name of Christ to sup,
Then with thanks to God the Father Break the bread and bless the cup,
Alleluya! Alleluya! So knit thou our friendship up.
All our meals and all our living Make us sacraments of thee,
That be caring, helping, giving, We may true disciples be.
Alleluya! Alleluya! We will serve thee faithfully.
Percy Deamer (1867-1936)
Where two or three are
gathered in my name, I am in the midst of them.
A challenge of being a
Catholic in the Diaspora is the lack of community. There are few places where
we can gather in prayer, share the challenges and joys of our journey in faith,
and just have a good time laughing or crying.
The absence of this connection is painful. The disciples of Jesus gathered and shared
their fears and joys. We are called to
do the same.
But how? Where? When? These are questions I ask myself. Many of you
have posed the same and expressed hope that such an opportunity could develop.
So, with faith in the
Spirit and the urging of my friends, I
am floating the idea of a community of prayer.
I keep coming back to the idea that this eclectic group of seekers could
come together as a contemporary expression of the ancient traditions of
celebration, contemplation and action of the Roman Rite. I imagine a
confederation of people radical in the desire to return to the roots of faith
in the Baptismal call and contemporary in imperative to be in the messiness of
our daily living.
I also have this idea that
it might be time to explore the impact of rearranging the order of the
mass. I surely know all he reason why this
should “not” happen. I am not saying it
“should” but might it?
We are told, “When supper
was ended He took the cup…” (1 Cor 25) The singing of songs followed the meal. (Mark 14:26)
Today we close the family meal,
well that is when the sports schedule permits, with conversation. Even when we sing “Happy birthday”, we follow the
song with delicious delights and then conversation that tells tales of
birthdays long past. Over looking the
complication of the sports line-up, long, intimate sharing of stories around
the table bond the family linking the older generation to emerging future. These are the conversations that pass on
family stories, link the future generations to the past and strengthen the
bonds of family. This has been widely studied by scholars and reported in the
literature.
It is no mistake that the
important business meeting also center around a shared meal. Although a sale might happen before the main
course is served, it is the informal conversation that accompanies that
cappuccino that solidifies the relationship.
Why can’t this be a model for a Eucharistic
meal?
What I propose is
beginning with introductory rites that look at the collective praise of God and
seeking forgiveness. Then the Liturgy of
the Eucharist is the meal we celebrate together in faith. It nourishes us and fills us with the light
of understanding that enveloped the apostles at Emmaus, “And they knew him in the breaking of the
bread.” (Luke 24:13-35
Then filled with this
intimate knowing of Jesus and torn open by the gifts of the Spirit, we share
the stories of faith in the Liturgy of the Word. “Our hearts are opened” and the stories of
faith come alive. Like the family meal, nourished and well fed, we share the stories
of our faith and support each other for the work of church in the world.
Worship closes with a
commissioning.
I shared this idea with a
fellow pastoral musician who was aghast and said “There will be no one in the
church. You know everyone will leave
after communion!” I take this as a very sad
commentary on the state of the parish experience of the Eucharistic
celebration. “It is all about ‘getting
communion’ ,” he said. I must sadly
agree. This has been my experience as well.
I will stop here to give
you time to ponder. Your thoughts?
“Home is where
the heart is” Can the Roman Rite be “home” for me?
Whimsically, I
selected “Home Is Where the Heart Is: Being LGBTQI & Home in the Catholic
Church” as the title for
webinar to sponsored by Call to Action (register here if you are interested).The
description of the webinar is
I am so often asked, “How can you stay in THE Church?” For me it
all comes down to the adage that “Home is where the heart is.” Being
“home” and in relationship with “family” is always a complicated dance of
acceptance, boundaries, and frankly, God’s grace. In this webinar, I will
share some of my experiences in the struggle as a gay man in and out of the
church as a pastoral musician, AIDS provider, and family member. Our dialogue
will include an open forum for discussion and mutual support. To get us
started, I propose a few guiding questions:
How do/can LGBTQI Catholics reconcile who they are and still invest in
the faith they love?
What “best practices” have worked for you/others in navigating the
LGBTQI-Church relationship?
In what ways can Catholicism spiritually nourish and support our LGBTQI
brothers and sisters in their faith journey?
Did to take on more than I can “chew?”
As you may or may not know, I am a cradle to, as
it appears, grave, Roman.Formed by a
father who was an iconic U of Notre Dame guy and church musician, mom who embodies
the mystical tradition of the church, Dominican Sisters and friars, and on and
on…you get the picture.I lived the
agony of the reforms of the Second Vatican Council defending the changes and
embracing all that came with these monumental reforms in a household where the
Notre Dame man felt betrayed.
As a result, playing out my story and my dear
friend Michael would say, my pastoral music ministry has been one of moving
Roman congregations along the way the path to a “fuller more conscious”
participation in liturgy.In my
non-Roman rite work, I have applied the same theological foundations to
resolving congregational conflicts (They always happen around music.).
This same foundation has shaped my work in public
health, education and swimming instruction.We are called to be community.I
hold these opening paragraphs of Music in
Catholic Worship close to my heart (emphasis is mine),
1.
A person is a Christian because through the Christian community he has met
Jesus Christ, heard his word in invitation, and responded to him in faith.
Christians gather at Mass that they may hear and express their faith again in
this assembly and, by expressing it, renew and deepen it.
2.
We do not come to meet Christ as if he were absent from the rest of our lives.
We come together to deepen our awareness of, and commitment to, the action of
his Spirit in the whole of our lives at every moment. We come together to
acknowledge the love of God poured out among us in the work of the Spirit, to
stand in awe and praise.
4.
People in love make signs of love, not
only to express their love but also to deepen it. Love never expressed
dies. Christians' love for Christ and for each other, Christians' faith in
Christ and in each other, must be expressed in the signs and symbols of
celebration or it will die.
There you have
it; I am Roman.
My
reconciliation and peace with this admission has not come without struggle and
constant reflection.
I always come
back to this same, all-important phrase “People in love make signs of love….” I/We
are recipients of that great love that is unfailing, unquestioning, and
unimaginable.Wrapped in this love, I
know the truth of the psalmist, “The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom
should I fear? The lord’s is my life’s refuge, of whom should I be afraid?”
So how does
this make it possible to be a member of the Roman rite? Because I am. Fully
initiated into the family of faith. Period.
I/we all come
from families where, no matter how well meaning, have their own level of
dysfunction.There is no “perfect”
family. Why? In life, each individual takes from the experience what he or she
does and those experiences form him or her.Family systems are tough, complex and ever human As adults, we respond
to these earliest relationships as we accept, reject, modify, manage, reframe,
re-envision, heal, suffer, rejoice, hold warm memories, relive nightmares…
In the end, we
either chose to make peace with that kaleidoscope of experience or not.
So it is with
the hierarchical structure of the Roman Rite.It is an institution into which I was born.Like the Department of Motor Vehicles, it is
a bureaucratic organization that embodies the best and worst of such a
structure.They are enduring, reliable
and highly structured. They are also very slow to change, riddled with
political intrigue, and exist to maintain themselves.Ultimately, I had to ask myself, can I going
to carry anger toward this nameless, faceless entity at the expense of my
relationship with God and the community of faith?
My answer, I
am going to try to dissipate my anger and develop a management plan that brings
me the best of the tradition without the persistent, dull pain of expecting
anything from an institution.
I am a “person
in love” looking to “express my love to deepen it” with Jesus, in Jesus.The tradition, not the institution, offers a
richness in history and spirituality upon which I can draw.For example, a constant thread that runs
through the tradition is the gathering of faithful seekers eager to find a new
way.Time and again, these faithful
became communities that embraced the gospel message in a way, contemporary for
their time.Sometimes these communities
survived into future generations; sometimes they came to a close more
quickly.
The annual
meeting of the National Catholic AIDS Conference was a powerful expression of
this coming together.Each year people
of faith, many not Romans, from strata of society, ecclesial rank, sexual
orientation and life experience join to be Eucharist.We gathered inreflection, discussion, parties and ritual to
make these few days the “source and summit” of our lived experience of
faith.
Models of Church, the classic reflection by Avery
Dulles, SJ, provides an alternative framework for placing this experience in
context.Only one of the models he
proposes is the Church as Institution.Although Dulles ultimately rejected his own reflections in favor of a
single model, they do tap into a richness that opens rich pathways for me.Church Herald, Servant, Sacrament, Community,
and School of Discipleship each offer an important vision of the Living God as
expressed as the people of the font.As
we rise from the font these reflections define the community to which we belong
and the road to freedom in faith.
So, as the
institution works to maintain itself, even in the face of Pope Francis, we the
People of God move forward.God knows,
no one is created “intrinsically disordered.”No one is outside the Love that is God.No one is beyond the reach of a home in the company of saints.We
are created in the image and likeness of God. We are of God. How can God, then,
hate an aspect of God?Can God create
and aspect of God’s self as disordered?
Ultimately,
words hurt.The language of fear and
hate that the Institution continues to promulgate are hurtful and
dangerous.They do not, however, define
us unless we embrace that definition.The Institution, like our family of origin, organizes our life in our
earliest experiences. As adults we grow and have the personal responsibility to
make peace with these formative years as an essential element of becoming an
integrated adult.
The same holds
true with the Institutional Church.To
grow beyond our childhood understanding of Church and faith, we face the
realities of the Institution directly and look beyond their limitations to the ever-living
love of God.
Rome is my home, my family, dysfunctional, flawed, sinful and human as it is. I was formed and shaped in this morass of Incarnational mess. As an adult, I chose to focus on the gifts of bountiful grace that are mine despite all; focus on the love I have known as the People of God "share signs of love."
The great invitation of God, is to live under the shadow of love and live in great delight. This is the eternal sign of love.
Such it is,
living in the Diaspora.
I
Sat Down
Sir
Edward Bairstow
I sat down under his shadow with great
delight, and his fruit was sweet to my taste. He brought me to the banqueting
house, and his banner over me was love. (Song of Songs 2:3,4)
Monday, June 13, 2016
The Darkness of Hell Descends on Orlando
Holy is the true light, and passing wonderful, lending radiance to them that endured in the heat of the conflict: from Christ they inherit a home of unfailing splendour, wherein they rejoice with gladness evermore.
Translated from the Salisbury Diurnal by G. H. Palmer
When I heard about the tragedy in Orlando, I
immediately thought of an often spoken comment from people of my generation, “I
am not gay enough…..” And wrongly, I will admit, said to myself, “Maybe
this will let the young ones know that there was a struggle and it continues.”
Yup, a far too narcissistic response to a global tragedy.
Then, I wept for loss. I wept for the pain of the
parents and friends; wept of the lost innocence; wept because it could have
been me and my friends; wept imagining that my parents/family/friends/you were
receiving this notification……
In the face of this, it is not hard for me to pray
for this deeply trouble gunman. We know today that he was being followed
by the FBI but had never taken action. He was mentally unstable, given to
relationship violence. The man needed help.
The blame game sickens me. This one didn’t
do their job. The other overlooked something. Getting guns was too easy.
On and on it goes.
The gospels are clear. Obama got it right: what hurts one of us hurts us all. For Catholics, we are reminded of the
mystical body of Christ. We are each responsible for building the kingdom by
applying two commandments:m Love God. Love your neighbor as yourself.
That’s it. This gunman and his family require our prayers. We
don't have an option. Those like him, require our prayers. In them we see the results of the lack of charity and understanding in a world which by our
actions and the words we foster in our daily life. We jump to into blaming, condemning, marginalizing, finger pointing without any attempt to understand with a compassionate, understanding heart. We judge others as we judge ourselves, harshly.
On the broader scale, mental health issues are our
issues to address. Where is the system that helps treat the millions of
emotional frail people who roam our streets and populate our jails? We
provide nothing to support and treat them.
A dear friend called this incident “the darkness
of hell”In it, we have an important
calling. “God is Light in in God is no darkness” We are called to
be the embodiment of the light "that dispels the darkness of fear” and be
the vehicles of grace that is love. This is the fight as I see it.
This fight begins within each of us.Are we really able to “love our neighbor as ourself?”Do we love “ourself” enough? Or, are we
bringing our true feelings about or self in the eyes of God to life in the
world by our complicit support of hate, inadequate systems of care, withholding
the Love that conquers evil?
I pray for the dead, their families and friends, for the gunman and his family all of whom have experienced such pain and suffering. I pray for each of us that we have the courage to be the light in the darkness the world, in its pain, so desperately needs.
MAy the boundless love that is the resurrection from the dead fill their lives and ours with grace.
And Miriam the prophetess, the sister of Aaron, took a timbrel in her hand; and all the women went out after her with timbrels and with dances. And Miriam answered them: —
(Exodus xv: 20, 21)
Soprano Solo and Chorus
Sing ye to the Lord, for He hath triumphed gloriously; the horse and his rider hath He thrown into the sea.
(Exodus xv: 21)
It has been awhile. My sharing with you ended on the Second Sunday of Easter. It has been busy. The post Easter mystagogy, that turning toward the word and living the Resurrection, has been quite busy and wrought with distractions. Glad to have a minute to share some thoughts.
I left the story with the encounter with the risen Jesus. With Miriam, we sang, “I will sing to the Lord, He is gloriously triumphant. Horse and chariot are cast into the sea.”
However did they come back, chasing me through the Red Sea of my life? Those horses, chariots, and charioteers are persistent and pernicious. Didn’t I take care of this on Easter? It hasn’t even been 40 days.
To reconnect with the Easter message, I went back to read various commentators who wrote on or around Easter. Many wrote that we live stuck in Holy Saturday. This has not settled into my heart as true.
Consider, the apostles are in the upper room, likely sitting Shiva, telling stories of their beloved friend. Wrapped in their rent garments, they consoled each other and prepared themselves for a life without their teacher.
Was it enough for them to have an experience of the risen Jesus, not once but twice? Is it enough for us?
I suspect not. I suggest that it is not Holy Saturday that holds us with a false sense of safety. Rather, we live in the upper room of the post Resurrection experience. Time and time again, we are visited by our risen Friend and in our comfort with the memories of the past cannot understand the greeting, “Peace; Do not be afraid.”
Holding to the past, keeping our fears alive, choosing to live sitting shiva, rejecting peace keeps those chariots and charioteers alive. How quickly we have forgotten the ecstatic energy of Easter morning.
We believe that we are transformed by the grace of resurrection in our baptism. The time is now to put those chariots and charioteers to rest and say yes to the ecstatic peace that overcame Miriam. Our call is to leave the upper room and live the life of the transformed and be Miriam.
On this first night of Passover, don’t miss a chance to “Sing unto the Lord….he has triumphed gloriously! Shalom.
I was fortunate to be asked to post a response to the question "How Do I meet The Risen Christ?" for Call to Action. Check out my response http://cta-usa.org/easter-reflections/
