The following is a talk written by Joseph Gentilini, given at the retreat on October 13, 2007.

Two Main Points:

• When I speak of gay sexuality, please also hear "straight, bisexual, or transgendered sexuality, however you identify.
• I have taken many of the points discussed from two books below, both in quotes and paraphrasing:
  1. McNeill, John. Freedom, Glorious Freedom: The Spiritual Journey to the Fullness of Life for Gays, Lesbians, and Everybody Else. Published by Beacon Press. 1995.
  2. Martin, James. Becoming Who You Are: Insights on the true self from Thomas Merton and other Saints. Published by Hidden Spring, an imprint of Paulist Press, 2006

When we sang a refrain from Psalm 139 and then read it a few minutes ago, did we see how clear it is that God knows us intimately - through and through - because God created us in love. I would like to suggest this morning that God invites us to know ourselves intimately, to accept and love ourselves AS WE ARE, and then to take the risk to share who we are with others and also with God.

There are probably as many versions of "gay spirituality" as there are gay and lesbian persons. Some are fairly traditional and some are new age and beyond. All are on a journey to God, however this person or phenomenon is believed or visualized. I believe it is a journey to wholeness that we live. We are Radical Faeries, drag queens, dykes, fems, leathermen and women, Christians, Jews, Moslems, non-religious, and others. Ideally, we do not judge one another but instead give support in our journeys. My gay spirituality involves participation with my Dignity family and Defenders, and is rooted in Catholic Christianity and the Paschal Mystery -- the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

by Joe Gentilini

Readings

• Is 53:10-11
• Heb 4:14-16
• Mk 10:35-45

"Whoever wishes to be great will be your servant." True greatness and holiness consists in self-sacrifice, in handing ourselves over for the sake of others. In this way, all authentic greatness and holiness mirror the goodness of God whose love always takes the form of mercy.

My own experience and insights have taught me that at the core of the cosmos and of life there has always been suffering and this is a mystery to me. While I don't understand it, I believe there is a purpose to suffering and one way I deal with it is to unite it with the Cross of Jesus Christ. For me this involves accepting the pain of loving someone else when I don't feel like it; it involves accepting the frustration of listening to someone who needs to talk when I would rather do something else; it involves praying for the person who hates me because I'm gay, knowing that they feel so smug in their own self-righteousness. It means living out the contemplative witness to the truth of our lives, even when this is not pain free. Out of these little deaths come my participation in the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Homily given by Don Domenico
October 2003

Mother Teresa was Beatified in Rome this last Wednesday which is the step preceding the naming of Mother Teresa as a Saint. All of us are familiar with her selfless work in helping the poorest of the poor. What is of interest is the writings of confidants and biographers of Mother Teresa. Evidently, Mother Teresa had an intimacy with God for a short time early in her life (around 1946) - but once she started working in India, Mother Teresa felt abandoned by God. Richard Ostting writes:

“Mother Teresa was afflicted with feelings of abandonment by God from the very start of her work among the homeless children and dying persons in Calcutta’s slums. From all available evidence, this experience persisted until her death five decades later, except for a brief interlude in 1958.”

January 2004

I must admit that I struggled with feeling comfortable providing today’s reflection on “Holy Family Sunday”. So much so, that this morning, I attended Mass at Newman---I guess hoping that the priest’s homily would inspire me to great thoughts, or lowly plagiarism, whichever came first. Best laid plans---today was Newman’s ‘forward thinking’ day, where they, like us, allowed members of the congregation to preach.

A married couple did the honors, and initially, for me anyway, their talk exemplified what was making me most uncomfortable about how I should reflect. They started off by talking about how many Christmas cards portray the Holy Family as a perfect trio, haloes and all and, they pointed out that this portrait is inconsistent with the reality of the lives most families lead today.

Today is the Feast of Corpus Christi, the Body of Christ. There are the obvious and most literal meanings to today’s readings and there are other, more hidden maybe, but still full of meaning for me and hopefully for you.

In the ancient Jewish tradition sacrifice was always important. Abraham almost sacrificed his son for God but usually it involved the sacrifice of an animal. The Aztec Indians built a culture around blood sacrifices. Sometimes this involved the human sacrifice of virgins and/or children – someone untainted. Why? Because human beings were trying to bond with the divine and blood connects everything to life. There has always been a human response to the Divine that wants to “give back” to God, to give something of life back to a living God.

Reflection by Mark Matson
September 11, 2004

Today we mark the 3rd anniversary of the unbelievable events in New York, Pennsylvania and Washington. Our country has changed dramatically since that day. We have been led into a war that has taken over 1000 lives and billions in resources and generated a whole new flock of terrorists. We have alienated allies and our national symbols are desecrated in the streets of cities all over the world. We are fearful of what may happen next. We have tolerated a curtailment of our freedoms by our own government in order to be safer. We cannot provide affordable health care to a substantial portion of our population, repair decaying infrastructure or provide for after-school care and activities. We speak with great bluster and bravado about “winning the war on terrorism”. Seems to me the terrorists are winning. They have hooked us. We are obsessed with defeating them. We are diverting the majority of our energy and resources into that effort. And anger is our source of energy. It looks like we are in control – but our obsession is in fact disempowering us. All a terrorist has to do is say “boo!” in the dark and we mobilize.

I grew up in a large family so mornings were hectic. First of all, we had two bathrooms and eleven people to get ready for work or school in about one hour. It meant you had to be prepared well in advance. It was a challenge to get the hot water for a shower or the dry towel or the first piece of coffeecake or bowl of “Cream of Wheat.” We older children each had a younger sibling we were responsible for.

I can remember my mother being Oh so cheery in the morning. She would sing our “Rise and Shine. Time to get up.” I hated to get up especially during the winter. The floor was cold and the morning light had yet to make its presence known.

The DignityUSA Biennial Convention has come and gone. The convention was truly an extraordinary event. Our hats are off to the Philadelphia Chapter for a job well done. From the opening liturgy, which with ended with a Mummers Band marching into the hall, to a concert with Jason and DeMarco, and the Parade of Banners, the opening session was truly remarkable and which most definitely set the mark for the rest of the convention.

The next few days were filled with remarkable speakers, fantastic workshops and cuisine which were spectacular. Our keynote speaker, Chrissy Gephardt gave an incredibly strong and inspiring keynote speech.