Sitting in a Catholic Church on a Sunday, one can’t help but get caught up in the mystery of the celebration taking place at the altar. Whether we consider the mystical nature of the formulas we pronounce at different parts of the Mass or the solemn way in which we process to receive the Eucharist, there is something austere and yet majestic about the entire service. Just as the service itself is a mystery, in looking around the church on a Sunday I’m left wondering what stories are hidden beneath the faces of individual parishioners. In these moments, I am reminded of the beautiful diversity that makes up the body of Christ; however, I am equally cognizant of the pain that some members of that body may feel. I’m aware of this pain, because I am among those who endure it.
Since moving back to the Hudson Valley in July 2010, I’ve found it difficult to find a community as welcoming as the Church of St. Francis Xavier in New York City. Perhaps it’s because the parish was so open to all people without exception and truly lived, what I perceive, to be the message of Christ. A message founded in the love for, and acceptance, of all of God’s creation without exception. It was not uncommon to walk into this Church located in the heart of Chelsea on any given Sunday and witness a service dedicated to a specific cause related to social justice. Whether those assembled at the Church of St. Francis Xavier were speaking out for the rights of those living with a disability or standing up for the gay and lesbian people of Uganda, the congregation was witnessing the justice and peace that Christ promised. Today, I attend Mass at a much smaller church in the Hudson Valley and often wonder whether my silence is out of respect for the solemn way in which Mass is celebrated or out of fear of being ostracized. Is this the community that Christ had in mind when he proclaimed “I was a stranger and you welcomed me” (MT 25:35)? Or by my silence, am I denying the community the right to know who I truly am?
As someone who once thought that pursuing the priesthood would be the avenue by which to work for change in the Church with regards to its teachings on homosexuality, attending Mass as a layman in the Hudson Valley, I’m left wondering whether change of such magnitude is really possible. Yet, within this question of “possibility,” I find comfort in the great contributions that the Church has made throughout history. Whether speaking out against war, fighting for the rights of the hungry and the thirsty, or supporting the rights of working Americans, the Church has been and is still called to be a bearer of justice. As members of the laity, we have an obligation to remind the Church of its role as the great protector of justice and human rights. Still though amidst the great works of the Church, gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender Catholics continue to be promised compassion, yet denied a validation of the love that they have for their partners. This is not an issue that I anticipate the Church to resolve over night, but this is an issue that I believe commands great discernment by the Church’s leadership of the love that is clearly expressed by countless same-sex couples. Amidst this call for discernment, I wonder if there will come a day when all humanity will truly be welcomed into the house of God as being created in His likeness? Will there come a day when our voices will no longer succumb to the silence that they have become all too comfortable with? Or will silence continue and therefore be complicit in the lack of change? These are questions that only time will reveal the answer to. Yet, as I re-read the Gospel reading for Sunday (MT 5:38-48), I take refuge in the words of Christ:
Pray for those who persecute you,
that you may be children of your heavenly Father
In reading these words, we are reminded to pray that the dualistic approach of Catholic social teaching on homosexuality may change as the world experiences the love evident between same-sex partners and their families. As a gay Catholic, I’m sometimes left wondering why I choose to attend services at a Church that on the one hand promises “respect, compassion, and sensitivity” (CCC, 2358) and on the other proclaims that I suffer from a “moral disorder” (CDF, 1986). It is in these moments of great doubt, that I remember why I continue to find comfort in sitting before such a great mystery. Bullied as a child, the greatest comfort and promise of hope that I found was not in the words of a great literary giant or even in the speech of a civil rights activist, rather I found comfort in the persecuted Christ. I found comfort in knowing that the Son of God was himself persecuted by humanity and walked among us with the hope of bringing justice to humankind.
Perhaps the time has come for those of us who have fallen silent in the Church out of fear, to follow the example of Christ and countless saints, to break through the silence to share our own stories. By telling our stories and opening our hearts to those around us in church, we can only hope that doing such will show others that Christ’s love lives in all of us without exception. In these moments of honesty and sharing of identity we will become as Pope Benedict XVI has said, “fountains of living water in the midst of a thirsting world.” In this great moment, we will be living examples of Christ’s healing of the deaf-mute man, for just as Christ opened his mouth and ears, so too can we take comfort in the promise that he will open our mouths to share our stories (MK 7:31-36).
So to answer my own question: “Is this the community that Christ sought to establish?” Yes, but it’s a Church run by leaders that must be open to the diverse lives that make-up the family of Christ. It’s a Church that must humbly learn from the example set by our brothers and sisters in other Christian denominations, so as to continue to grow as a single Christian family. St. Paul reminds us in his First Letter to the Corinthians “For just as the body is one and has many members, and all of the members of the body, though many, are one body, so it is with Christ” (1 Cor. 12:12). Just as the body grows, so too must we realize that the Church is never complete, but rather constantly growing and dependent on the voices of the persecuted to remind it of its mission of love and commitment to social justice.
Fear can no longer induce silence, but rather hope must awaken the voices of the persecuted sitting in the pews, so that one day we may all gather together as the children of God (cf. MT 23:37).
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Author’s Note: This essay would not have come to fruition without the thoughtful feedback of three close friends for whom I am truly grateful.