Ein minnuten bitte
So ABC news has this story, about a Catholic priest refusing to give communion to a gay bereaver at her mother's funeral, but oh wait it gets better worse, he leaves while she reads her eulogy, and refuses to attend the burial, asking a substitute priest to take over..
Dear God,
I get so fucking angry when I hear this shit.
And this is no isolated incident. I know Barbara Johnson is not the first, not the last, and not the only person ever to have suffered thusly. I did go to Catholic high school for four years.
And God, it is so terribly tempting to Catholic bash. So tempting to say, "Fuck 'em! Come worship with me! We try to DWJDNWPS[1]. I promise you, you won't encounter that kind of evil in God's name on my watch." Tempting to highlight how the sin of restricting access to God and to forgiveness has been a problem for the catholic church since before mister Luther tacked the memo to the door saying, "hang on a minute!"[2]
The article isn't clear on Brenda's details, maybe she is not a practicing Catholic anymore, but just wanted to do this rite for her dead Mom. To share in the community that communion brings. But maybe she is. There's a distinct possibility that Ms. Johnson believes in the magic of Catholic rite. So, I can't just shout to her, "God[3] is here, Mr. Burton" and fix it.
So here's my attempt at not giving in to temptation. I will not stop myself at the righteous fury stage, but reach deeper to what Jesus might want. Yes, we have to name evil when it shows up like this, and Jesus was a leader who was a little judgey (just like yours truly), but he also had this revolutionary idea that calling out the demon isn't enough. Curing the leper isn't enough. One has to then reconcile that person back into the community that shunned them.
So what does reconciliation look like here? How could being like Jesus bring healing?
Consider what would happen if ...
Ms. Johnson (and her partner of 19 years), spend every weekend in the rest of 2012, touring the Catholic churches around their neighborhoods -- there's probably enough buildings to do that. Worshiping and participating in the service. Each time, when it comes time to receive the eucharist, they walk together down the aisle, hands clasped, wedding bands displayed[4], quietly presenting themselves to the priest to be served.
She will get turned away. Again and again and again.
And the parishioners will witness it.
Again and again and again.
And the priests will be uncomfortable about it.
Again and again and again.
How many times will she have to beg for belonging before it stops hurting?
It never stops hurting.
But, Jesus meets us inside the hurting. When I think of you, God, I think that you would be just as distraught at Barbara's treatment as Barbara's earthly mother would be. Maybe this is one way to put her late mother's soul to rest. Maybe not. But I think it's a legitimately viable way to heal the hurting institution as a whole. They don't know they have a wound to staunch. Walk in there, and be the stigmata.
How many parishes will she have to visit before she finds a priest who relents?
How many visits will it take until it's not just the two of them, but other queer catholics joining the queue?
How many visits to turn that queue into a parade?
How soon does that get on the news. Internationally?
How many sleepless nights will the priests tolerate?
How soon can we get "I'm sorry" to come.
I pray that it is soon.
Amen.
[1] Do what Jesus did not what Paul said (yes, I just made up that acronym right now)
[2] Except he was German, so cf title of post
[3] like China
[4] no idea whether they're married, making this up, just for adding visibility to the relationship
Dear God,
I get so fucking angry when I hear this shit.
And this is no isolated incident. I know Barbara Johnson is not the first, not the last, and not the only person ever to have suffered thusly. I did go to Catholic high school for four years.
And God, it is so terribly tempting to Catholic bash. So tempting to say, "Fuck 'em! Come worship with me! We try to DWJDNWPS[1]. I promise you, you won't encounter that kind of evil in God's name on my watch." Tempting to highlight how the sin of restricting access to God and to forgiveness has been a problem for the catholic church since before mister Luther tacked the memo to the door saying, "hang on a minute!"[2]
The article isn't clear on Brenda's details, maybe she is not a practicing Catholic anymore, but just wanted to do this rite for her dead Mom. To share in the community that communion brings. But maybe she is. There's a distinct possibility that Ms. Johnson believes in the magic of Catholic rite. So, I can't just shout to her, "God[3] is here, Mr. Burton" and fix it.
So here's my attempt at not giving in to temptation. I will not stop myself at the righteous fury stage, but reach deeper to what Jesus might want. Yes, we have to name evil when it shows up like this, and Jesus was a leader who was a little judgey (just like yours truly), but he also had this revolutionary idea that calling out the demon isn't enough. Curing the leper isn't enough. One has to then reconcile that person back into the community that shunned them.
So what does reconciliation look like here? How could being like Jesus bring healing?
Consider what would happen if ...
Ms. Johnson (and her partner of 19 years), spend every weekend in the rest of 2012, touring the Catholic churches around their neighborhoods -- there's probably enough buildings to do that. Worshiping and participating in the service. Each time, when it comes time to receive the eucharist, they walk together down the aisle, hands clasped, wedding bands displayed[4], quietly presenting themselves to the priest to be served.
She will get turned away. Again and again and again.
And the parishioners will witness it.
Again and again and again.
And the priests will be uncomfortable about it.
Again and again and again.
How many times will she have to beg for belonging before it stops hurting?
It never stops hurting.
But, Jesus meets us inside the hurting. When I think of you, God, I think that you would be just as distraught at Barbara's treatment as Barbara's earthly mother would be. Maybe this is one way to put her late mother's soul to rest. Maybe not. But I think it's a legitimately viable way to heal the hurting institution as a whole. They don't know they have a wound to staunch. Walk in there, and be the stigmata.
How many parishes will she have to visit before she finds a priest who relents?
How many visits will it take until it's not just the two of them, but other queer catholics joining the queue?
How many visits to turn that queue into a parade?
How soon does that get on the news. Internationally?
How many sleepless nights will the priests tolerate?
How soon can we get "I'm sorry" to come.
I pray that it is soon.
Amen.
[1] Do what Jesus did not what Paul said (yes, I just made up that acronym right now)
[2] Except he was German, so cf title of post
[3] like China
[4] no idea whether they're married, making this up, just for adding visibility to the relationship