A Prayer of Freedom and Hope

Today is Christmas - a day to celebrate and to rejoice at the birth of Christ. A time to remember that God's compassion and mercy are boundless and that we are ever surrounded and supported by this loving presence.

On a personal note, as I celebrate Christmas this year I do so both with gratitude for my faith and all God's many blessings in my life but also with a crushing and profound sadness I am still trying to put behind me. The Pope's statement from this past Monday, which compared the presence of homosexuals in the human community to the destruction of the rain forest was and is stunningly hurtful and unspeakably cruel. I don't know if there's even a way to begin to describe how profoundly betrayed and systematically violated I feel. LGBT people already experience so much suffering and marginalization in society and the church, so why the Pope felt it was necessary to say what he did is simply incomprehensible. Further, when there are so many true injustices and authentic threats to human dignity perpetuated each day, why we keep wasting our time trying to shoe-horn people into preordained thought categories is truly beyond me.

Still, despite the darkness, there is light that shines today and the darkness has not overcome it. I, for one, refuse to consign myself to being a victim. I will not allow what the Pope said to overcome me. I will reaffirm my dignity. I will walk with my head held high. I will accept the gift of loving and being loved. I will worship and praise God in a community that welcomes me as I am and preserves all the essential elements of the Christian faith. I will walk in faith and freedom, I will live in hope and I will not be overcome.

In that spirit, here is a prayer I'd like to share today, originally from the South Bay Queer and Asian group here in California, which I've modified for today's entry:

"A Prayer of Freedom and Hope"

I bless my anger. It tells me I am alive.
I bless my sadness. It reminds me I am real.
I bless my confusion. Out of it comes clarity.
I bless my tears. They heal me.

No matter what the Pope said today,
First thing tomorrow, I will speak for myself.
Even if I decided against myself as child,
And thought I could never be happy,

I will begin reversing the old judgments
I harbor against myself,
I claim the power to judge for myself,
in every area of my own life.

No misguided abuses of power will keep me
From satisfying relationships.
I reach out and my needs are met.
In meditation and prayer, I find serenity.

I am more than a person being discriminated against.
I survive and persevere.
I am a being of light and love.
I am a soul - yearning, expansive, timeless.
I am free.

Amen

With wishes for peace on Christmas and always,

Padre Chuck