One of my greatest hopes in writing this blog is that it will help other people who may find themselves in situations similar to my own several years ago - when I first came out of the closet and started to wrestle with the question of how to reconcile my identity and my faith. Doing so took a great deal of prayer and reflection plus the love and support of some wonderful people who have walked the journey with me. Additionally, as with many things in life, coming to peace with both myself and my faith also required a little bit of homework.
Reading about others' stories and informing myself about the ongoing conversations about these questions both within and outside of the church helped me to realize that I wasn't alone. Reading and reflecting also made me aware that there are many options available to all of us. As I've mentioned in previous postings, some of us may be called to worship in new settings and even change our life's path in significant ways as a result of our prayer and study. Others may feel called to stay where we are but to live prophetically in challenge to teachings and attitudes we know are destructive of hearts and souls.
Wherever our own path may take us - in whatever ways God calls us to walk - one of our primary responsibilities is to inform and educate our consciences and remain open to new possibilities. In that spirit, especially for those from a Catholic background, I'd like to offer the following list of books that have been helpful to me in my journey toward full acceptance both of my own personal identity and of God's love and compassion:
Biographies:
Fenton Johnson, Keeping Faith
John J. McNeill, Both Feet Firmly Planted in Midair
Darren Main, Hearts and Minds
Dugan McGinley, ed. Acts of Faith, Acts of Love
Mark Tedesco, That Undeniable Longing
Theology & Spirituality:
James Alison, Faith Beyond Resentment and Undergoing God
Daniel Helminiak, Sex and the Sacred
Mark Jordan, The Silence of Sodom
John J. McNeill, The Church and the Homosexual, Taking a Chance on God, and Freedom, Glorious Freedom
Thomas Stevenson, Sons of the Church
May God speak to each of us and lead us each through our personal journeys of prayer and discernment to a place of integral freedom and peace - a place from which to go forth to serve, praise and glorify God with our lives.
With love and peace,
Padre Chuck
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