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Breath of the Spirit

Pastoral, Liturgical, Teaching, and Social Justice Moments brought to you by www.DignityUSA.org.

Breath of the Spirit is DignityUSA’s electronic spiritual and liturgical resource for our members and potential members. Nothing can replace your chapter or other faith community, but we hope you will find further support here for integrating your spirituality with your sexuality and all the strands of your life.

We welcome relevant homilies, inspirational writings, social justice opportunities, or theological articles from other sources also — particularly from wise women and men who can help us grow as gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender (GLBT) and allied Catholic/Christians. You may volunteer to help with this program or send your comments by e-mailing info@DignityUSA.org ATTN: Breath of the Spirit.

JUNE 1, 2008: NINTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR
Deuteronomy 11:18, 26-28, 32
Romans 3:2-25, 28
Matthew 7:21-27

We Christians have never quite recovered from the third basic change in our faith: the switch in the second century which transformed our church from a Semitic to a Greek thinking community. Most people today regard the other three fundamental changes as steps forward in our imitation of Jesus. Scholars and historians don't always look favorably on this change. It turned us into an analytical, either/or people, quite different from the synthesizing, both/and mentality of the historical Jesus and all the authors of our Christian Scriptures.

MAY 25, 2008: BODY AND BLOOD OF CHRIST
Deuteronomy 8:2-3, 14-16
I Corinthians 10:16-17
John 6:51-58

The first step in correctly understanding any Scripture passage is to hear it within the context in which the sacred author originally placed it. Just as the individual actions of our lives make sense only against the background of our entire lives, so we can't take just a verse of two of Scripture out of the writer's work and think we're getting from those lines what the author originally put in them.

MAY 18, 2008: TRINITY SUNDAY
Exodus 34:4-6, 8-9
II Corinthians 13:11-13
John 3:16-18

In their popular college text Christian Foundations, husband and wife team Kathleen Fischer and Thomas Hart set aside lots of space for the Trinity.

They begin by going back to Karl Rahner's difficulty with the English word "person." The late theologian was convinced it originally didn't describe "an independent center of consciousness and freedom." "Rahner suggested 'a way of being' as a better translation . . . . The one God has three ways of being."

MAY 11, 2008: PENTECOST
Acts 2:1-11
I Corinthians 12:3-7, 12-13
John 20:19-23

Those who believe the true church never changes know nothing about first century Christianity.

The late Karl Rahner often reminded us that there have been only four basic changes in our Christian faith, and that two of them happened within fifty years of Jesus' death and resurrection.

MAY 4, 2008: ASCENSION OF JESUS
Acts 1:1-11
Ephesians 1:17-23
Matthew 28:16-20

One of the most fascinating aspects of today's celebration of Jesus’ ascension is that the gospel we employ for our liturgical reading mentions nothing about Jesus' ascension. Though most of us presume the next thing Jesus does after he assures his disciples, "I am with you always, until the end of the age," is to start rising into heaven, Matthew never says that. His gospel ends at this point.

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