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.
Though I enjoyed reading Dava Sobel’s best-selling book Galileo’s Daughter, I was deeply disturbed by what happened in the early life of the title character: Galileo’s oldest child, Virginia. Because she and her younger sister, Livia, were “illegitimate,” their father felt forced to put them – for... more
A critical reading of Scripture shows us that we profess a constantly evolving faith. It’s always on the move. Just when we think we’ve nailed it down, we read the next author and discover it’s shifted once again. Because our sacred authors are committed to sharing their ever-changing insights with... more
One really must know the background of today’s I Samuel reading to appreciate what the sacred author is trying to tell us.
We know we’re dealing with the Yahwistic source of the Torah when during those passages describing the Chosen People’s Exodus and wilderness wanderings the author goes into detail about the Israelites’ griping, grumbling and complaining. Today’s Exodus pericope provides a classic example: “. . .... more
Many of us falsely believe God only works through those individuals who’ve lived lives worthy of God working through them. We grew up believing in the non-biblical statement of St. Bonaventure: “Potuit, decuit, ergo fecit.” God is able to do it, it would be fitting if he did it, therefore he does... more
Back in the late 60s, Pope Paul VI convened a unique meeting at the Vatican. Realizing the majority of anthropologists were convinced the human race evolved from more than one set of “original parents,” the pontiff was anxious to explore how this rather new theory of polygenesis could fit into the... more
I was part of a prison retreat team some years ago, when I noticed a handwritten poster on one of the conference room’s walls. It carried a simple message: “Can a mother forget her infant, be without tenderness for the child of her womb? Even should she forget, I, God, will never forget you.” One... more
Just what do our sacred authors mean when they refer to someone as being “holy?” They certainly aren’t employing a Merriam-Webster definition of the term. In their minds it normally has nothing to do with being “revered or worthy of devotion.” A holy person or object is simply “other:” there isn’t... more
It’s clear from various parts of the Christian Scriptures that one of the main reasons people originally began to imitate Jesus’ dying and rising was that it gave them a freedom they’d never before experienced.
Long before 1624, when John Donne penned the famous line “No man is an island,” our sacred authors were convinced of the truth of that statement. They believed each of our lives inevitably affects the lives – for good or bad – of the people around us.
I presume one of the most difficult things the historical Jesus encountered as an itinerant preacher was simply to get people to “try it:” to actually carry out the unique concepts he was sharing; to weave these new behavior patterns into their daily lives. Matthew has placed many (but not all) of... more
Throughout my early life, I was taught today’s gospel pericope narrates Jesus’ call to his first four priests. Nothing could be further from the theology Matthew’s trying to convey. When Matthew composed his gospel – in the mid to late 70s – the priesthood as we know it didn’t exist. All gospel “... more