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.
Today’s liturgical readings seem to have been chosen precisely to prepare us for next Sunday’s feast of Pentecost.
Many of us have a built-in problem keeping us from correctly understanding today’s three readings. Our catechism-oriented education assured us we’d always know we’re doing what Jesus wanted us to do as long as we’re following the teachings of the institutional church. The Galilean carpenter... more
Serious students of Luke/Acts realize how exceptional today’s first reading is. Usually, in depicting the early Christian community, Luke assures us that everything is going along hunkydory. Jesus’ first followers are living an ideal existence: constantly loving one another, always sharing their... more
There’s no more important question in all of Scripture than which comes from the Pentecost crowd in today’s first reading: “What are we to do, my brothers?” In other words, “How, in the biblical sense, are we to be saved?”
Many of us are so accustomed to relating only to the institutional church that we can’t appreciate the early church’s quest to relate to the risen Jesus. The first followers of Jesus presumed he/she was with them as a “new creation,” a unique individual. As Paul reminded his Galatian community in... more
Today’s second reading tells it like it is. The unknown author of I Peter accurately describes the situation in which followers of Jesus find themselves after his resurrection and before our physical deaths. “. . . Now for a little while you may have to suffer through various trials, so that the... more
It’s interesting to discover that one biblical author often depends on another biblical author. That’s the case with the inspired person who penned tonight’s first reading (the “priestly” author). Scholars agree he read and was influenced by Deutero-Isaiah – Isaiah 40-55 – the prophet responsible... more
It’s more than interesting that the problem which triggered tonight’s I Corinthians pericope was still around at least 35 years later and also triggered our Johannine passage. Writing as a frequent Eucharistic presider, I guarantee the same problem is still front and center today; it’s never gone... more
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