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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 first reading is from what I regard as the Bible’s most depressing chapter: Jeremiah 20.
The early biblical Christian community would have looked at today’s feast through different eyes than those looking at it today. We’ve been trained to see the “feeding” element of Christ’s Body and Blood; they saw the “presence” element.
All the theses we were expected to defend during our seminary dogmatic theology courses began with a “definition of terms.” We had to give the meaning or “essential nature” of every word or concept in the thesis. A good way to begin if one is an “either/or” Greek thinker. But if one thinks like our... more
If you’re participating in a Bible Trivia contest, how would you answer the question, “On what day did the Holy Spirit come down on Jesus’ disciples?”
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