- The Babylon BeeMedia/News Company
- NEW YORK THEOLOGICAL SEMINARYCollege & University
- Public Figure
An important passage* in the 1986 Letter to the Bishops of the Catholic Church on the Pastoral Care of Homosexual Persons was translated into English as follows: The human person, made in the image and likeness of God, can hardly be adequately described by a reductionist reference to his or her sexual orientation. Every one living on the face of the earth has personal problems and difficulties, but challenges to growth, strengths, talents and gifts as well. [ 1,148 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/an-important-translation-…/
Editor's note: Deanna Briody, a guest contributor, has a Masters in Church History and Theology from Trinity School for Ministry in Ambridge, Pennsylvania. She currently serves as the Graduate Writing Tutor and Facilitator of Partnerships at Trinity. “Are you gay?” Too many people have asked. Growing up, the question upset me, as it flowered—not out of any expressed sexual longing for women—but out of my observable preference for basketball shorts over skinny jeans, sports over… [ 1,905 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/whats-a-body-to-do-the-pl…/
Today is the feast (at least in the modern Roman calendar) of Sts. Gregory of Nazianzus and Basil the Great. In the West, Basil and Gregory are recognized as Doctors of the Church, while in the East, they are—along with St. John Crysostom—recognized as the Three Holy Hierarchs. Today's Office of Readings includes this excerpt from one of Gregory's sermons about his friendship with Basil: [ 458 more words ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/st-gregory-of-nazianzus-t…/
Several months ago, I got into a discussion with Wes Hill and Matt Anderson about Wes's post, Is Being Gay Sanctifiable? At the time, I drafted a post in response to that conversation, but did not have time to polish it for publication. In light of the more recent discussions of language (including Wes's On Disagreeing About “Homosexuality”: A Thought Experiment… [ 5,139 more words ]
Wes recently wrote a reflection about the Church Clarity website, and what it might mean for someone who differs from a church’s stated beliefs on sexuality to “stay put” as it were, in spite of serious disagreement. I want to say right away how much I love and appreciate Wes and his writing. He, perhaps more than anyone, has given me a profound vision of committed friendship and helped me to see a path for positive flourishing in the midst of my same-sex attractions. [ 1,841 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/peace-peace-further-thoug…/
A few weeks ago a website called Church Clarity launched. Their stated goal is to encourage churches, primarily evangelical ones, it seems, to be upfront about their policies regarding LGBTQ members. If, for instance, some churches will hospitably “welcome” LGBTQ members but not allow them to serve in leadership roles or receive Communion, Church Clarity wants those churches to own up to that policy on their websites so that potential members can see ahead of time what they’re getting into. [ 2,144 more words ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/on-church-clarity-and-the…/
God doesn't promise that He'll only ask you for the sacrifices you agree with and understand. – Eve Tushnet The nuns taught us there are two ways through life: the way of nature and the way of grace. You have to choose which one you'll follow. Grace doesn't try to please itself; accepts being slighted, forgotten, disliked; accepts insults and injuries. [ 1,551 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/sacrifice-and-sexual-ethi…/
(See Part 1 & Part 2) Part 3: What Heartbreak and Heartache Have Taught Me About Community I’m a verbal processor and am usually a miserable failure at not gushing most details of my life with anyone trustworthy who will listen. I must have shared about my feelings for Corey with dozens and dozens of friends those first first two years, even if it was difficult for me to find the right language. [ 1,155 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/heartbreak-and-celibacy-p…/
(See Part 1) Part 2: What Heartbreak and Heartache Have Taught Me About Heart The second time I fell in love was with a new friend I met during my last year in St. Louis. I’ll call him Brad. This time, I wanted to learn from my last experience and decided to dive head first into the feelings and try and embrace them as best I could. [ 1,875 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/heartbreak-and-celibacy-p…/
Part 1: What Heartbreak and Heartache Have Taught Me About Myself How do you live with heartbreak when you were never supposed to fall in love? What happens when you fall in love with a friend and you don’t want to ruin a friendship? How do you find the goodness in loving someone even if those feelings are, at some point, also romantic? [ 1,097 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/heartbreak-and-celibacy-p…/
As most of my readers will be aware, Martin Luther nailed his Ninety-Five Theses to the door of a Church in Wittenberg, Germany on this day, five hundred years ago. No informed Catholic should deny that there were very serious problems in the Church in the time leading up to the Reformation. To see this, one need only read Teresa of Avila, John of the Cross, or any of the other Counter-Reformation saints on the abuses they encountered and the opposition they faced when they tried to correct them. [ 1,464 more word ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/reflections-on-reformatio…/
I am speaking at University of Dallas tonight on "Friendship and Homosexuality," sponsored by the Office of Campus Ministry. Given time limits, a talk like this can only briefly touch on topics which I have written about in much more depth here on Spiritual Friendship. This post provides a handy reference for people who heard my talk to read more about what I said. [ 281 more words ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/notes-for-university-of-d…/
Spiritual Friendship added an event.
Ron Belgau will be speaking on Friendship and Homosexuality. For details, see https://spiritualfriendship.org/…/speaking-university-of-d…/
For those in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area, Ron Belgau will be speaking at University of Dallas on Tuesday October 10, 2017. The talk will be at 6:30 p.m. in the Multipurpose Room, SB Hall, sponsored by the Office of Campus Ministry From the event flyer: The Catholic Church has frequently recommended friendship as a part of her pastoral care to same-sex attracted Catholics. [ 167 more words ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/speaking-university-of-da…/
A few months ago I was invited to become one of the contributors to a new Eastern Orthodox blog called Orthodoxy in Dialogue. At the time I had just written my post How Should We Then Live? which was a response to conversations around Giacomo Sanfilippo's post on Conjugal Friendship. Giacomo is one of the editors at… [ 270 more words ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/sexual-minorities-in-the-…/
From a letter to Rod Dreher:
From time to time, I have debated with Justin Lee, the gay-affirming founder of the Gay Christian Network. Like me, Justin grew up Southern Baptist. Sometimes, someone will ask me why I think Justin “changed his theology” to support gay marriage, while I stuck with conservative theology. However, the question actually rests on a misunderstanding. I did not “hold onto” the theology of marriage I learned in Southern Baptist Churches growing up. If ...I had, I would support same-sex marriage.
When I listen to Justin’s presentations, what I hear in his arguments for same-sex marriage is simply the logical outworking of the theology of marriage we both grew up with. Many of his arguments are modified versions of the arguments which I heard to rationalize divorce and contraception in the Southern Baptist congregation I grew up in. [4,580 more words]
Some of our readers may have heard of the Nashville Statement, put out by the Southern Baptist Convention's Council for Biblical Manhood and Womanhood. The statement advertises itself as a defense of Biblical teaching on marriage and sexuality, yet fails to address some of the most serious threats to the sanctity of marriage, precisely because the Southern Baptists have already surrendered to the spirit of the age on divorce, reproductive technologies, and the like. [ 360 more words ]
http://spiritualfriendship.org/…/matthew-lee-anderson-on-t…/
