Benedict Advises: Get Blogging

January 26, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Also see James Martin’s take on this, at America

From Washington Post

Pope to priests: Go forth and blog

VATICAN CITY — Pope Benedict XVI has a new commandment for priests struggling to get their message across: Go forth and blog.

The pope, whose own presence on the Web has heavily grown in recent years, urged priests on Saturday to use all multimedia tools at their disposal to preach the Gospel and engage in dialogue with people of other religions and cultures.

And just using e-mail or surfing the Web is often not enough: Priests should use cutting-edge technologies to express themselves and lead their communities, Benedict said in a message released by the Vatican.

“The spread of multimedia communications and its rich ‘menu of options’ might make us think it sufficient simply to be present on the Web,” but priests are “challenged to proclaim the Gospel by employing the latest generation of audiovisual resources,” he said.

Monsignor Claudio Maria Celli, who heads the Vatican’s social communications office, said that Benedict’s words aimed to encourage reflection in the church on the positive uses of new media.

……..

“That doesn’t mean that (every priest) must open a blog or a Web site. It means that the church and the faithful must engage in this ministry in a digital world,” Celli told reporters. “At some point, a balance will be found.”

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Fishing for Souls: 5th Sunday in Ordinary Time

January 24, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Isaiah 6:1-8

Psalm 137: 1-5, 7-8

1 Corinthians 15: 1-11

Luke 15: 1-11

What does “apostle” mean to you?  For many people, there is an assumption that it ahs something to do with being of the elect, one of “the twelve”, or the inner circle.  But the word itself has nothing to do with this- and Scripture itself is not at all clear that there were just twelve apostles:  where the word is used, it refers in different contexts to different groups.  At times it is indeed used to refer to the twelve- at other times it is used interchangeably with “disciples”, to refer to a wider body of followers (and at least one woman, Junia, is described as an apostle).

The word itself simply means one who is sent – derived from “apostello” – I  send.  Today’s readings from Isaiah and from Luke remind us that in this sense we are all apostles. Isaiah tells how, seeing himself as unworthy, as a wretch, he nevertheless heard the Lord asking “Whom shall I send?”, to which he answered (to his own surprise, I suspect), “Here I am, end me.” Simon, on the lake shore after the miracle of the fishing boats, is overwhelmed by his own unworthiness, and pleads with the Lord to be left alone in his sinfulness. But the Lord will have none of it, and assures him that henceforth, he will be a fisher of men.

"Fishers for Souls", Adriaen Pietersz. van de Venne (c. 1589, Delft – 1662, The Hague)

Now, being chosen does not mean that Isaiah and Simon were mistaken in their earlier self-assessments.  They believed they were wretched sinners – and so they were, just as we all are. (more…)

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Excluded From God’s People? (The Problem With the CDF’s “Homosexualitatis Problema”)

January 23, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Question: Look carefully at this picture of assembled Catholic cardinals, and decide (carefully, now): Which of these, in terms of Pope Benedict’s own reasoning, are “excluded from God’s People”?

Answer: If you are to follow the line of reasoning of Pope Benedict himself, in his earlier incarnation as head of the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith, the answer should be plain to see: all of them.

How so?

(more…)

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A Reader Requests: “Help or Advice, please”.

January 21, 2010 — Terence Weldon

I am always flattered by kind words from readers (aren’t we all?).  Sometimes, though, I have a comment which simply leaves me feeling not able or virtuous, but helpless. I have received a comment from a reader (“Neville” in Johannesburg) which is of a general nature, rather than in response to a specific post. More important, he asks for advice on a matter way outside my sphere of competence -  on a path to ordination in the Anglican Church.

I have copied here his comment in full, together with my rather inadequate response.  I would be grateful if anybody else can offer Neville any more useful help.

Neville wrote:

Hi Terence

Thank you for this awesome website! It really is a fantastic resource! I am an ordinand in the Anglican Church – (Diocese of Johannesburg) in South Africa. While I have a fantastic working relationship with both the clergy and laity in our diocese, I have been refused ordination on the grounds that I am gay and live with my partner. (more…)

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Marriage Equality On All Continents!

January 20, 2010 — Terence Weldon

With the strong media emphasis on the protracted struggle for marriage equality in the US, we sometimes forget that there are important gains elsewhere – sometimes in the most unexpected places. Recently, south America was in the headlines, with gay marriage gains in Argentina and Mexico city.  Trans recognition made important breakthroughs in Pakistan and in India.  Full marriage equality or strong civil partnerships are coming to overwhelmingly Catholic Portugal, Ireland and Austria. Now, for the next significant breakthrough, the first Asian country to legislate for full marriage equality will be – NEPAL!

Once enacted, this will leave marriage equality in place at least somewhere in each of Europe (strongly represented);  North America (scattered, but progressing);  Africa (just one country – South Africa);  Asia (just one country -Nepal); and South America – but isolated, to local jurisdictions in Argentina.

That leaves, by my count, five continents.  Are there any more?  (Now come on, Oz.  What’s keeping you guys? You’ll be able to honeymoon in the Himalayas.)

From Pink News:

Nepal to court gay tourism (more…)

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The Priest With the Pink Triangle.

January 18, 2010 — Terence Weldon

For the first post in my “queer modern heroes” series, I begin with someone most people have never heard of. (I’m not sure anyone even knows his name.) I begin with him because he represents a double martyrdom, martyred for his orientation, and also martyred for his faith. I choose him also precisely because he is anonymous,  reminding us that in our own way, we are all called to our own  heroism in the face of persecution, all called to be “martyrs” in the true, original sense – as witnesses to truth. I read this story in John McNeill’s “Taking a Chance on God“: McNeill got the story from Heinz Heger.  These are McNeill’s words:

“I would like to end this reflection on the mature life of faith with the eyewitness account of a gay priest who was beaten to death in a German concentration camp during World War II because he refused to stop praying or to express contempt for himself. The story is recounted by Heinz Heger in his book “The Men With the Pink Triangle“, in which he he recalls what took place in the special concentration camp for gay men in Sachsenhausen (Sachsenhausen was a “level 3″ camp where prisoners were deliberately worked to death):

 

“Homosexual” prisoners in Sachsenhausen

(more…)

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Sunday Readings, 17th January: the Civil Partnership Celebration at Cana.

January 17, 2010 — Terence Weldon

On the third day there was a wedding in Cana of Galilee, and the mother of Jesus was there.  Jesus and his disciples had also been invited to the wedding.  When the wine gave out, the mother of Jesus said to him, “They have no wine.”  And Jesus said to her, “Woman, what concern is that to you and to me?  My hour has not yet come.”  His mother said to the servants, “Do whatever he tells you.”  Now standing there were six stone water jars for the Jewish rites of purification, each holding twenty or thirty gallons.  Jesus said to them, “Fill the jars with water.”  And they filled them up to the brim.  He said to them, “Now draw some out, and take it to the chief steward.”  So they took it.  When the steward tasted the water that had become wine, and did not know where it came from (although the servants who had drawn the water knew), the steward called the bridegroom and said to him, “Everyone serves the good wine first, and then the inferior wine after the guests have become drunk.  But you have kept the good wine until now.”  Jesus did this, the first of his signs, in Cana of Galilee, and revealed his glory; and his disciples believed in him. John 2, 1-11; Gospel for Sunday, January 17.

For a specifically gay reflection on the Gospel, “Gospel for Gays” is exactly what it says:  a site with a particular focus on Gospel  reflections by Canadian Catholic blogger Jeremiah. For this week’s Gospel on the wedding at Cana, Jeremiah asks us to imagine the scene as a “gay” wedding.  (more…)

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Gay Christians Speak Out in East Africa – Ekklesia

January 13, 2010 — Terence Weldon

For those of us living in the affluent, established democracies of the North, we too easily think only in terms of those in similar circumstances.  When our thoughts do turn to Africa, it is likely that we think first of the high-profile disaster stories: famine in East Africa, or the political melt-down in Zimbabwe. Few of us ever think of the African success stories. Who had ever heard of Botswana, until Alexander McCall Smith’s stories of Mme Precious Ramoletswe and the No 1 Ladies Detective agency hit the best-seller lists ?  You would probably be surprised to learn that Botswana has had, over a period now approaching half a century, one of the fastest rates of growth in GDP in the world.  (When  I was looking at the figures professionally, back in the early ’90′s, the average rate of growth exceeded even that of China. )  How often do you get to read of the political stability in Tanzania, or of the remarkable transition to democracy, some years ago, of Benin? Sadly, it is only the bad news from Africa that hits the headlines, so unless we actively seek out a more complete picture, we develop some very distorted views.

No 1 Ladies Detective, Mme Precious Ramoletswe

(more…)

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Gay Marriage, China

January 13, 2010 — Terence Weldon
China paper splashes nation’s ‘first gay marriage’

By Dan Martin (AFP) – 7 hours ago

BEIJING — State press splashed a front-page photo of China’s first publicly “married” gay couple on Wednesday — the latest sign of new openness about homosexuality in a country where it has long been taboo.

The page-one story in the English-language China Daily featured a photograph of the “newlyweds” arm-in-arm during a January 3 ceremony.

Zeng Anquan, 45, and Pan Wenjie, 27, tied the knot at a gay bar in the southwestern city of Chengdu, the paper said, calling it “the first such public event in the country”.

Homosexuality remains a sensitive issue in China. It was officially considered a form of mental illness as recently as 2001. Same-sex marriages or civil unions have no legal basis.

“We are no longer hiding any more. The wedding is our happiest and most precious moment,” Zeng, a divorced architect, told the paper.

“Thousands of gays and lesbians get married in France, Finland, the UK. Why couldn’t we?”

Although the vast majority of gays in China are believed to remain in the closet, a number of signs have emerged recently that official attitudes may be softening.

Last month, China’s first government-backed gay bar opened in the tourist town of Dali in southwestern Yunnan province, after a three-week delay sparked by intense media attention, in a bid to boost HIV/AIDS prevention efforts.

On Friday, the country’s first gay pageant is scheduled to be held in Beijing to choose the Asian nation’s candidate for the Mr Gay World contest in Norway next month.

China’s top state-run radio network plans to launch a new programme this weekend about AIDS that features an HIV-positive host, according to a recent report by Xinhua news agency, which did not mention whether the host was gay.

However, the deep-seated sensitivity of the issue in Chinese society has reared its head in the Zeng-Pan wedding, with the families of the two men reportedly condemning their nuptials.

“My sister warned me she would never call me her brother unless I break up with Pan, and I have answered hundreds of phone calls from friends and relatives who say they feel ashamed of me,” said Zeng.

“But we are deeply in love and will never desert each other,” he said of his relationship with Pan, a recently demobilised soldier.

More than 200 of the couple’s gay friends attended the ceremony, which one of the newlyweds attended in a white wedding dress, the China Daily said, without specifying who was the “bride”.

Zeng said the couple feared discrimination and had thus moved to a small town near Chengdu where they were unknown to avoid unwanted attention.

According to Chinese experts cited in press reports, there are an estimated 30 million homosexuals in China, and 20 million of them are men.

// ]]>

AFP
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A 2nd Cent. Queer Hymn of Praise: “The Father Who Was Milked”

January 11, 2010 — Terence Weldon

Wall painting from a Syrian house church, showing the healing of the paralysed man.

Sometimes, I come across an idea or image that is so remarkable, so fresh and new (to me) that it just has to be shared.  This one is hardly new (it dates back to the late second century), but it is startlingly fresh, remarkable and new – to me.

I have been trying to research a number of themes from the history of the early church.  While reading Ivor Davidson’s “The Birth of the Church:  From Jesus to Constantine AD 30 -312″, I came across a passage which had nothing to do with the subject(s) I was investigating, but which I want to spread.

The context is a Chapter on Christian worship.  After some discussion of the regular practice of community Eucharist on Sunday morning and Agape (“love feast”) on Sunday evening, he goes on to discuss the practice of regular fasting, prayer and praise. Services of “praise” incorporated psalms and hymns of praise into other Bible readings, as in the Divine Office.  Davidson then goes on to refer to a less familiar from of praise for worship, lost for centuries and rediscovered at the beginning of the 20th Century. Originating in the church of Eastern Syria, these are Gnostic in flavour, but probably orthodox in origin. The hymn quoted, Ode 19 of the “Odes of Solomon”, introduces an exaltation on the original conception.  Davidson says the odes contain some “striking” language.  The imagery of the Trinity as presented here, in its description of the conception of the Son, is not just “striking”:  it slams one across the face with a force sufficient to shake up one’s brain, and with it all  preconceived ideas of Trinity, and also of God and gender.

I present it here without comment:  see what you think.

A cup of milk was offered to me,
and I drank it in the sweetness of the Lord’s kindness.
The Son is the cup,
and the father is he who was milked;
and the Holy Spirit is she who milked him;
Because his breasts were full,
and it was undesirable that his milk should be released without purpose.

The Holy Spirit opened her bosom,
and mixed the milk of the two breasts of the Father, ……

The womb of the Virgin took [it],
and she received conception and gave birth.

How’s that for a new idea?

Read the full, text, and other Odes translated by James Chattlesworth, here.

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