Here at All-Inclusive Ministries we have been thinking a lot about three words – belong, believe, become.
The first, belong, is simply the invitation to be part of this Roman Catholic, Christian LGTB+ community – either in person at one of our liturgies or simply by keeping in touch with us online.
The second, believe, flows from this. We are here to help each other to a deeper connection with our faith, which in essence means to a deepening relationship with Christ.
The third element is become and that is about how we live our faith in the world. We are called to be followers of Jesus and that means engaging with the world in a way that is loving, forgiving, open, generous, self-giving and more. In doing so, we change, we become more like Christ in our attitudes and actions.
I was struck by some comments of Richard Rohr in his daily meditation email yesterday (25th May 2020) where he talks about different ways we can become more like Christ – the first being solidarity. In this we are called to reach out with compassion to those on the margins. The margins can of course be economic, and so the poor, refugees and migrants, but it also includes, as Rohr says, LGBT people.
“Far too many seem to think, even if to themselves, that if ‘those people’ would simply work a little more, do things the right way, change their minds, stay hidden, or just ‘pray a little harder’, we’d all be better off.”
Many of us know what it means to be rejected or pushed to one side, to be told to remain hidden. But we each also have people we marginalise or ‘other’, people we think can and should change, people we don’t see or hear or acknowledge. Becoming more like Christ does mean responding in a new way – perhaps by connecting our pain, our rejection, with the pain of others.
“Our hearts must be softened, and we must experience basic sympathy, empathy, and recognition of another person’s pain.”
None of this is easy of course, and the change, the becoming, is something that only happens with God’s help; and it is help that we can receive also by belonging to a community of fellow pilgrims, helping each other as we seek to grow ever closer to God.
You can sign up for Richard Rohr’s daily meditations via his website.
