Just kidding you pervs! I swear!
This past Saturday I attended a special Mass celebrating the 20th Anniversary of the Los Angeles Archdiocesan Ministry to Lesbian & Gay Catholics. "Ministry to what?," you may be asking. That's right. I said it. Gay Catholics.
The Mass was nice. It was held at Blessed Sacrament Church in Hollywood. It's a big, old church run by the Jesuits. It's a dirt poor congregation that is blessed with the intellectual greatness of a Jesuit community. It was concelebrated by almost 10 priests -- including a certain "stockbroker" that I know better than I would hope. The music was decent and the energy was victorious.
It's Easter season. I love Easter. The idea of resurrection, essential to Christian philosophy, is one of the most fulfilling ideas in human existence. Rebirth frees us to not dwell on our failures, knowing they are irrelevant with time.
My parents came to this Mass with me. They are really special people. I don't mean "special" like retarded. Isn't it weird that when we say "special" these days, most minds quickly jump to, "Oh. He's retarded. That's sad."? They wanted to stay for the reception, but my mom is kind of a princess and doesn't eat food from foil containers on paper plates that don't match the table settings. (Clearly she's had little influence on me through the years.) We said our hellos and went to le petit Greek. Yummy lemon potatoes.
For years, friends ask me how I can still identify as Catholic. I want to say, after all the crappy sex I've had, I still identify as gay, right? Of course, they know that I haven't had all that much crappy sex (because sex with me is always good! right?) because I'm a good Catholic. Honestly.
I am still at home in the Church because its so deeply ingrained with my own identity. Whether it's my Irish Catholic grandparents and the stories of their lives -- even when my grandmother sued the church, or the mystery around both my parents earlier lives in religious orders, the truth is it runs deep in me. And I love Mass when I'm in a place that is home to me. This Mass was proof that it was home to me.
It a letter sent to recognize this special anniversary, Father Peter Luizi (who once ran the ministry for the Archbishop) summed up every reason why I go to Mass, pray, participate with the Gay and Lesbian Ministry, and endure the constant abuse coming from both conservative Catholics and my more liberal, non-religious peers:
I lay claim to all that is mine by my baptism; I do not ask for more and I will never settle for less.
Feel free to write me if you want to know more...
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