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Breath of the Spirit

Pastoral, Liturgical, Teaching, and Social Justice Moments brought to you by www.DignityUSA.org.

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.

SEPTEMBER 27, 2009: TWENTY-SIXTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Readings: 
Numbers 11:25-29
James 5:1-6
Mark 9:38-43, 45, 47-48

One of the reasons some Christians have difficulty appreciating the Hebrew Scriptures is that it’s not exactly a good old fashion Lives of the Saints. Rarely do we find anyone “canonizable” among its characters. Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob don’t hesitate to lie when a favorable occasion presents itself. Even King David - the one of “Jesus, Son of David, have pity of me!” fame - is an adulterer, murderer, and, as Hans Walter Wolff often reminded us, the worst parent in all of Scripture. Read more »

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SEPTEMBER 20, 2009: TWENTY-FIFTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Readings: 
Wisdom 2:12, 17-20
James 3:16-4:3
Mark 9:30-37

Thankfully those who determined our weekend Scripture readings have followed last week’s Marcan passage narrating Jesus’ first prediction of his passion, death and resurrection with his second prediction. (We won’t hear the third for four weeks.) Just as Peter’s comments after the first demonstrated he had no idea what it means to die with Jesus, so the disciples’ argument on the road about “who was the greatest” shows they also didn’t listen carefully to what said about dying.
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SEPTEMBER 13, 2009: TWENTY-FOURTH SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Readings: 
Isaiah 50:5-9a
James 2:14-18
Mark 8:27-35

Today’s second reading conjures up the great I6 century debate between reformers and the Catholic church. Following Paul, the reformers contended that salvation comes from faith; quoting James, the church argued it comes from works. Historically, the debate ended shortly after Vatican II when members of a joint Lutheran/Catholic dialogue concluded both elements are necessary for salvation. Today’s other two readings presume such a combination.
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SEPTEMBER 6, 2009: TWENTY-THIRD SUNDAY OF THE YEAR

Readings: 
Isaiah 35:4-7a
James 2:1-5
Mark 7:31-37

Some years ago HBO presented an Easter Sunday program on miracles. To the chagrin of some viewers, most of the program debunked several prominent Christian miracle workers. But close to the end, the announcer said, “Now we’ll take you to a place where miracles really happen: Lourdes.”
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