Louie Clay (né Louie Crew), of the Diocese of Newark and a founder of Integrity, says that sometimes “LGBTQ folks scare me.”
He writes:
LGBTQ folks scare me when we take our sexual orientation too seriously. A priest recently told me, “Homosexuality is the litmus test of spirituality in the church today.”
I replied, “Oh no.”
“Why not!?” he replied, apparently shocked.
“Because thousands of us who pass that test, who treat lgbtq neighbors lovingly, still fail many other important tests.”
“Such as?!”
“A fair distribution of the world’s wealth. Gender justice. Racial justice. A tangible concern for the victims of U.S. aggression in ……”
Those who tell me that I am okay do not minister the gospel, but usurp it, privatize it. We need to call one another to new ways to feed the hungry, clothe the naked, care for the dying…..
If I stress only that people ought to accept me and others like me, I miss the point of spirituality anyway, regardless of the minority with which I identify at the moment. God accepts us: that’s absolutely enough. God calls us to accept others, not to seek acceptance. They are our blood kin, or we don’t really believe in Eucharist.
We experience heaven in advance every time that God blesses us with faith enough to believe in God’s acceptance and with faith enough to work to work for God’s realm on earth as it is in heaven.