The online liturgy of the hours has given itself a name. From today it will be called «Cornelius' house»
Reflections by Gianni Geraci
Why "The house of Cornelius"? Cornelius is a Roman centurion who lived in Jaffa. And his house is where Peter is invited to go in chapter 10 of the Acts of the Apostles.
Peter knew well that, as a Jew, he could not "have relations with a stranger, or enter his house" (Acts 10:28), but despite this prohibition, he accepted the invitation, reassured by the voice of the Spirit who had told him : «Here are three men who are looking for you. Get up, therefore, go down and go with them, without scruple, for I sent them" (Acts 10:19).
Having reached his destination, Peter immediately puts his hands forward and reminds his pagan interlocutors that he had broken the Law to come to them. But what he sees surprises him, because he realizes that the inhabitants of the house glorify God (Acts 10.46), like any other member of the primitive church, which until then was composed only of observant Jews.
And so he surrenders to the evidence and, convinced that «no man should be considered impure or contaminated» (Acts 10.28), accepts their invitation to stay with them for a few days.
Even the house in which we pray every day on Google Meet, in the eyes of many, some perplexities can arouse: homosexual people who meet to pray together with their family members, their friends and consecrated persons know, certainly do not follow the indications of the congregation for the doctrine of faith, when he writes that: "No authentic pastoral program will be able to include organizations, in which homosexual people are associated with them, that it is clearly established that the homosexual activity is immoral "(Homosexualitatis Problem, 15).
But we too, with the same simplicity of the centurion of Jaffa, tell our brothers in faith and their shepherds, to come and visit us and stop to pray with us. The hope is to make them understand what many centuries ago Pietro understood, that is, that "God doesn't play favorites»(Acts 10:34), that his spirit also enters the hearts of LGBT+ people and invites them to participate in the only action of grace that the universal Church is called to make him" up to the extreme borders of the earth "(Acts 1,8).
We are waiting for you at 8.30 and 22.30 every day to act with us morning praises and evening prayers. The Google Meet room on which we find ourselves is on http://meet.google.com/gmg-bwrs-znw
Do you want to know more? Click the online prayer website
Do you want to pray online with us? Every day join the liturgy of the hours (praise and perform)
Do you need help? Contact “Mi fido di Te”, the listening service for LGBT Christians and their parents
Do you want to delve deeper? Download the ebooks on “faith and homosexuality” for freede La Tenda di Gionata
Do you want to discover other initiatives? Here is the online calendar of events for LGBT Christians, their parents and pastoral workers
