LGBT people are a gift that has been offered to our church

Reflections by Sister Janet Rozzano* published on the website of the Congregation of the Sisters of Misericordia (United States) on June 4, 2020, freely translated by Silvia Lanzi

I would like to share with you some thoughts on the spirituality of gays and lesbians, read or based on my experience. I believe that what I have to say can also be applied to bisexual or transgender people.

A healthy spirituality begins giving an answer to two questions. First, is it good as lesbian or gay, and are they loved by God? This question involves the solution of a trusted crisis and a basic relationship with God. Can I trust the words of writing?

“Since you love all existing things
and nothing weighs what you have created;
If I had hated something, you wouldn't even have created it. " (Sapienza 11:24)

"You are my favorite son, I pleased myself in you" (Marco 1:11)

Second, can I transform the "curse" of being lesbian or gay into a blessing for me and for others? Or, put in another way, can I find some value in my experience of marginalization or exile from the family, the community, the Church or the society?

For me, and for many gays and lesbians, the answers to these questions have gradually arrived through experience, evidence and errors, prayer, reflections and sharing. All this can clear us clearly in the footsteps of Jesus: a person who went around with the wrong people, who was a friend of marginalized and sinners, himself became gradually a marginalized, feared and suspected by the powerful.

This also located in the heart of the Easter mystery. We are conducted on that mysterious journey into fear and suffering of being misunderstood or exiles, to a resurrection of acceptance and integration of our identity that can bloom in a joyful peace and, sometimes, in a new, surprising life.

What are the characteristics of this spirituality? I think it's holistic; It is attentive to all our being: to the body and its sensations, as in mind and spirit. Refuse the idea that our orientation is abnormal, sick, sinful, or simply a burden. Instead, he sees him as a gift, something precious to be grateful to. He invites us to share this gift with others, telling our stories and what we have learned from our joys and pains.

In sharing we are often called to be a prophetic voice in our Church, community or society, when people are not treated with justice, respect and love. Lastly, our spirituality reminds us that only God is absolute. Gay and lesbian lives remind us of the limits of language and human categories. We cannot pretend to have the last word on how God created us, on his intentions, or on the definitive nature of his creatures. We must be humble in front of the mystery, always ready to learn something.

I would like to end with part of a prayer written by Sister Joan Chittister Osb in 1999:

[God], give us the grace to see our sexual identity, any orientation has, like another manifestation of your goodness.
Give us the foresight to recognize and reject homophobia around us and in our hearts. That the Church of Jesus, and we too, open our hearts, our homes and our sanctuaries to the homosexual community, which gives new voice, with a new face, to the glory of God.
We bless the God of differences.
Amen

* This reflection is part of a series, Pride with Mercry (pride with mercy), which began with Pride 2019. These reflections come from the 2017 declaration of the chapter of the Sisters of Mercy, and invite each of us to meet those who suffer for an oppressive system and to "educate us better and participate in a serious dialogue on topics such as gender identity and sexual orientation". We invite you to forward these posts to those who need them. Together, we can between progress our tolerance, our acceptance and our understanding, and welcome the LGBTQ+community.

Original text: The Gift We Have Been Given