THANKSGIVING LITURGY 2003

By Ron Lacro, November 23, 2003

“I will always thank the Lord; I will always praise God’s name.”

It is truly a blessing and a privilege to have this opportunity to give this homily on the occasion of our Thanksgiving celebration. I want to share my thoughts about today’s readings and about the significance of giving thanks, especially this week, in light of the decision of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (November 18, 2003) recognizing that same-sex couples have the legal right to marry. While this court decision clearly is a civil and constitutional matter, I would like for us, as GLBT believers, to explore the decision in a spiritual context.

Since next Sunday, the first Sunday of Advent, marks the beginning of a new Church year, how fitting it is for us to spend the last Sunday of the present Church year, celebrating God’s work over the past year. I don’t have time to give a complete historical timeline, but I wanted to share with you some of the encounters that I have experienced just in the past week that highlight the major issues and events of the last year. The SJC decision on Tuesday morning clearly had the largest impact on my week, and likely yours, but there were other important things that happened this week, too.

A week ago today, we had a listening night here to discuss our personal and community relationships to the institutional church. In discussions such as these, all voices of our community must be heard. We must not forget the unheard voices of those who could not even bear to participate in such a discussion. From those who did come, we heard poignant stories of pain, hurt, anger, and ambivalence. We keep in our hearts the voices of those who continue to feel a deep woundedness. We reach out pastorally to ease their pain, anger, guilt, and shame. We also heard courageous stories of personal triumph and validation, stories of spiritual confidence and faithful connection to our God. These are the voices of hope, of gratitude, of trust, and of love. We must truly believe that our God is “bringing us into a good land (as Moses told the people, in our first reading from the book of Deuteronomy [8:7-18]), a land with streams of water, with springs and fountains welling up in the hills and valleys—a land where we will lack nothing.” God will provide all that we need.

The SJC decision on Tuesday, like the US Supreme Court decision earlier this year, recognizes the legitimacy of our lives as GLBT people, our relationships, our families, and our communities. To quote Chief Justice Margaret H. Marshall, “The Massachusetts Constitution affirms the dignity and equality of all individuals. It forbids the creation of second-class citizens.” This decision is a monumental sign of God’s miraculous work, of God’s love, of God’s justice. Again quoting and paraphrasing Moses: “Your God guided you through the vast and terrible desert with its saraph serpents and scorpions, its parched and waterless ground; that God might humble you and test you, but also make you prosperous in the end. But when you have eaten your fill, you must give thanks and praise to your God, for the good land which you have been given by God’s hand.” In faith, we thank God, as we await the challenges ahead.

On Tuesday night at the monthly meeting of the WMSG (the Women’s and Men’s Spirituality Group), after celebrating the SJC decision by breaking bread and sharing a meal, we reviewed Dignity’s Statement of Position and Purpose, as a starting point for getting in touch with the core values of this community. We want to develop strategies not only to deal effectively with conflict arising from outside individuals and organizations, but also to deal respectfully and pastorally with conflict within the Dignity community. We acknowledged the difficult challenges inherent in being and living as a progressive and inclusive community of GLBT Catholics. We need to meet these challenges, because the future of this vibrant, faith-filled, spirit-infused community is most at stake.

On Friday night, nine gay and lesbian couples gathered together for a Couples Ministry potluck at our home in West Roxbury, a reminder that though it’s only now that the courts and citizens of Massachusetts are at the point of supporting gay marriages and gay families, our relationships are already recognized here in our community, and in the eyes of our loving God. We spent some time around the table Friday night sharing the things for which we are grateful, and indeed, it was a Table of Plenty.

On Wednesday, a lesbian couple with whom I have been working, gave birth to triplet daughters, and on Friday, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts officially recognized the Duddy-Burke family—Becky, Marianne, and little Emily. The impact of the SJC decision on these little girls and on all children is simply huge, and for this I am grateful.

On Wednesday morning, in a meeting with 3 straight colleagues, we celebrated the court’s decision. We broke bread in celebration and in solidarity. We need to remember our straight friends, family members, and allies, without whose help God’s work cannot be done.

My friends, we’ve had a busy week and a busy year, and we have many to thank: Mary Bonauto and GLAD, the Freedom to Marry Coalition, Dignity/Boston and Dignity/USA for filing friends of the court briefs, all individuals and organizations who donated money to this effort, the seven couples who were model plaintiffs, and the wisdom and sense of justice of the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court, as well as the US Supreme Court. In our gratitude to God, we recognize in their work and in their decisions, God’s loving touch of justice.

For me, all of this, political, as it may seem, is God’s work, the work of the gospel, the work of social justice. Our readings today bring up two major themes. First, that God is the ultimate source of all that is good and all that is just, and God will give us access to that which is good and just. And for all that is good, we must give thanks. The second key theme is that the work of our faith must be one of ACTION. Our faith may not reach its full potential if it is not lived out in the action of social justice and love.

In Luke’s gospel today (Luke 17:11-19), we hear the account of the healing of the ten people with leprosy, and the themes of gratitude, faith in action, and social justice are strong. This gospel always brings to my mind the work of Father Damien on the island of Moloka’i in Hawai’i. As you all know, leprosy is a disease that has been shrouded in fear and misconceptions for centuries. The history of leprosy in Hawai’i is a story starting in the 1860’s of some 8,000 persons taken from their families and hurried off to what was often referred to as a “living tomb.” Those ordered to be taken away from their loved ones lost everything in life: their wealth, their homes, their possessions, even their dignity. Friends, husbands and wives, parents and children, it made no difference. Uncountable were the broken hearts and dreams as people were forced to leave all that they had ever known and loved; they were completely separated and cut off from society. Another name for leprosy rose from the despairing wails of the island people: “Ma’i Ho’oka’awale,” “The Separating Sickness,” because it literally tore families apart. (Reference: Brocker JH: The lands of Father Damien, Kalaupapa, Molokai, Hawaii, James H. Brocker, 1997)

A few years ago, Jon and I had the opportunity to visit the Kalaupapa settlement on the island of Moloka’i. The settlement is on a peninsula, isolated from the rest of the island by a 2000 foot pali or cliff. There are only 3 ways to get to the settlement: hike up and down the cliff, ride a mule up and down the cliff, or fly in by small plane or helicopter. We flew in by plane. The number of visitors is restricted, and the privacy of the remaining settlers is respected totally. The tour is a deeply moving experience, focusing on the stories of isolation and discrimination, as well as the faithful stories of Father Damien and his associates, whose lives of service were devoted to people with leprosy. Father Damien died on Moloka’i from complications of leprosy in 1889, at age 49. He was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1995. (Reference: Kalaupapa National Historical Park/Hawaii, brochure published by the National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior) Ironically, during his life he was somewhat of a radical who got himself into trouble for complaining about the lack of church support for his ministry to people with leprosy. (Reference: Daws G: Holy man, Father Damien of Molokai, University of Hawai’i Press, 1984) The other major irony that I learned during our visit to Kalaupapa was how, despite the introduction of effective treatment for leprosy in the late 1940’s and 1950’s, as well as the sound epidemiologic evidence that leprosy was a very manageable condition that is not very contagious, the isolation ban for leprosy was not lifted until 1969, almost 20 years later. During my visit to Kalaupapa, I could not help but draw comparisons to other marginalized people, including GLBT persons and people with AIDS.

What then, of our response to what is happening now in 2003? We need to recognize all the good that has happened as God’s work, the work of the spirit, the work of justice; and recognizing this, we need to ask ourselves, in what ways will we actively demonstrate our faith and gratitude, so that we may further God’s work, so that we may continue the work of the spirit.

Theologian Richard P. McBrien, professor at Notre Dame, has written: It is the life of the Holy Spirit that incorporates the Christian disciple into the body of Christ, the church, and through whom the Christian has access to God the Creator in a life of faith, hope, love, and service. (Reference: McBrien RP: Toward a spirituality of communion, in Snyder MH, editor: Spiritual questions for the twenty-first century, essays in honor of Joan D. Chittister, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2001)

Our lives of service need to be directed not just toward GLBT causes, but toward all groups who are in any way disadvantaged, marginalized, disenfranchised, or discriminated against: our children, our elders, people of color, women, the poor, the sick and physically challenged, the uninsured, those at war or subject to political oppression, those in abusive situations, domestic or otherwise, and all GLBT people, especially our transgender and bisexual brothers and sisters.

As we prepare to sit down to our Thanksgiving feast, I invite you to think about those things in your lives for which you are grateful to God, and I challenge you, in faith and hope, to act out that gratitude in love, compassion, and social justice. Were not all of us made whole this week by the SJC decision? (Based on Luke 17, 11-19)

Can you give more of your time, talent, and treasure to support social causes?

Will you write a check to GLAD, or the Friday Night Supper Program, or Oxfam, or another charity?

Will you spare your time for needy children, the elderly, the homeless, sick, or physically challenged?

Will you share your talents with the Dignity community or the AIDS Action Committee? Will you join a Dignity committee, a Dignity ministry, or help to organize a Dignity event?

Will you, as much as humanly possible, live honestly and openly as GLBT persons, fighting injustice and homophobia within our families, and our workplaces, and our world?

And finally, as an act of love and social justice, in 180 days, will some of us get married?

In response to the question, “What is the most important spiritual question in our time?” Richard P. McBrien writes (among other things):

“Christian spirituality must be transformational, that is, always open to the presence of the Spirit as a power that heals, reconciles, renews, gives life, bestows peace, sustains hope, brings joy, and creates unity. An authentic Christian spirituality—for our time and for all time requires that the Spirit be allowed to work in us and in others so that, through the instrumentality of the individual and of the church, the transformation of the world into the reign of God might continue to occur.” (Reference: McBrien RP: Toward a spirituality of communion, in Snyder MH, editor: Spiritual questions for the twenty-first century, essays in honor of Joan D. Chittister, Orbis Books, Maryknoll, NY, 2001)

TOP OF PAGE