November 2010 meeting

Thursday, November 18, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM
Saint Joseph Parish (Laurier Ave entrance)

“Don’t let anyone call you ‘Rabbi’ for you have only one teacher, and all of you are equal as brothers and sisters.”

A meeting for gay Christians – On the evening of Nov. 18 we will reflect on Jesus’ call for equality and humility (Mt. 23:8-12). Are Christian communities places where we feel that we are all equal as brothers and sisters? How to become a community in which there are no unjust hierarchies? Let’s talk about it and have a meal together! You are welcome to bring a beverage or snack to share.

Catholics for Equality

A group of American Catholics is trying to rally the support of the majority of Catholics, who are in favour of more rights for gay and lesbian relationships:

Fr. Joseph Palacios, a founding board member of the group and a sociologist and adjunct professor at Georgetown University in Washington, cites a May survey by Gallup that found that 52 percent of Americans say that gay and lesbian relations are morally acceptable, the highest acceptance rate since 2006. Among Catholics, support jumps to 62 percent, up from 46 percent in 2006.

Read more…

October meeting today

Thursday, October 21, 7:00 PM – 9:00 PM Saint Joseph Parish (Laurier Ave entrance)

“Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”

On the evening of Oct. 21 we will reflect on Jesus’ answer to the question of a young man from the gospel of Saint Matthew (Mt. 19:16-23). What gives Jesus such self-confidence to call others to follow him? How do we understand this call today? What does it mean for us? Let’s talk about it and have a meal together! You are welcome to bring a beverage or snack to share.

Kick-off meeting for 2010-2011

Our first meeting of the new school year will be on Thursday, September 23, from 7:00 pm from 9:00 pm at Saint Joseph Parish (Laurier Ave. entrance, where the soup kitchen is.)

“O Lord, you know me”

On the evening of Sept. 23 we will reflect on Psalm 139: “O Lord, you have searched me and you know me”, and have a meal together! You are welcome to bring a beverage or snack to share.

New York church marches with blank banner

The New York church formerly attended by our president had to mark in the New York Gay Pride parade with a blank banner, following a request from their archbishop who was afraid the church might be thought to be endorsing a promiscuous lifestyle. They did wear t-shirts with the name of their church, and provided two of these for us to wear here.

CNN reported on the story.

Homosexuality in The Body’s Grace

Rowan Williams, Primate of the Church of England and de facto chief of the worldwide Anglican communion wrote in his 1989 lecture, “The Body’s Grace“

“… if we are looking for a sexual ethic that can be seriously informed by our Bible, there is a good deal to steer us away from assuming that reproductive sex is a norm, however important and theologically significant it may be….  If we are afraid of facing the reality of same-sex love because it compels us to think through the processes of bodily desire and delight in their own right, perhaps we ought to be more cautious about appealing to Scripture as legitimating only procreative heterosexuality.”

May 4 social meeting

On Tuesday, May 4 (today), the Gay Catholics, Christians and Allies Club will have its end-of-the-semester social!

We will gather at 5.30 in the Saint Joseph parish hall (entrance from Laurier Ave. where the soup kitchen is), and discuss our plans for the summer (we want to participate in the Gay Pride parade) and then move to a neighboring pub for a social.

See you!

U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops: Always Our Children

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops released Always Our Children: A Pastoral Message to Parents of Homosexual Children and Suggestions for Pastoral Ministers in September, 1997. We may discuss this at our next meeting.

For an opinion that this document is much too liberal, see the arguments of the Women for Faith & Family. The National Catholic Reporter published an opposing opinion stating the the document wasn’t nearly liberal enough.

First meeting for 2009-10

We will be starting off the new school year with our first meeting Thursday, October 8 at 6:00 pm in UCU 301 (Jock Turcot University Centre).

The Confession (2000)

If we have time, we will watch and discuss The Confession, a 22-minute film by Carl Pfirman.

Here is a quick synopsis: “Joseph is on his deathbed and knows it. He requests the services of a priest, much to the scorn of his lover of 35 years, Caesar. The priest, Father Marcus, is as good-looking as he is callow. While he’s kind, he doesn’t yield on the church’s teachings about homosexuality.”

Club Week

We will also be participating in Club Week at the University Centre. If you are just curious about the club or you are a member and you could help out, we will have a table on Thursday, October 1, from 10 am until 4 pm. Hope to see you there.

Logo for the club and name change

New logo for the club

This is the new logo for the club and a change of name from last spring.

Originally I was going to make the cross white, but I didn’t want it to be transparent showing the background through the cross, so I gave it a slightly off-white tint. Then I decided that I might as well go all the way and just make it pink. It’s a little redundant, since the rainbow background already suggests “gay” but I think it doesn’t hurt to reinforce it.

The black outline associates the club with the university, hinting at the university’s logo.

The name has been changed to be more inclusive (including “Christian”). To achieve a critical mass, we need to attract non-Catholics as well as Catholics who are allies in the struggle. I feel that the inclusivity and diversity this implies fits well with the nature of the group (inclusive of sexualities as well as Christian denominations).

The entire symbol without the surrounding words is a quick visual shorthand for everything we stand for.