In this month the nation celebrates Gay Pride Day and Juneteenth Day, the day the last enslaved Africans were emancipated. Let us take this moment to celebrate the openness of Pope Francis to begin the dialogue of welcoming all of God’s people at the table of God’s salvation and mercy.
In the book of Genesis, we read in the first chapter of God’s creation of the world and all the species that God had created in six days. We read that God saved the creation of humans on the sixth day, and we read that God created all humans in God’s image. All of us reflect the image of God, and Jesus commanded us at the Last Supper to have and show love for one another. St. John and St. James in their letters warn us that if we say we love God whom we cannot see and yet hate our neighbor whom we can see, then we are liars and hypocrites.
Love is of God, and Jesus was the perfect lover. Jesus welcomed sinners, the marginalized, those whom no one could love or were worth the time to show them God’s love. Jesus healed, rose those who were dead, and took time to speak of the mercy and love of God to all. Everyone was included at the table.
As Pope Francis states, “When I meet a gay person, I have to distinguish between their being gay and being part of a lobby. If they accept the Lord and have goodwill, who am I to judge them? They shouldn’t be marginalized. The tendency [to homosexuality] is not the problem … they’re our brothers.”
He who raised the dead to life with no regard to status or station in life, commands us to do likewise—raise those who are dead in real prisons and prisons of isolation and loneliness, those who are oppressed because of differences of sexuality, those living in poverty, victims of unjust racist systems and those without homes or even countries and bring them to life in the community of God whose love is infinite and life giving.
So, in this month that celebrates differences while also challenging and questioning the true liberation of each person, we pray that we remain open to all of God’s people and their gifts and welcome all at the table of God’s community.