What he said....

Yesterday morning when I checked my newsfeed, I saw the article about Pope Francis now allowing priests to bless gay couples. However, it is made clear that these blessings are not to be confused with actually blessing the relationship since marriage still remains, according to the church, between a man and a woman.

My first thought was, “It’s about time.” My second thought was “Who cares if you or the church approve of my relationship. I approve and what you think of me is none of my business.” My third thought was, “Oh, many people care, and this is an important step for the church to take before it finally lets down its guard of judgment and accepts gay people as full citizens of its religion.”

Many people have lost their families because the church called gay people sinners. Many gay people were disowned by their parents with some even being thrown out on the street while still teenagers. I wasn’t allowed to say goodbye to my mother on her death bed and I wasn’t allowed to attend her funeral. True Christian behavior? Yes, it is a big deal that the Pope is telling priests they can bless gay couples.

Now all the people who were comfortable seeing gay people as bad, wrong, and sinful must contend with their leader saying, “Gee, maybe gays aren’t so bad. Let’s give them a little spiritual recognition.”

What’s important to realize here is that any religious institution can tell their flock what is right or wrong and change their rules later. Remember when Catholics would go to hell if they ate meat on Fridays? I do. I always wondered who dreamt that one up. Someone who owned a fishing fleet?

Most spiritual leaders do their best to relay accurate information to their followers. Most religious leaders actually want to do the right thing. If you belong to a religious/spiritual organization, it is important to remember your church is run by humans and these humans can make mistakes. What they tell you is not always correct and what they tell you can be changed if they decide to change it.

It is up to us to take spiritual information within and ask how it fits our understanding of God, the world, the afterlife, etc…. It is important not to take something as gospel because a religious leader said it. We must take our intellect along for whatever spiritual road trip we’re on. What’s true today might morph into something else tomorrow. Hold on lightly to any dogma if you must hold on to any at all.

Learn to trust yourself, your inner knowing, your life experiences. You are much bigger, stronger, and wiser than most churches would let you believe. I am not condoning arrogance or the inability to learn from other people and other traditions. Listen, learn, evaluate and, over time, you just might live long enough to see spiritual teachers agree with what you knew all along.

The next big change for the Catholic Church is to begin ordaining women as priests. The church could solve their priest shortage by making this change while also allowing priests to marry. These rules are man-made and can be changed once there are enough people ready to accept a new reality. I look forward to reading that headline someday soon.

Living in grace and ease,

Krysta