There are times, Mary, when the world is dark and harsh and uninviting.
But this is not news to you. You know all too well the language of anguish
your gay and lesbian children speak when crying out against the hatred, fear,
and religious discrimination leveled against us, for you have drunk deeply
from such wells.
An unwed virgin mother, a sexual outcast threatened with death by
stoning, had God not intervened. An exile from family and friends, religion
and homeland, you knew the joy of self-discovery, its accompanying fear, and
the mystery and dread of the unknown.
Mother, you have also tasted the pain of loss and death. Powerless, you
stood before your crucified child as he hung beaten, bloody, naked and
derided by the spiritually blind and deaf, rejoicing as you wept. You gently
cradled his lifeless body, becoming intimately and forever united with all
who suffer because of who they are, not what they have done, and those whose
actions threaten the complacent and fearful.
Loving Mother of the Oppressed, our Mother, our Mary, your gay and
lesbian children turn to you in trust for your help, protection and support.
Be mindful of us. Incline your maternal ear to our cries, cries that have
grown all too familiar to you. Open your arms wide to embrace the exiles,
and press us close to your strong, mother's heart. Wrap us securely and
shield us with your mantle, for the wolves of ignorance are prowling still,
the winds of rejection continue to blow cuttingly cold, and the encroaching
darkness blinds us to ourselves.
Look upon us, your abused, wounded and rejected children with motherly
affection. Help us to love ourselves, to appreciate our sexuality, with its
desires and passions and attractions as a great gift bestowed by our God, who
is passionately in love with each of us. Help us never to accept the
second-class status many wish to burden us with. As you supported Jesus when
he learned to walk, grasp us securely by the hand and raise us up. Help us
to stand tall and proud as friends and lovers of Jesus Christ and your
precious children, so that we may give glory to God who made us ,with lives
of laughter and light, integrity and selfless dedication to all who walk with
us and will come after us.
Mary, Mother of Strength and Gentleness, pray for us, now and at the
hour of our rebirth.
Amen.
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