Sent

I wrote this for a newsletter.

AMDG

I, a 30-odd year old Catholic, who aspires to religious brotherhood, who is transgender, to my brothers, sisters, and nonbinary brethren reading this newsletter…

I wrote in June about a darkness I sense in the world, a pack of demons to whom I informally refer as the shadow of Mordor: distortion, despair, isolation, fear, defensiveness, and self-righteousness. What I wrote was a personal reflection on my struggle to live and pray through this, to see God above the waves and see light where the devil wants me—us—to find darkness. Today I write an exhortation of defiance.

The Kingdom of Heaven is at hand.

I believe that we live in a broken world. A world created by God, beautiful, reflecting God’s beauty, complexity, power, personality. But also a world subject to moral and physical disorder: Brother kills brother. Beast devours man and man slaughters beast. We unseat Love to make room for Pride, Power, and Wealth. I’m sure you can summon to mind many specific examples of the brokenness of the world.

When Jesus was baptized, the Heavens were opened above him. And when he began his ministry, he proclaimed that the Kingdom of Heaven, the Kingdom of God, is at hand! He proved it to those who saw him by healing the sick, casting out demons, and forgiving sins, among other miracles. But the inbreaking of the Kingdom of Heaven was not meant to be a 3 year process. Jesus gathered disciples and sent them out to announce the kingdom, to bring it about even, by the same ministry. The heavens remained open, the disciples were empowered by the Holy Spirit, and they carried the Good News wherever the winds took them, generation after generation, even to the present day.

If you are reading this, I am inclined to call you a disciple of Jesus. And I have good news for you: You are empowered to declare the victory of the Kingdom of Heaven over sin and death. you are empowered by the Lord of Hosts to heal the sick, to drive out demons, and to forgive sins. God is alive, moving through each and every one of us.

This won’t resonate with all of you, but for me, having a body that grew up female is an experience of brokenness.* Medical transition was an experience of profound healing; my gratitude to God is equally profound. My life has been redeemed; I have been freed to love and serve God and neighbor with all my heart, mind, body, and soul!

So when I hear people talk about gender-affirming care as against the faith, I know how wrong they are. And because God has put me here on the margins with you by raising LGBTQ+ issues in my life, and because I love you, I am going to go on sharing my truth and my witness. I am going to keep shining light into dark places and looking for friendship where there is hostility. We are called to heal. So let us console, let us educate, let us help.

I mentioned evil spirits that challenge us. Call them what you like, and think of them as literally as you like—evil spirits is the traditional term and I think there is both a real psychological and real spiritual dimension to them—but cast them out. This, too, Jesus gave you power and authority to do. You have a choice to listen to the Father of Lies and cave to spirits of isolation and despair, or to spirits of defensiveness and self-righteousness, or not! So name these spirits and send them back to hell. Not only in your life, but in the world. We are called to do this.

Finally, I beg each of you to be a minister of reconciliation. Jesus sent his disciples to forgive sins. He sends you now. This is the hardest, the least clear. To forgive often requires us to release something in our hearts, to absolve a debt. It is personal. And when I speak of reconciliation, I talk about a whole paradigm shift. We are called to be one Body of Christ, one beloved community. No longer rivals, no longer opponents. You and I must treat our “enemies,” whoever those may be, with greatest love. Better than our friends and family! And yes, I am exhorting myself as much as you.

Beloved, no matter what afflicts us, no matter how we are derided or beaten or excluded, we ought to have joy because we are bringing about the Kingdom of God! A kingdom of justice, mercy, and peace! We are chosen to be part of the work of the redemption of the world, in whatever public or hidden ministries we carry out. God does not guarantee us a life that is perfect, or comfortable, or as good as advertised on social media. God didn’t choose that for him/herself in the incarnation. Jesus taught us what is most important, and he demonstrated it.

So drink up; fill yourself through the sacraments, prayer, and community. Then go joyfully to heal the hurting, to drive out demons, and to bring about reconciliation. This is the inbreaking of the Kingdom of God.

Peace in Christ,

Your Other Brother

*I think that not everyone who hears about trans issues, which cover a diverse spectrum of identities, comprehends the wound of gender dysphoria; I’d call it a persistent sense of wrongness and misalignment between what one’s sex should be and what it is, sex being an element of identity which is visible and impactful in nearly every aspect of our lives.

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