Sunday, September 23, 2007

On the day that my 9/11 tribute to Father Mychal Judge aged into archives, I got a comment from a reader in Massachusetts identified simply as Mychals Prayer. I'm using that comment here for the additional information it gives about this saintly priest. The blogsite has more, plus one link that I hope all my Baptist friends and family members will take the time to visit, one of the most reasonable discussions I've read on Bible interpretation and our responsibility as 21st Century Christians to address the issue of sexual orientation without prejudice. It's written by a Baptist minister and has been endorsed by several Baptist pastors and educators. It's lengthy, so please take the time to read it all. I appreciate my reader sharing his thoughts, his blog, and this link, in particular. Here is his comment:

Most of us first heard of Father Mychal Judge, the late New York fire chaplain and "the saint of 9/11", from that iconic photo of his body being carried from Ground Zero.

Yet even prior to his heroic death on 9/11, Father Mychal was widely seen by many New Yorkers as a living saint for his deep spirituality and his extraordinary work not only with firefighters -- but with the homeless, recovering alcoholics, people with AIDS, immigrants, gays and lesbians, and others rejected by society.

This often annoyed the church hierarchy. But like his spiritual father St. Francis of Assisi, Mychal reported directly to a Higher Authority, as evidenced by several miraculous healings through him.

For more information about Father Mychal, I invite you to visit: http://SaintMychalJudge.blogspot.com

1 comment:

jmKelley said...

Although he was never a 'gay activist', Father Mychal Judge probably did more to change people's attitudes on the issue than a hundred activists.

This man didn't just preach Christ, but fully lived Christ. He would ask simply, "Is there so much love in the world that we can afford to discriminate against any kind of love?"

As one who had a direct connection with God, Father Mychal also did more to lead people to Christ than a hundred who are still stuck in the letter of scripture rather than the Spirit.