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A Roman Catholic trying to live as holy a life in Our Nation's Capital as the decadent culture and his own snark will permit.
About Me
- CourageMan
- Washington, United States
- email me at courageman05 [at] yahoo [dot] com
1,000 Words
9 comments:
Hi Courageman. I am somewhat interested about your involvement in the Courage Group. I had an odd experience. I called the number for Courage for my diocese. I live on the outskirts of my diocese. I talked to the man for a little over a half hour. I forgot to ask about Masses for the Courage group so I called back several times over the next several weeks but only got a recording. I finally left a message and the man called me back. I didn't quite understand what he said so I asked what his name was. He said, "Well what is your name?" I told him and he said, "Well, I'm father." For some reason he didn't want to give me his name. He didn't tell me when or where the group meetings were. I asked if he had Masses for his group and he said that he said Mass every day. He never told me when he had Masses for his group of where. I said that I was interested in meeting people and he said that the people in his group wanted to remain anonymous. Then he said, "This is not a pro-homosexual organization." I was very insulted by this. If this man was in a bad mood and didn't want to talk to me why did he call me back. I thought he was rude. What kind of support program is it that treats people like this? My best friend told me that he probably didn't want me in his group because I didn't sound masculine enough. What kind of prejudice is this? I'm used to being treated with respect. Isn't Courage a pro-homosexual organization? Or maybe I just got the wrong number.
Peace - Mark
so how was the retreat?
The retreat was amazing.
My shoulder is still sore from the hit I received when blocking CM's rushing the QB during the Courage Bowl. There's a metaphor in there somewhere...he ain't heavy, he's my brother. ;-)
sometimes i wish i knew how to play football. i just don't get it. glad a good time was had by all!
Glad the retreat was successful..
mephibosheth:
Two words: Chop block.
Hope the retreat went well, CM. A bit beleaguered in the time department right now, but I'll have a post about the great time we had at the hockey game up soon.
Hi Mark,
I don’t know if you know CM offline and therefore perhaps he has responded to you privately, but I wanted to add my two cents. These are some random observations, some of which I’m sure will be obvious to you.
Just because a man is a priest and Courage chaplain does not mean he is mature. I’m sorry if you ran into such a person. I didn’t hear the conversations, but based on what you’ve said, I can’t understand why he wouldn’t give you his name or the meeting location. Don’t let your mind go anywhere with this, including thoughts about not sounding “masculine enough.”
Courage is fully part of the Church, and so therefore typically we don’t have our “own” Masses. Courage members are encouraged to attend daily Mass as often as possible, and of course our Sunday and Holy Day obligations, but that is through the local parish just as for everyone else. Mass is offered at Courage conferences and retreats, but I suspect private Masses for Courage chapters are rare.
His statement that Courage is “not a pro-homosexual organization” is technically true, but overly simplistic, and unfair based on what you’ve shared about the conversation. Courage is simply for men and women who have same-sex attraction and desire to live chastely according to the precepts of the Church. Perhaps what he was referring to is that Courage participants are encouraged not to embrace “gay” culture or identity, or pursue same-gender sexual relationships. But it is “pro” men and women with SSA in terms of support and full inclusion in the Church.
I don’t think there is a uniform policy about chapter members having contact with each other outside formal meetings. In some cases they do, while others seek more anonymity.
If there is another contact point for the chapter (an e-mail address or a second person’s name/phone), you might consider using that and explaining that you have SSA, wish support in remaining chaste, and would like information about chapter meetings. OTOH, if this man is in fact the chaplain, that’s not a good sign. I’m sorry if he made assumptions about your motives based on your phone call. Perhaps a chapter in a neighboring diocese is reasonably close.
If I can help, please feel free to e-mail me via my blog profile.
God bless,
Frank
This has turned out to be one very long weekend retreat!
come on back Shane!
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