St. Francis and the Leper

I sat on his couch frozen, unable to speak or move.  “I can wait,” he said.  I stared at him trying to speak those simple words.  I repeated the words in my head.  Why could I not vocalize them?  He stared at me and I grew more frightened.  "Can you say it, I am loved and lovable,” my therapist said.  Confronted with my dark secret, kept hidden even from myself, a tear formed and gently fell.  I could not.

Early abuse suffered at the hands of my peers, “You faggot!”  Coupled with fears of rejection by my parents.  I can still hear my father bristle, “Stop walking like that,” as he grabbed my hips.  Hearing the news anchor state, “Last night a gay man was severely beaten and left for dead,” engrained in a child one very cruel lesson:  There was something about me that was essentially unlovable.

I often wonder if the lepers of Jesus’ time internalized this same message, “I am unloved and unlovable.”  [Read my blog Leprosy and Homosexuality] How could they not?  The people of Jesus' time thought leprosy was a punishment from God.  They were forced to live separate from the community.  They were deprived of human touch.  Their friends and families looked on with disgust at their disfigured bodies covered in scales, sores, and ulcers.

St. Francis of Assisi, held these same distorted beliefs about leprosy.  Not much had changed from Jesus’ time, even though Jesus stood against these beliefs.  But it was the leper that transformed St. Francis of Assisi.  In his Testament he says, “And when I left them, what had seemed bitter to me was turned into sweetness of soul and body.”

To my heterosexual brothers and sisters, what can seem bitter about our children, their homosexuality, can become sweetness of soul and body, if we move beyond our fears and embrace the other, as Francis embraced the leper.  To my gay brothers and sisters, what can seem bitter about ourselves, can become sweetness of soul and body, if we move beyond the negative messages we’ve internalized about ourselves, and embrace our sexuality, as Francis embraced the leper.

We now know that leprosy is not a punishment from God, but a bacterial infection.  We now know that homosexuality is not a disorder.  The American Psychological Association, a scientific and professional organization states:

“Lesbian, gay, and bisexual orientations are not disorders.  Research has found no inherent association between any of these sexual orientations and psychopathology.  Both heterosexual behavior and homosexual behavior are normal aspects of human sexuality.  Both have been documented in many different cultures and historical eras. Despite the persistence of stereotypes that portray lesbian, gay, and bisexual people as disturbed, several decades of research and clinical experience have led all mainstream medical and mental health organizations in this country to conclude that these orientations represent normal forms of human experience. Lesbian, gay, and bisexual relationships are normal forms of human bonding."  

It wasn’t easy for St. Francis of Assisi, of all the things in the world, lepers were those that Francis despised the most.  His cultural expectation was to shun the leper, yet he was moved by something, Love – The Holy Spirit – which called him out of his societal expectation and moved him into a new way of life.  A life defined by compassion, mercy and love.  So it is with us.  We are called by love to live a life defined by it.

We must have the courage to confront the cultural issues of our time, especially those issues surrounding homosexuality.  And like St Francis of Assisi, be moved by love to embrace the other, as ourselves.  After all, we are all made in the image and likeness of God, and we are all good!

Peace and all good,

Brother Sun and Sister Moon

For more information on homosexuality and bisexuality as normal forms of human
sexuality and human bonding visit the American Psychological Association.

Personal Reflection:

Did you ever fear that others might not love you because of your sexuality?  How did that make you feel?  Feel free to share your story in the comment spaces below.