New Series: DVD Extras from My Great Big Gay Catholic Book

Hey people. Did you know I have a book coming out? THAT’S RIGHT. Pre-order that joint.

The cool thing about the book is that it’s short. That means I left a lot of stuff out. Plus I wrote the book a couple years ago at this point, and my thinking on Gay Catholic Whatnot has continued to evolve. Therefore, to give you all a sense of how I approach issues of faith and sexuality (so you’ll buy my awesome book, and/or request it at your local libraries–note that many public libraries do take requests!), I’m starting a series of posts which explore issues I left out of the book for reasons of space, or because I hadn’t considered this stuff yet. This also means you can email me [email protected] with questions, which I might incorporate into this series.

Here’s the current list of topics I’ll probably post on, although I don’t guarantee any of these and I’m sure I’ll add others. This list is in no real order:

* The Anima Christi as it relates to my gay Christian life

* a sketch of the chapter I wish I’d included, on celibate partnerships

* maybe something on the extraordinary growth and new public prominence of gay/queer/same-sex attracted Christians who accept the historic Christian teaching on sexuality

* spiritual direction and vocational weirdness

* is there a difference between vocational discernment and navel-gazing?

* art as a vocation

* teaching and fruitfulness

* marriage and religious vocations for gay/queer/ssa people

* don’t be your own abbot!

* misconceptions e.g. you’re probably just asexual

* marriage as asceticism and solidarity in struggle

* the possibilities of public honor for nonmarital sacrificial love

* discipleship as a process aka So a Gay Couple Just Started Coming to My Church, How Can I Be a Shepherd and Not a Jackass?

* is celibacy a purely private choice?

* the sexualization of gay Christians

* is celibacy just the new ex-gay?

* Mary, the woman in my life

* bridal mysticism for queer people

* gay saints

* “What I want to give is not what you want to receive,” or needs vs. neediness

* possible analogies: the arc of “courtly love” culture

* vocation as the next right thing

* the Kiss of Peace: liturgy to free us from our isolation

Plus something you’ll get later today, a bit of gallows humor to start us off; and a demi-related post about alcoholism as dramatic irony.