An Excerpt from the Introduction:
Aelred of Rievaulx (1110-1167) was a twelfth-century Cistercian abbot and well-known spiritual writer, whose treatise, Spiritual Friendship, is widely considered a classic of Christian spirituality. Inspired by Roman statesman, and orator, Marcus Tullius Cicero’s philosophical dialogue, On Friendship, Aelred approaches his subject from a decidedly religious standpoint, examining both the theoretical and practical aspects of friendship in the light of faith in Christ. Christian friendship, he maintains, is all about extending the fellowship of Christ to another. The more two persons grow as friends, the more they should sense the gentle, unobtrusive, yet abiding presence of this quiet third partner in their lives. He affirms this belief when talking to this friend Ivo at the outset of Book One, stating, “Here we are, you and I, and I hope a third, Christ, in our midst. Read more: Photo
Why is friendship important?
A. God created man for companionship.
• God has not left his creations alone but gives them a society. Human, likewise,
were not left alone but given fellowship. By forming the second human from the
rib of the first, God reveals that human beings are created equal.
• Man is born with a desire for friendship.
• Since a need for love is built into out nature—even evil men desire friendship
(however false)
B. To live without friendship is to live like a beast.
• I would say that those men are beasts rather than human beings who declare that a
man ought to live in such a way as to be to no one a source of consolation, to no
one even of grief or burden; to take no delight in the good fortune of another, or
impart to others no bitterness because of their own misfortune, caring to cherish
no one and to be cherished by no one.
• Without companionship riches hold no charm for the greedy, nor glory the
ambitious, nor pleasure for the sensuous man.
• He is entirely alone who is without a friend
Read more:
Russell, Kenneth C.,
"Aelred, the Gay Abbot of Rievaulx"
Studia Mystica 5:4 (Winter 1982), 51-64
ABSTRACT: Was St Aelred of Rievaulx, the 12th century abbot of a Cistercian monastery in the north of England and the renowned author of Spiritual friendship, The mirror of love and several other spiritual classics, a homosexual? in Christianity, social tolerance, and homosexuality, John Boswell says bluntly that "there can be little question that Aelred was gay and that his erotic attraction to men was a dominant force in his life". Boswell analyses Aelred's writings to establish that he did exhibit a preference for love relationships with members of his own sex. Once this is demonstrated he is eager to move on to the next figure in his historical survey. Boswell's conclusions seem sound, but is it enough to know that Aelred was a homosexual? Surely, once it is established that Aelred was gay we want to know how this factor influenced his life....Aelred felt that his teaching on love was applicable to everyone, but the fact is that his refined understanding of the value of human love and of the laws by which it must be governed came out of his own gay experience....He became a saint and a spiritual master not by repressing his sensitivity but by trying to respond to its appeal. [excerpts].
Read more:
"Aelred, the Gay Abbot of Rievaulx" (1109 – 1167) January 12, Feast Day
SEXUAL ORIENTATION is less about sex and more about LOVE, being one with another human being - ATTACHMENT THEORY
“Auschwitz – Benedict XVI - Christmas 2008 - Brokeback Mountain” (NP)
Nothing in life is more precious than the intimate relationships we have with love ones. Healthy love relationships delight us give us confidence to take on challenges and support us in difficult times. Photo
Difference Between Life & Death
Being “In” And Living “Out” Of The Closet
"Why, It Is A 'Gift' From God!!!" - Monastic Wisdom - Absolute Fright For Benedict XVI
March 1997 “Coming Out”
"$126,000.00 as reported by Bishop Walter Hurley, May 27, 2006 – The Grand Rapids Press"
By Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
I thought that love
was just a word
They sang about in songs I heard
It took your kisses to reveal
That I was wrong,
and
love is real
La Vie En Rose
Edith Piaf
Gay marriage -> Restoring
"Hope of Love"
To Children In Early Childhood -> Marriage Equality
March 23, 2010 – by Fr. Marty Kurylowicz
Marriage Equality, like Galileo, is the truth about the facts of growing up gay. Marriage Equality will not become a reality until people learn that its most vital purpose is that it restores the “hope of love” to children in early childhood – essential to their development and well-being for life. 
Without Marriage Equality we teach children how to hate love and how to be mean and indifferent to people as adults. With all due respect, without Marriage Equality we would teach them in much the same way as has been shown by Benedict XVI and the hierarchy, especially in their lack of care and protection of children for decades.Same-Sex Marriage: The Legal and Psychological Evolution in America -
by Donald J. Cantor, Elizabeth Cantor, James C. Black, and Campbell D. Barrett. 2006
Gay marriage isn't revolutionary.
It's just next.
By Stephanie Coontz,
January 9, 2010
The Washington Post
Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Armed Services Committee - unyielding force supporting - DON'T ASK, DON'T TELL Repeal Act of 2010 – ENDS discriminatory policy that “forces young men and women to lie,” – to lie – “about who they are in order to defend their fellow citizens.”
"Someday, maybe, there will exist a well-informed, well-considered, and yet fervent public conviction that the most deadly of all possible sins is the mutilation of a child's spirit."
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