Labels Denied, Labels Embraced

Sunday, October 5, 2025

Alejandro Rodríguez (he/him)

Executive Director, The Spirituality Network

Queer Christ-follower

He said to them, “But who do you say that I am? (Matthew 16:15).

Jesus challenges his disciples to take a stand. Simon Peter doesn’t disappoint. “You are the Christ, the Son of the living God.”

Who we are is a question for the ages. Perhaps a lifelong quest.

It took me a long time to claim who I was.

My parents so wanted to assimilate to our new homeland that I lost my past. Because my name was difficult for teachers and fellow students, I insisted they call me “Alex” instead.

I didn’t really have a deep desire to embrace my heritage until I visited New Orleans with my parents. The Garden District reminded them of Havana, my birthplace.

That started a journey to embrace the label, “Latino.” In 2003, I was able to go back to Cuba with my parents, a gift I still treasure.

It was around this time that I was coming to embrace being a gay man. That, too, was a label long denied. It was challenging because I was married to a woman and had three kids. I’m still in a mixed orientation marriage. It’s where I feel I belong.

So much of my life is a paradox in which labels are hard to apply.

It’s trendy to disavow labels. It puts artificial boundaries around who we are. They are too limiting to fully define a person.

But as someone who for so long denied the key aspects of who I am, I proudly wear the labels of “gay” and “Latino.”

Reflection

Who do you say you are?

What pivotal points in your journey have led you to this place?

How do you take on the label, “child of God?”

Action

As we approach National Coming Out Day on October 11 and the end of Hispanic Heritage Month on October 15, I invite you to join me in celebrating all of who you are and whatever labels you choose to wear or not wear.

Cradle Christians

Monday, September 29, 2025

Happy Monday, my friends! As Siobhan and I continue recording episodes for the second season of “Coming Out Christian,” we’ve heard from several guests about being raised in families representing multiple denominational or religious traditions. One guest whose mother was a Christian and whose father was an atheist shared about going to church with their mom and coming home to their dad who wanted to hear all about what they experienced and learned. Another guest shared how her mother was an evangelical and her father a Catholic. Her mother insisted that they attend Catholic mass out of deference to their father, but privately asked them to pray for their dad, just in case Catholics aren’t really saved. Another guest was raised primarily Catholic but spent time with their grandparents each summer who were Baptists. Other guests, like me, discussed being raised in one tradition and having different experiences with and affinity to the term “cradle <insert denomination>.”

I was (am?) a cradle Catholic. My family was devoted, fiercely supportive, and deeply involved in the life of our congregation. I had a rosary in my hand practically from birth and would go on to attend K-12 in Catholic schools and work at two Catholic colleges. I remain generally supportive of Catholic education and the Catholic intellectual tradition. My dad is also a cradle Catholic from a family whose Catholic roots may well go back to St. Boniface and who was raised in a town which was so Catholic that Catholic religious sisters (aka “nuns”) taught in the public schools through the end of the 1960s. My mom was raised in a family that attended church only when they lived near her grandparents or at family functions. Her father was raised American Baptist, and her mother was raised Methodist. Neither of my maternal grandparents put much time into faith. She converted to Catholicism shortly after my parents married.

I’ve always wondered what it would have been like to grow up in a family whose parents were members of different churches and traditions. Would we have attended both congregations regularly? Would we still have been raised Catholic with some acknowledgement of the other parent’s faith? Would my sister and I been allowed to choose which parent’s church we attended, particularly as we got older? Would Catholic education have been as important to our family?

Recently, my mom shared that as a family we likely would have been less involved in our congregation and its school had we lived further away from the parish. In truth we lived approximately four blocks away. My mom’s statement surprised me because I always felt that she would have moved heaven, earth, and hell to make sure her children received a Catholic education and were in church each Sunday.

In what tradition were you raised? Did you experience growing up in a mixed tradition family?

Let us pray: God of all religious traditions, bless our many expressions and definitions of faith and spirituality. Empower us to see the unity found in difference rather than division across theologies and interpretations. Bring all your children into respectful and liberative dialogue with each other. Make us people committed to building a better world for each other. We ask this all in the name of our redeemer and liberator, Jesus. Amen.

Blessings on your weeks, my friends. Please let me know if there is anything I can do for you.

Faithfully,

Ben +

PS. Remember to check out “Coming Out Christian” available at www.loveboldly.net/comingoutchristian or wherever you get your podcasts. New episodes drop each Sunday.

Unconditional and Independent

Sunday, September 28, 2025

The Rev. Brandan Robertson

Author and Public Theologian

Queer Christian

In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans.

(Romans 8:26)

All of us experience struggles along life’s journey. Sometimes, everything seems to go well, and life unfolds smoothly. Other times, it feels like we’re pushing a boulder uphill, with obstacles every step of the way. In Paul’s letter to the Romans, he reveals a mysterious truth about the Spirit: in our weakness, God shows up to give us strength. When we don’t know how to move forward or lack the energy to keep going, God is with us, even in our wordless groans, working to heal and uplift us.

This requires faith—especially in hard times when it’s difficult to see if or how God is working. Yet, when we trust in God’s goodness and ability to redeem any circumstance, our spirits are warmed and comforted, even during our darkest nights. God has not abandoned us to our pain or confusion. Jesus demonstrated just how deeply God loves us and walks with us through every valley. When we’re drained of faith and strength, the

Spirit intercedes with us, turning our unspoken pain into prayers for strength, healing, and love.

Whether you are in a season of blessing or walking through a dark night of the soul, know that God is at work within you and for you. Even when you lack the words to pray, the Spirit groans alongside you, bringing your unspoken needs to God. Remember, God’s love isn’t conditional or dependent on your strength—it’s simply there, guiding you every step of the way. Thanks be to God for that.

Reflection

What is an area in your life where you need God to work, even if you don’t have the words to pray about it? Write it down as an offering to God.

When have you seen God show up for you in unexpected ways?

Action

Write out Romans 8:28 and place it somewhere visible. Let it remind you of God’s faithfulness and the Spirit’s presence, especially in times of struggle.