On Sunday evening, October 24, 2010, Dignity/New York gathered in St. John’s in the Village for our weekly liturgy to celebrate our 38th Anniversary of Dignity/New York. Members and guests wore stoles received on June 26 at our Pride Liturgy whose theme was “Celebrating the Priesthood of All Believers”.
The liturgical community celebration opening prayer asked God to
Strengthen our faith, hope, and love.
We give thanks for our 38 years of faith and service in Dignity New York.
We look for your continued guidance and love.
The homily reminded us to be faithful to our own Pride Proclamation, “Tonight is the night, we gather as a community of individuals, working together to welcome the oppressed, exiled and excluded, to touch the poor and suffering, heal the sick, and care for the homebound and forgotten.”
The Litany of Thanksgiving prayed with a grateful heart for all those who give service to our community. We remembered especially during the prayer of the faithful the young and not so young who suffer from bullying and hatred by others. Lead by our spirited choir, our opening song, “All are Welcome” reminded us of the attitude we want in our community.
What a wonderful evening for our Dignity chapter!
On Monday evening, 55 people attended our anniversary dinner and the Charles Gormley Award was presentated to Dan McCarthy. This year our celebration was on the actual founding day of our chapter, October 25th.
We pray that Dignity/NY can continue to be a voice of hope and justice to the LGBTQ community struggling with a church and society that oppresses us. We pray for our Dignity San Antonio chapter who last week were expelled from their Catholic worship space.
We remember our history of 38 years and look to a future when all will be welcome at the table.
