Posts Tagged ‘Family’
A Thanksgiving Grounded In History
As I prepare for the Thanksgiving holiday, I am reminded of the autumnal harvest time’s spiritual significance. As a time of connectedness, I pause to acknowledge what I have to be thankful for. But I also reflect on the holiday as a time of remembrance—historical and familial. Historically, I am reminded that for many Native…
Read MoreConfronting Echoes Of The AIDS Hysteria As We Battle Ebola
Exactly a decade ago this month I received an email flagged as urgent from Monrovia, Liberia. It was from Lee Johnson, then coordinator of “Liberian Youths Against HIV/AIDS.” “Presently, the HIV/AIDS scourge is deeply eating into the fabric of our society and there is little being done to bring this to a halt. Therefore, some…
Read MoreVatican’s Final Report Disappoints; Discussion Indicates Progress
After signs of progress from the mid-term report of the Extraordinary Synod on Marriage and Family, the Vatican’s final report significantly backtracks on LGBT issues from the promising draft. Despite this disappointment, the synod’s process and openness to discussion provide hope for further development down the road, particularly at next year’s synod, where the make-up of the…
Read MoreThe Struggle Of Rebirth: A Catholic Coming Out
In reflecting over my ongoing sojourn with faith and sexuality, I realize that who I am and the area I seek to evolve is one that both disturbs and is disturbed, changes and is changed. As I look back at my life in an effort to re-remember my re-membering as I wrestle with church teaching,…
Read MoreSpirit Day 2014: How We Can Prevent Bullying
Four years ago, beginning in October of 2010, we in the United States saw a rash of gay teenager suicides—Asher Brown, age 13, in Houston; Seth Walsh, also 13, in California; Billy Lucas and Justin Aaberg, both 15, from Indiana and Minnesota; and Tyler Clementi, age 18, a freshman just beginning his studies at Rutgers…
Read MoreDoes Your Church Welcome LGBTQ People?
I hold the church personally responsible for any LGBTQ person who walks away from God and Christianity. Every week, I get emails from individuals all across the country who are full of desire to be a part of a church. They want to go on the church-wide mission trip, join the choir, serve in the…
Read MoreEncouraging Gay Men In Their Quest For Authenticity
Why retreats for gay men? My start comes from where I began. My partner and I both identify as gay men and are on a quest to live with authenticity in every area of our lives. Society challenges us at every turn and yet our determination to press forward comes from many in the LGBT…
Read MoreIn Honor of Our Lost LGBTQ Children
Ryan Robertson died five years ago this week. In his honor, friends and I have chosen an orange icon on Facebook as it was Ryan’s favorite color. We also honor all the LGBTQ people who have died from rejection, bullying, and ill-fated “therapy”—marginalization, in all its forms. Ryan is one of many LGBTQ men and women who was pushed…
Read MoreLGBT Catholics Find Vatican Document On Family Synod Disappointing
Leaders of DignityUSA, the leading organization of LGBT Catholics and their allies and family members, called the “Instrumentum Laboris” released by the Vatican in advance of the Extraordinary Synod on the Family “extremely disappointing.” They said the document demonstrates a failure to understand the extent of the problems with official Church teaching on issues of…
Read MoreOne Size Does Not Fit All: Pastoral Care For LGBT Seniors
I’ve found myself a part of people’s lives in a profound way while providing spiritual care as a chaplain for the past three years. While working in hospice and hospital settings, I have been privileged to be invited into the most delicate and precarious of times. I’ve held the hand of the dying, I’ve comforted…
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