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Jerusalem is one big traffic jam today and an emotional clog. Dozens of world leaders have gathered to honor the 75th anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz ahead of the International Holocaust Memorial Day next week. My father survived Auschwitz and didn’t talk much about what really happened there. In one of my first conversations…
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Epiphany, also known as Three Kings Day, proclaims and rejoices in the revelation of God incarnate as Jesus Christ. In Western Christianity, this day serves as a remembrance of the visit from the foreign, gift-bearing astronomers to the Christ Child. “When they saw the star, they rejoiced with exceeding great joy. And when they came…
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Welcome to the first installment of The Believe Out Loud Bookshelf! This segment will highlight LGBT-oriented books and authors that are making a difference in the community. The first book to be reviewed on The Believe Out Loud Bookshelf is “I Am Jazz,” co-authored by Jazz Jennings and Jessica Herthel and illustrated by Shelagh McNicholas.…
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Today at sundown begins Hanukkah – the Jewish festival of light. Hanukkah commemorates the rebellion and victory of a small and poorly armed group of Jews over the powerful army of Syrian king Antiochus who had brought Judea under his control and subsequently outlawed Judaism, desecrated the Holy Temple in Jerusalem and violently forced Jews…
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When Trump rescinded the guidelines to schools on how to protect the dignity of Trans* students, he opened the door for SCOTUS to deny Gavin Grimm his day in court. When SCOTUS declined to hear Gavin’s case, the nation’s highest court delayed the protections that Trans* students are due under the mandate of Title IX.…
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I struggled to write this reflection. The central focus of Gaudete Sunday, the Third Sunday of Advent, is the joyful anticipation of Christ’s birth, but how to write convincingly about joy when it eludes me as I wrestle as a single, gay Catholic away from home with the pain of loneliness? The long stretches of…
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I am very angry, and I am usually the consensus builder. The racial tension, violence, and the growing backlash to marriage equality and trans visibility makes the everyday life feels like a powder keg. There needs to be some kind of release from all the pain, anger, suffering and injustice. This summer I reached the…
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In the current political climate, many claim that LGBTQ folks have achieved full equality since same-sex marriage was dubbed legal in 2015. I remember celebrating the Supreme Court’s decision as my wife, toddler, and I packed up our home and set off on a year-long journey volunteering throughout the country. We left the day after…
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Put simply, I love and am in love. When one’s heart is full. When one’s day is preoccupied with another. When I am in touch with the truth that I can’t live without him; and, I go through my day missing him, I can’t help but hold my partner’s hand. It is an empowering truth…
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A new video about sexuality and spirituality, aimed ultimately at Pope Francis as its audience, has been released on the web by a group of LGBT Catholics in New York City. “Owning Our Faith” is a 14-minute film in which a diversity of LGBT Catholics, family members, and pastoral ministers speak candidly about the intersection of…
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