Dear friends: I'm delighted to share the news about "Outreach 2021: LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Webinar," on Sat., June 26, with a great lineup of sessions designed for those engaged in ministry among #LGBTQ Catholics and those involved in LGBTQ ministry in Catholic institutions....
As you may remember, last year we had planned "Outreach 2020," an LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference sponsored by Fordham University's Center on Religion and Culture @CRCfordham...
Even though Covid forced us to postpone, we offered a series of videos from a variety of speakers, released that week... youtube.com/playlist...
We still feel that an in-person conference this June wouldn't be a good idea, and are aiming for next year.
Instead, this year we're offering a one-day series of webinars on a variety of topics, with great speakers, along with time for prayer and reflection....
There will also be plenty of time for discussion among participants.
Our goal is to share best practices, build community and pray together.
Here are our planned sessions:
"Fifty Years of LGBTQ Catholic Ministry"
Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL
Co-founder of @NewWaysMinistry
"LGBTQ Ministry in Catholic High Schools and Colleges"
Gospel: At the #Transfiguracion the disciples display three common (and very human) reactions to a profound spiritual experience (Mk 9). First, gratitude. ("It is good that we are here.") Obviously, any encounter with God is the occasion for great gratitude. For it is all gift...
Second, fear. ("They were so terrified.") Even in the midst of an encounter with God, it's natural feel some measure of fear. After all, it's the Creator of the Universe who is communicating with us. There may even be a subtle fear of change. (What will this encounter mean?)...
Third, the disciples display some confusion. ("He hardly knew what to say.") Our encounters with God, however they come, can be confusing at times, and even harder to explain to others. That doesn't make them any less real...
The list of Catholic religious orders, schools and institutions supporting the @TylerClementi statement against #LGBTQ bullying grew again this week:
The School Sisters of Notre Dame, Central Pacific Province; the Ignatian Volunteer Corps; the Dominican Sisters of Sinsinawa...
...the Congregation of the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace; the Sisters of St. Joseph of Orange; the Dominican Friars, Province of St. Albert the Great, USA; the Missionary Oblates of Mary Immaculate, US Province; Christian Brothers University...
...The Dominican Sisters of Peace; the Sisters of St. Dominic of Caldwell, NJ; the Society of the Sacred Heart USC Province; and the Congregation of the Infant Jesus, Rockville Centre, NY.
(Not all are listed on the graphic or the website yet)...
I would like to thank Duquesne University @duqedu for an absolutely extraordinary welcome this afternoon for my talk for administration, faculty and students on welcoming #LGBTQ people in Catholic colleges. You are doing wonderful work and I want to especially thank...
...the students who responded to my talk: Emma Shirey, Mike Murphy and Rosie Fassette. I was so moved by your insights, and also so glad to receive so many great questions from other students and faculty after our conversation....
Gospel: "Jesus began to teach by the sea," says today's Gospel (Mk 4). In the Parable of the Sower, Jesus speaks of rocky ground, fertile ground and thorny ground. Here is the "Bay of Parables," where by tradition Jesus preached that parable. Why do we think that? Well, first...
....there are only a few places on this side of the Sea of Galilee where this could have happened; Jesus was living in Capernaum (just to the left of this photo); and the shoreline is a naturally occurring amphitheater, where people would have been able to hear him more easily...
In the Parable, Jesus uses the image of rocky ground, fertile ground and thorny ground to illustrate the way that the word of God is "received." When you visit the Bay of Parables today, you can see: rocks, thorns and fertile ground. So Jesus was probably not saying, "These...
Gospel: Jesus called a group of people who may not have always gotten along. Today he calls Peter and Andrew, two brothers (Mk. 1: 14-20). Do siblings always get along? Next he calls James and John, two more brothers, who work in a wealthier fishing business with their father...
How do we know that they were probably wealthier? Notice that while Peter and Andrew are "casting" their nets (i.e., standing on the shoreline), James and John are in their father's boat with "hired hands." So Jesus has just called their wealthier competitors. Plus we know...
...for certain that, later on, James and John (or their mother) will ask to sit at Jesus's "right hand," which makes the other disciples :indignant." Soon Jesus will call Matthew, a tax collector in Capernaum, where Peter and Andrew, and James and John seem to live. How do you...
Thread: In Poland, where homophobia is rampant, LGBT people are on trial for "desecrating" a copy of the Black Madonna. But Mary is for everyone, including LGBT people, and there is a long history of portraying her as part of different faith communities... americamagazine.org/faith/2021/01/…
She is especially important to communities that have been persecuted or marginalized. For example, Father John Giuliani, who died recently, often portrayed her as a Native American woman, with Native American references and symbols prominent in his paintings....
Mary is often portrayed as a woman of color (which she assuredly was) by the contemporary artist Janet McKenzie.