Bishop John Stowe, OFM Conv.'s beautiful prayer for this morning's #Outreach2021 LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference. @BpStowe

"All loving Creator, Who reveal your power in mercy and compassion, look upon us as we gather from many places united in our desire to serve....
...learn from and lift up your LGBTQ+ children.

Help us to form true bonds in this time together to bridge more than our geographical distances, so as to truly reflect and be the Body of Christ, your Love incarnate.
May your Spirit be upon all of us as we celebrate and uphold with Pride- the dignity of all your children- diverse and wonderful.
Bless our efforts to imitate the ministry and love of Jesus - who bent down to touch and heal our wounds and lifts us up on his shoulders to carry us to safety.
Surround in love your children who have yet to discover their dignity and value- or question it because of distortions of your Word.
Be with those who are isolated, lonely or looking to escape their pain in unhealthy ways.
Inspire us as church to be more effective in Outreach, in mission and in embodying your all merciful love.
Amen.

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More from @JamesMartinSJ

27 Jun
Pope Francis @Pontifex has sent a beautiful letter on the occasion of the Outreach LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Webinar, which happened yesterday, expressing his support for this ministry and encouraging us to imitate God's "style" of "closeness, compassion and tenderness"...
Initially I thought to share only the sections of the letter intended for yesterday's conference, but I thought people might wonder what was in the rest of the letter, so I am sharing the entire message, including the personal greetings at the beginning...
The photos that he mentions are of my nephew's Confirmation Mass last weekend. In 2019, I gave the Pope a letter from my nephew, who promised to take "Francis" as his confirmation name. Last weekend, he fulfilled his promise. (He also wore socks with Francis's image on them.)...
Read 7 tweets
26 Jun
Our final afternoon presentation for #OUTREACH2021, the LGBTQ Catholic Ministry Conference, is "Ministering to Families with LGBTQ Families," with J.R. Zerkowski of Fortunate Families and Kathy Farrell of Fortunate & Faithful Families of Atlanta. @FortunateFamily
How did you get involved in this ministry?

For JR, it was, in part, the transformative effect of the Pulse Nightclub Massacre.

For Kathy it was about asking "How to love your child as you know that they should be loved?" "Do we have to choose between my child and the church?"
Kathy talks about the "fabulous" support of Wilton Gregory, the former Archbishop of Atlanta and now Cardinal Gregory @WashArchbishop
Read 6 tweets
26 Jun
Our first afternoon presenter at #Outreach2021 is Fr. Bryan Massingale of @Fordham University speaking on "Intersectionality and LGBTQ Catholic Ministry," addressing the challenges of LGBTQ people of color. "How do experiences of race and ethnic identity influence LGBTQ people?"
Fr. Bryan is now sharing with participants his coming out as a "Black gay man of faith."
Fr. Bryan talking about a tearful realization during a retreat, which challenged him deeply and angered him: "I realized that I didn't really believe that God could be imaged as Black and gay. And certainly not both simultaneously."
Read 14 tweets
26 Jun
The second presentation at #Outreach2021 is "LGBTQ Ministry in Catholic High Schools and Colleges," with two experienced educators: Shiva Subbaraman, founding director of @Georgetown's LGBTQ Center, and Ish Ruiz, a doctoral candidate and high school educator in San Francisco.
Ish Ruiz: LGBTQ students can be considered "at risk."
Ish Ruiz: 86% of LGBTQ students feel harassed in schools.
Read 14 tweets
26 Jun
Sister Jeannine Gramick, SL, co-founder of @NewWaysMinistry is now describing her decades-long ministry in the first #Outreach2021 lecture, "50 Years of LGBTQ Catholic Ministry."

"Today there are hundreds and hundreds of LGBTQ-friendly parishes in our country."
"All real and good changes happen slowly. Think of the drips of water on the rocks in the Grand Canyon. That's how change occurs."
"Change comes about when we speak up."
Read 5 tweets
25 Jun
Great news from the @TylerClementi Foundation: In just the past month, many more Catholic religious orders, schools and institutions have signed the "God is on Your Side" statement against LGBTQ bullying, along with 14 US bishops. In just the last month...
These orders have signed on:
Dominican Sisters of Sparkill, New York; Dominican Sisters of Mission San Jose; Sisters of St. Francis of Sylvania, Ohio; Congregation of the Mission (Vincentians) Western Province; Dominican Sisters and Associates, Tacoma WA...
Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer (Redemptorists), Denver Province; Missionary Servants of the Most Holy Trinity, Silver Spring, MD.

These organizations: Ursuline Ministries; Wijngaards Institute for Catholic Research

These parishes: St. Vincent de Paul Parish, Chicago...
Read 9 tweets

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