With the rise of neo-fascist movements in the United States and around the world, living in Texas, working as a disability practitioner, and parenting neurodivergent young adults, I have been searching for the most anti-fascist country and religious organizations in the world with the most influence. I believe that these are undoubtedly Germany and the German Catholic Church. Unlike the United States, Germany has learned from its past sins of racism, bigotry, misogyny, marginalization, and oppression.  Germany doesn’t parade Schwastikas... Read more

As I witness the current events continue to unfold, I ask myself as a Catholic, who is more in alignment with Christ and the Chair of Peter,  those who detest Pope Francis and invoke suffering, hatred, harsh judgement, and even extermination of “the other” on one extreme or those who don’t believe in God at all but love their neighbor as themselves through action?   I would have to say that those who love their neighbor as themselves, do not believe... Read more

If you are wondering if the featured picture is a picture of a “Flat Earth,” you are correct. Naïve me, up until two weeks ago, I didn’t know that some people actually still believe that the earth is flat.  I also learned that there are actually holocaust deniers. This recent knowledge for me only reinforces the fact that chosen and willful ignorance are hallmark of the staunch fundamentalist mindset regardless of the particular faith tradition.  The idea that “My faith... Read more

Forgive me for my anger, but I am not mincing words now. I’m calling on all people, especially the collective Religious Left, to fight for the lives, health, and well-being of transgender youth, especially in states like Texas, Florida, and Ohio. I am also calling on the Religious Left to put the Religious Right in their place which should be in a position of sitting down and shutting up for the first time in American history.  The Religious Right is... Read more

As I mentioned previously, I am taking lay ministry classes on Tuesday nights for my local Archdiocese and am completing the lay certification in May.  For this absence, I took time to celebrate my beloved husband’s birthday, the love of my life, who I have been married to for nearly 29 years. Out family is shown in the featured image of this article.   My husband is the handsome man in the white Spanish shirt. So here is the make-up assignment. ... Read more

I’ve been a Christian all of my Life.  Some key events in my life shaped my faith formation. I was born a cradle conservative Episcopalian and served as a female acolyte for 10 years. In retrospect, when the Episcopal Church moved to LGBTQ+ reconciliation, inclusion, and affirmation in the early 2000s, they did some things right and some things wrong, but overall, I now appreciate a good deal of what they did. In their attempts of LGBTQ+ leadership “taking over”... Read more

OK, this tough Texas lady (me) was a life-long moderate Texas Republican until Trump came along and opened the door for fascism, genocide, hatred, racusm, and overt bigotry in Texas. There is absolutely no way to declare that the Texas Republican party is what it was prior to Trump although I think Trump brought out the “nasty of the nasty” in Texas Republican leadership. I also think he gave permission for a lot of dangerous things to surface full throttle... Read more

This Easter was a very different kind of Easter, like no other Easter in my life. I will admit that for the first time, I struggled to separate my love for Christ and His Church from Religious Nationalism in the USA, from the unconditional support of Donald Trump by white right-winged Republican Christians/Catholics, from understanding how the Church has harmed LGBTQIA+ people and their families,  reading about the history of forced conversion and colonization of Christianity throughout the years, the... Read more

For any person of faith I’ve met who has rejected Trumpism and Religious Nationalism, they have experienced some degree of a faith deconstruction and maybe some reconstruction.  For me personally, shifting from being a lifetime Texas Republican Christian/Catholic to a “Woke” Catholic Democrat since Trump mocked the disabled reporter was just the beginning.   Discovering that I have gay kids and that affirming parents are a matter of life and death have also shifted me theologically and politically in an enormous... Read more

One of my favorite icons is the Palm Sunday icon. Jesus didn’t ride into Jerusalem on a noble steed ready to colonize and force his will on others. He rode into Jerusalem on a donkey in humility.  He also came to share unconditional love with those who the religious elite rejected. Jesus only criticized the religious elite, not the woman at the well, not the tax collector, and not those who didn’t and/or were incapable of “living up to the... Read more