As I sipped on my morning coffee today, I located three website addresses among many which all support the statistics I’ve read, that there is a connection between the church’s leadership and either peace and restoration, or the opposite, the violence we’ve experience and witnessed throughout Trump’s presidency and beyond. Written by faith publishers themselves, I read accounts of active peace and service with decreases in domestic violence and decreases in other types of violence.  I am especially impressed with... Read more

I’ve been asking myself the question, what do Christians/Catholics do now? A better question is, what does 80% of America do about the 15%-20% of the Religious Right (mostly white) who are using their predatory brand of right-winged Christian Nationalism to force their will on others by suppressing, coercing, abusing, shaming, and even damming the other 80% of us to “do their will” instead of allowing God to do His. For all 50 years of my life, I have been... Read more

When I first started studying Catholic theology many years ago, The Seven Deadly Sins were of particular interest to me.  St. Jerome, Tertullian, St. Basil the Great, St. Cyprian of Carthage, and even Martin Luther all spoke of some sins being worse than others. 1 John  5:16-17, John 19:11-12, Hebrews 10:26-29, and 2 Peter 2: 20-22 do the same.       In Catholic theology, the Seven Deadly Sins are: Pride, Greed, Lust, Envy, Gluttony, Wrath, and Sloth.  But what... Read more

  A year ago, I did something I thought I would never do. I officially changed my party affiliation to Democrat by voting in my first Democratic primary. I was asked, “Julie, how can you be a Catholic and do such a thing? It’s for the same reason 60% of the American Catholic Church, 76% of Hispanic Catholics/Christians, and 95% of Black Catholics/Christians are Democrats and don’t vote Republican, because we believe, especially at this point, that the current far-right... Read more

This piece is a little different than what I normally share. Instead of speaking about politics and faith, I will speak about faith, healthcare, and family. Autism and Parkinson’s Disease My journey with Parkinson’s Disease and raising a son with Autism have both profoundly impacted and shaped not only faith but our family life for the better.  Our youngest child Sam was diagnosed with Autism at nearly 3 years of age in 2003.  He received 25-30 hours a week of... Read more

I am ashamed to say that I once supported Catholic bishops who denied the Eucharist to Catholic pro-choice politicians.   I arrogantly acted this way in my more judgmental and hypocritical days, five years ago and before then.  I apologize to everyone for acting that way in the past. About a year ago in 2021, some American Catholic bishops within in the US Conference of Catholic Bishops tried to move and deny Joe Biden Communion for being a pro-choice politician as... Read more

This is a letter addressed to Roman Catholics although I invite everyone to read it. ……….   Dear Pro-Trump anti-Francis Catholic Brethren: For those of you who constantly criticize Pope Francis and the collective Magisterial authority of the Church, why do you do this?   Don’t you recollect that Pope Francis is the Chair of Peter/Vicar of Christ?  Have you forgotten that he is the 266th Successor to the Apostle Peter? Do you remember that Jesus Christ Himself founded the Church... Read more

Since I converted to Catholicism in 2016, many have asked, “why?”  I believe there are faithful Christians from every Church body who are born into these bodies and know Christ in a particular way. I will always believe that the Lord honors faithfulness and goodness.  Even the catechism of the Catholic Church recognizes faithfulness and goodness while Pope Francis says, “different faith traditions are pleasing to God.” In my opinion, nothing is more misunderstood than the Roman Catholic Church.  The... Read more

In my former conservative circles, I heard the words “Woke,” “Socialism,” “Liberal,” etc….thrown around like they were dirty words.   I summarized the definitions of these words in my own language from Webster’s dictionary  1. woke–becoming aware of social issues and injustice, particularly in the areas of racism  2. socialism–total government control of private and public property and the operations of them 3. liberal–sharing a root in liberty, marked in generosity As a Christian, I would say that numbers one and... Read more

Thursday night, I attended a local Northeast San Antonio MAGA event, Mother’s Against Greg Abbott, not a Make American Great Again event. To my delight, we all shared some common Democratic beliefs with one primary common belief. As mothers, we all want Governor Greg Abbott out-of-office after three consecutive terms. American citizens outside of Texas may not know of the sharp right turn Gov. Abbott and other Texan Republican lawmakers have taken. Our community group could all see that our... Read more