Respond to the Closet and the Cage with Compassion

Last updated on: February 26, 2019 at 1:37 pm By Maren Grossman

For obvious reasons, there has been a lot of buzz about Catholicism in the news the past week. The bishops’ summit at the Vatican has meant that there’s been a particular focus on child abuse, but conversations about sexual abuse in the Church seem to inevitably lead to conversations about sexuality and Catholicism. This past week saw a significant number of articles about homosexuality and the clergy. The release of Frederic Martel’s In the Closet of the Vatican: Power, Homosexuality,... Read more

Dark Devotional: There Is a Way

Last updated on: February 22, 2019 at 9:15 am By Guest Contributor

Looking for Home – Things are meant There are signs The heart speaks There is a way —Fr. John Dunne, C.S.C. Working at my alma mater this past week, I found myself drifting across the grey expanse of the main quad in the bitter, colorless air of early February. I asked myself: why am I here? Since I graduated from my theology master’s program here last May, I have spent the intervening months searching for the... Read more

On Venomous Snakes and Bishops’ Summits

Last updated on: February 20, 2019 at 2:42 pm By Maren Grossman

The moon is something strange and wondrous when seen at 2am. If you’re lucky, you’ll find it floating directly overhead, a perfect sphere of white in the center of the dark sky. It will amaze you with its beauty, but the weirdness of it will send you rushing indoors. It was 2007, maybe 2008, and I was getting home from spiritual direction when I saw the moon this way. That was the year that I saw a spiritual director... Read more

Dark Devotional: A Middle Way?

Last updated on: February 15, 2019 at 9:02 am By Guest Contributor

“Happy are those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or take the path that sinners tread, or sit in the seat of scoffers, but their delight is in the Lord, and on his law they meditate day and night. They are like trees planted by streams of water, which yield their fruit in its season, and their leaves do not wither. In all that they do, they prosper.” Psalm 1:1-3 In my Bible, I have a... Read more

Dark Devotional: The Imperfect Conversion of St. Paul, Friend to the M(asses)

Last updated on: February 7, 2019 at 9:24 am By Guest Contributor

We can almost see Paul talking himself down sometimes, can’t we? Like in this weekend’s letter to the Corinthians, he tries so hard to find humility, but he just can’t help inflating himself. Then he brings it down again, trying to temper his enthusiasm. Recalling the events of Christ’s death and resurrection, Paul reminds the Corinthians about all the witnesses to the Paschal events, getting really fired up about the message of salvation. But then it comes, the Pauline humblebrag:... Read more

Advocacy and Exile: Roy Bourgeois and the Fight for Women’s Ordination

Last updated on: February 11, 2019 at 9:54 am By Guest Contributor

“What I came to, is that as Catholic priest, I was in a profession that discriminated against women.” – Roy Bourgeois It has been seven years since Roy Bourgeois was laicized and excommunicated from the Catholic Church for advocating for women’s equality. Ordained a priest in 1972, Roy’s remarkable journey includes a Nobel Peace Prize and Oscar nomination, serving in the US Navy in Vietnam, living as a missionary in Bolivia, serving several prison sentences for protesting, and... Read more

Dark Devotional: A More Excellent Way

Last updated on: February 1, 2019 at 10:52 am By Guest Contributor

I first memorized the scriptures in 1 Corinthians 13 when I was a freshman in high school in 1981. That was the year that Lady Diana Spencer married Prince Charles in a spectacle that basically the entire world was obsessed with for weeks. Fitting for a fairy tale royal wedding, this passage on love was read at the ceremony. It was a reading at my own wedding nine years later. It has been a reading at pretty much every... Read more

Dark Devotional: Sunday in the Chapel of Split Ends and Hangnails

Last updated on: January 24, 2019 at 4:10 pm By Guest Contributor

Body Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely live, a place where saints and children tell how hearts learn to forgive. Shit, we’re late. Crap, I need to stop cussing in my head in God’s house. Dammit. “C’mon, Jillie.” I tug her hand. “We’re a little late.” “Late! No! Nonononono!” Dammit, why can’t I remember not to use that word? “Shhhh! Jillie, they’re not even up front yet, we’re not technically... Read more

The Small Revolution of Mary Oliver’s Poetry

Last updated on: January 21, 2019 at 10:13 am By Maren Grossman

Sometime in 2016, a profusion of quotations by Mary Oliver flitted across my Facebook feed. I’m not sure what prompted it. I’d never heard of Mary Oliver before (mea culpa), but suddenly her name seemed to be everywhere. I took the bait and bought Upstream, a collection of her essays. Upstream turned out to just the kind of book I like best, a blend of reflections on nature, art, literature, and life experience. It reminded me of Annie Dillard... Read more

Dark Devotional: Epiphany

Last updated on: January 6, 2019 at 3:54 pm By Maren Grossman

January always makes me think of stars. It begins with an artificial star – the ball dropping in Times Square. Six days later, Christians celebrate Epiphany – a story about a star. Around this time of year the temperature drops noticeably. On these colder nights, the stars begin to shine brighter and stronger. The scientific reason for this is that there is less moisture in the air to distort the starlight. Coming on the heels of Christmas, however, it’s hard... Read more