In the flurry of tragic losses that marked the end of a terrible year, there is one that hasn't received as much acknowledgement as I think it deserves: William Christopher--known as Bill to his colleagues--played Father Mulcahy on the TV series M*A*S*H and passed away on December 31st.

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This is my prayer:

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It has been fifteen years since Matthew Shepard was killed.

It has been ten and a half years since we did The Laramie ProjectI don't know which fact is more surreal ( Read more... )

When I first moved to Sioux Falls, I was bewildered by the array of choices I had in where to go to church. Nine Catholic parishes, celebrating Mass in at least three different languages...where to go, where to even begin looking for the parish that would be the best fit?

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When I was in college, I read an essay/excerpt in a creative writing textbook called "Shitty First Drafts" by Anne LaMott.1 As a writer, it's one of the most useful things I've ever read, but she also mentions something in passing that has become one of the guiding principles of my entire life:[W]hen I mentioned this to my priest friend Tom, he ( Read more... )

So, here's an interesting observation I have made: there are three sections in the Catechism that talk about homosexuality, 2357, 2358 and 2359, but the only one anyone ever talks about is 2357, i.e. the one that's most condemnatory. ( Read more... )

Possibly my least favorite month, next to January.

It is at this time of year that I usually try to do something to honor the legacy of Matthew Shepard, but this year it just reminds me that I've been given a job to do and I haven't been doing it.

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I think this may be an auspicious moment for me to tell my story about how separation of church and state can actually PROTECT us Christians from having our beliefs belittled and trivialized ( Read more... )

I don't know about April being the cruelest month (I'd be more inclined to pick October or November) but April 4th is certainly a momentous date: it's the date Dr. King was killed and the date Heath Ledger was born (though not the same year, obviously). It's technically not Palm Sunday this year, but it's Palm Sunday for me because my choir sang ( Read more... )

Today is the ten-year anniversary of Matthew Shepard's death. Matthew's beating and death have had a significant impact on my life, and so I always try to commemorate the last week of his life. Today I lit a candle, as I have done every day this week in Matthew's honor, and I said the Rosary, invoking the Sorrowful Mysteries, which recount the ( Read more... )