In the 21st Century, LGBT activists and their allies have repeatedly claimed that gay people are born gay; and trans people are born in the wrong body. But there is no evidence to substantiate any
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In order to save my life, God sent me the one saint who perfectly exemplified the human attributes that I most feared: FatherhoodMasculinityStrengthBraveryFortitude For as long as I could remember – I yearned to embody
I never thought I’d be one of those people. I grew up in the North Bay – that largely agricultural, suburban, and affluent section of the San Francisco metro-area that comprises Marin, Sonoma, and Napa
Give me the strength to seek you; Oh, you who allowed me to find you, and who gave me the hope of finding you more and more. – Saint Augustine For much of my life,
Much of my life was chaotic. But it wasn’t always so. At home, as a child, before I became exposed to the wider world, I often felt safe and loved. Yet, almost immediately, in school,
Above: Eugène Burnand, "The Prodigal Son" (1908) My dad was a good father. I didn’t always think so. When I was a kid, I thought he ignored me; he paid more attention to his work,
No one can push me out of the way – not a lie, not a fire, and not the evil men in the Church. I am staying. And I will fight.
Despised, and the most abject of men, a man of sorrows, and acquainted with infirmity: and his look was as it were hidden and despised, whereupon we esteemed him not. – Isaiah 53:3 Since childhood,
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“Drowning men, it is said, cling to wisps of straw.” ― Fyodor Dostoyevsky I don’t get it. Some people (especially abuse survivors) have been forced to leave the Catholic Church primarily due to the corruption
Above: “The Icon Corner” by Vasily Maximov, 1869. “On our earth we can only love with suffering and through suffering. We cannot love otherwise, and we know of no other sort of love. I want
The 1955 comedy film "The Private War of Major Benson" is often regarded by film critics and historians, if they mention it at all, as a forgettable little diversion that Charlton Heston shot while on
Above: "The Holy Family (detail)" by Rafael Flores, 1857. St. Junipero Serra was a Spanish Franciscan priest and Friar who founded a series of missions in what would later become the State of California. Throughout
I have no formal education in the fields of psychiatry or psychology – this essay is merely an exploration of my own experiences as a person with mental illness. A person who sprained their ankle
Above: "Un Patron," or "The Lesson of the Apprentice," (1888) by Jean-Eugène Buland. “Mastering a trade gives you a sense of competency, confidence, and completion. Something positive happens when you get good at doing work
When I was a boy, I adored male television characters who were strong and assertive: James West in “The Wild, Wild West,” Steve Austin in “The Six Million Dollar Man,” and Lieutenant Starbuck in “Battlestar
An often-repeated mischaracterization about St. Joseph, especially in films depicting the Holy Family, is that he initially thought that the Virgin Mary had committed adultery before their betrothal. According to St. Matthew: “When as his
(Norman Rockwell, "Blacksmith's Boy." 1940) In her examination of feminist theory concerning the upbringing and education of young men, especially those espoused by Carol Gilligan, Christina Hoff Summers challenged their assertion that men are civilized
Above: Edvard Munch, "Melancholy" (1892.) As a child, I think I was a bit of a dreamer. My father and mother worked to exhaustion, trying to give their children a better life. And my siblings,
Above: Painting by Emile Friant, late-19th Century. 1. Pray “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” – Thess. 5:16-18 Start
Above: John Byam Liston Shaw, The Prodigal’s Return (late-19th Century) Hail, holy queen, mother of mercy! Our life, our sweetness, and our hope! To thee do we cry, poor banished children of Eve, to thee
On the night of October 8, 2017, my life changed forever. A fire swept through the lofty peaks which surround the Napa Valley. There was no time to gather any of my belongings. I simply
Pictured above: Max Slevogt, “The Return of the Prodigal Son” (1898–1899.)
Above: Hamlet Bannerman, "His First Day at Work" (1890). I never knew a male teacher until I entered middle-school. Before that, all of my instructors were female, predominantly middle-aged, and generally caring, compassionate, and even-tempered.
Above: Edvard Munch. "The Absinthe Drinkers" (1890). “I’m only here to make a friend; to find someone who I can talk with; a nice guy that will understand me.” I kept saying that in my
(Pictured above: Jeremy Irons as Charles, Anthony Andrews as Sebastian, and Jonathan Coy as Kurt in the 1981 UK miniseries “Brideshead Revisited.”) The 1945 novel “Brideshead Revisited” by English Catholic-convert Evelyn Waugh maintains an odd
Above: John Dickson Batten, “The Family” (1886) I have no recollection of seeing my parents pray when I was a child. We never prayed the Rosary together as a family. I probably knew one prayer
Day after day I was able to observe the austere way in which he lived. By profession he was a soldier and, after my mother’s death, his life became one of constant prayer. Sometimes I
“And seeing him, they wondered. And his mother said to him: Son, why hast thou done so to us? Behold thy father and I have sought thee sorrowing.” (Luke 2:48) In his book “The Fatherhood
Saint Joseph: One cannot love Jesus and Mary without loving the Holy Patriarch. Love Saint Joseph a lot. Love him with all your soul, because he, together with Jesus, is the person who has
On the other side of the Golden Gate Bridge, just north of San Francisco, is one of my favorite places to spend a quiet and sunny day walking and hiking. The area, part of the
(Above: “The Prodigal Son” by Nikolay Losev, late-19th Century.) "The Holy Spirit is not an artist who draws the divine substance in us, as though he were alien to it. It is not in this
(Pictured above: “Wandering in a Field” by Vasily Perov, 1879.) In 1988, as a young, confused, and rather naïve teenage boy, I made a pilgrimage of sorts to the Castro District of San Francisco. In
(Pictured above: detail from “Saint Francis in Meditation” by Francisco de Zurbarán, 1635-9) “…many individuals think they are not praying when, indeed, their prayer is deep.” – St. John of the Cross After years of
(Above: Detail from "The Shower After the Battle" by Alexandre Alexandrovitch Deineka, 1944.) For some “gay” men, one of the most traumatic memories of high-school is the embarrassing and uncomfortable experience of gym class and
A good Catholic priest, who was very instrumental in my recovery from both same-sex attraction and an addiction to pornography, always had the same recommendation for me whenever I talked with him about my great
“And Jesus said: Neither will I condemn thee. Go, and now sin no more.” (John 8:11) “Late have I loved you, O Beauty ever ancient, ever new, late have I loved you! You were within
