Growing up, most of my Catholic experiences were with groups of people who looked like me and talked like me. I attended Spanish masses often, my youth groups were mostly Hispanic, and the Catholic school I attended was a mostly Hispanic and Black Community.
Read MoreI realized that some of my coworkers had made it years if not a lifetime without any intimate encounter with Love Himself, with the assurance of being seen, known, and cared for no matter what.
Read MoreWhen I graduated from college, I moved home with no job and no plans. I knew that I wanted to do a year of service but I didn’t know what exactly that meant for me. I applied to a service program and was given the choice between several different service sites working with all different populations.
Read MoreI knelt in the last pew of the little adoration chapel, reflecting on my Wednesday workday and trying to motivate myself to pray the Rosary when a middle-aged Hispanic woman entered. She shuffled past me, dropped to her knees in front of the monstrance and lifted her hands.
Read MoreDuring the very first Mass I attended in Afghanistan, this was all I could think about. I looked around the small chapel with tears in my eyes thinking 'this is the universal Church.' I may be on the other side of the world but, during that hour of the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass, my soul is at home.
Read MoreFor as long as I can remember, I’ve wanted to be less Asian. Less foreign. Less other. So, I hid. I hid any trace of culture. My senior year of high school, I realized that I hid and ignored my ethnicity so well, that I forgot I was even intentionally hiding it. It became a way of life.
Read More“My mom worked as a banker in Mexico, and we lived a stable life, along with the help and support from family members. Throughout the years, my mom experienced a lot of fear and trauma... Her last experience where she got held at gunpoint, was the last straw…”
Read More“Every human being has gifts, insight, and presence that are needed by the rest of us; some of us are in a position to have our offerings valued by the world, and some of us are not. That doesn’t mean some have less to offer—it means we have to create a world that elevates the voices of those who have been silenced…”
Read MoreThose with disabilities and their caretakers live every day as champions of intrinsic human worth. Let’s learn from them, join with them, and take steps to expand their space in our Church.
Read MoreCommunity is best when it’s comprised of people who see beauty in our insecurities, who look for the redemption in the midst of our failure, and who strive to love who we truly are instead of who the world suggests we should be.
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