Out and About - December 2007

Above and below: As executive coordinator of CPCSM and a founding member of The Progressive Catholic Voice online journal, I was honored to one of a number of Catholics to organize the December 2 “Vigil for Solidarity with LGBT Catholics,” an event that drew over 300 people to the Cathedral of St. Paul, and included a powerful “die-in and rising up” ritual on the front steps of the cathedral (above).

Those who gathered on December 2 were determined to respectfully express their disagreement with Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt’s November 15 declaration that people who encourage and support their LGBT family members and friends, are “cooperating in a grave evil.”

For more commentary and images of this event, see the previous Wild Reed posts:
• 300+ People Vigil at the Cathedral in Solidarity with LGBT Catholics
• Why We Gathered
• Interesting Times Ahead
• An Open Letter to Archbishop Nienstedt
• NCR's Coverage of December 2 "Vigil for Solidarity"
• Local Media Coverage of December 2 Vigil Falls Short
• No, Really . . .




Above: Even though I’ve lived in the U.S. for fourteen years, this is the first year I’ve bought myself a Christmas Tree! And a pretty good one it turned out to be, if I do say so myself.

The tree itself came from Menards Hardware, at a real bargain prize. It’s a fake one, by the way, and deciding on purchasing it as opposed to a real tree was the ultimate “paper or plastic?” quandary!


Many of the ornaments that decorate my tree are what I call “vintage,” and were found at Value Village in Richfield and an antique store in my neighborhood. I never did find a star, though. Oh, well, that will be something to look for next December.

The framed poster in the background of the first Christmas Tree photo is of one of my favorite movies, director Tim Robbin’s Cradle Will Rock.



Above: Members of CPCSM, Catholic Rainbow Parents, and The Progressive Catholic Voice editorial team lend a helping hand to the mailing of CPCSM’s annual Christmas Appeal letter – Tuesday, December 18, 2007.

From left: Rick Notch (CPCSM treasurer and founding member of The Progressive Catholic Voice online journal), Mary Lynn Murphy (CPCSM president, Catholic Rainbow Parents co-founder & coordinator, and founding member of The Progressive Voice), Mike Murphy (Rainbow Catholic Parents co-founder), Paula Ruddy (founding member of The Progressive Catholic Voice), and Mary Beckfeld (CPCSM, Rainbow Catholic Parents co-founder, and founding member of The Progressive Catholic Voice).



Above and below: A great aspect of Christmas time is the opportunities it provides to gather with friends so as to celebrate “the reason for the season.”

Celebrating with me in the photo above are my friends Joseph, Kathleen and Susan – December 22, 2007.



Above: Paul, Cass and Carrie – December 24, 2007.



Above: Leah, Nick, Kate and Rex – December 24, 2007.



Above: And hamming it up for the camera we have Luke, Gretchen, Mindi and Zakeya – December 24, 2007.



Above: Roger, Kath and Darla – December 24, 2007.



Above: “Out of Darkness, Into the Light”: A Candlelight Service for the Children of Iraq and Other Child Victims of War – St. Joan of Arc Catholic Church, Friday, December 28, 2007.



Above: The speakers at the 10th annual “Out of Darkness, Into the Light” ecumenical prayer and candlelight service were Meg Novak and Peter Thompson.

Following is a brief excerpt from Peter’s talk:

All three Abrahamic religious traditions, as well as Gandhian and Buddhist teachings, see children as more than just cute and innocent. A favorite story from the Christian tradition gives us some guideposts to the deeper significance of children. “Jesus took a little child and put it among them, and taking the child in his arms, he said to them, ‘Whoever welcomes one such child in my name welcomes me, and whoever welcomes me welcomes not me but the one who sent me.’” [Mark 9:36-37]

I hear in this message that the simplicity, truthfulness and powerlessness of children are what are needed to move toward the peace and justice of God’s Reign.

What led to this teachable moment? When Jesus put the child ‘among them’ he placed the child among the disciples. What immediately precedes this wonderful teaching is the argument amongst the disciples about who is the greatest among them, AND this argument ensues right after Jesus tells the disciples of his coming resurrection from death. The reaction of adults, when they hear about kingdom, is to grab for some of that royal power and prestige. They begin scrabbling for the best spot in the hierarchy. After all, they figure due to their risky association with Jesus they want their rightful reward, now that victory is at hand. THIS IS HOW ADULTS THINK.

But what Jesus is trying to show them with the child is just the opposite. A child wouldn’t care about a position near the throne, or the values of the dominant culture. To welcome God in this world doesn’t take domination, hierarchy, and power, it takes what children know and yearn for: loving relationship. Children teach us about alternative values such as equality, relationship and nonviolence.

Above: My good friend Garth (right) visited the U.S. from Australia in late December. Although much of his time was spent in Baltimore with his girlfriend and her parents, he made a quick 18-hour visit to St. Paul on December 29-30 to visit me. How lucky was I?

Garth was very impressed with the snow – the first he’d ever seen! On Sunday, December 30, my neighbor and friend, Aaron, drove Garth and I through the wintry countryside to his uncle and aunt’s farm in Maple Lake - a trip that included a visit to the huge Cabela’s store in Rogers.

With its large collection of stuffed animals and wide-range of firearms for sale, Cabela’s is quite something (in a surreal kind of way). It’s also uniquely American, given the fact that for the vast majority of people born and raised outside the U.S., the ease at which Americans can purchase all manner of different types of guns is not only disturbing but, well, quite ridiculous, really.

For more images of Garth’s all-too brief time in Minnesota, click here.



Above: Aaron – December 30, 2007.

I tippy-toe across your dream each night,
so as not to wake you, asleep in your summer.
A garland of flowers, yellow and white around your waist.

While I walk these paths of ice,
ice my breast and strings of ice my hair,
my hands, two hooks of steel.
Ice nose, snow eyes, frozen open pout.
Flakes of snow my bridal veils.

I come down the soft white path,
bouquets of poppies spring from my heart.

“Poppies”
Buffy Sainte-Marie
(from the 1969 album, Illuminations)

For more images of winter beauty, click here.


See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Back in the USA
• It Sure Was Cold!
• An Energizing and Spirited Weekend
• Out and About – April 2007
• Out and About – May 2007
• Out and About – June 2007
• Out and About – July 2007
• Out and About – August 2007
• Out and About – September 2007
• Out and About – October 2007
• Out and About – November 2007

Out and About - November 2007

Above: Standing with my friend Jacques in front of the Wisconsin State Capitol – Friday, November 2, 2007.

I visited Jacques in Madison while on my way to Milwaukee for the Call to Action National Conference.



Above: The focus of this year’s national conference of the Catholic reform movement known as Call to Action, was “From Racism to Reconciliation: Church Beyond Power and Privilege.”



Above: Journalist, author and commentator Richard Rodriguez chats with Sister Jeannine Gramick.

Rodriguez, acclaimed author of Brown: The Last Discovery of America (2003), Hunger of Memory (1983), and Days of Obligation: An Argument with My Mexican Father (1992), was one of the conference’s plenary speakers.

Writing about Rodriguez's talk for the December issue of The Progressive Catholic Voice, my friends Tom and Darlene White note:

The scandal of the [institutional] church, as [Richard Rodriguez] sees it, is: “They know not love . . . to love would mean to become a learning church not a teaching church.”

He finished his presentation by telling us something about Jim, his partner of 20+ years. A street person, an older man named Phil, would frequently approach Jim for money outside the bookstore Jim owned. Jim always obliged, though he knew it made some customers uncomfortable. As Phil lay dying, Jim visited him in the hospital and these are the last words Phil shared with his benefactor: “I used to think you gave me money because you wanted sex. Then I thought you gave me money because you wanted drugs. Now I know: it was because of Jesus!”

Hopefully, more and more of our own stories are lived out “because of Jesus.”

Above: Dolores Huerta, the co-founder with the late César Chávez and the late Philip Vera Cruz of the United Farm Workers of America, was honored with Call to Action’s 2007 Leadership Award.



Above: On the evening of Sunday, November 18, a number of concerned Catholics gathered at The House of the Beloved Disciple for a special meeting to discuss and strategize a response to Coadjutor Archbishop John Nienstedt’s comments on homosexuality in the November 15 issue of The Catholic Spirit, the official newspaper of the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis.

From this initial meeting was born the idea to hold a “Vigil of Solidarity” with LGBT Catholics, their families, and supporters.



Above: Another planning meeting – this one in the small theater of the Arcadia Café in Minneapolis! – Sunday, November 25, 2007.



Above: Celebrating Thanksgiving with my friends (clockwise from left) Sue Ann, Ken, Carol, Paul, Cass and Kerry.



Above and below: Blooms in my back garden, wilting in the cold air of approaching winter. They still hold a certain beauty, though, don’t you think? I hope I can age (and fade) as gracefully.



See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Back in the USA
• It Sure Was Cold!
• An Energizing and Spirited Weekend
• Out and About – April 2007
• Out and About – May 2007
• Out and About – June 2007
• Out and About – July 2007
• Out and About – August 2007
• Out and About – September 2007
• Out and About – October 2007

Out and About - October 2007

Above: Standing at right with (from left) Brian McNeill and Pat & Jenny Downey – Solidarity Sunday, Cathedral of St. Paul, October 7, 2007.

Solidarity Sunday, a faith-based, anti-violence initiative of DignityUSA, the nation’s largest Catholic lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender (LGBT) organization, is held every year on the Sunday before October 11 (National Coming Out Day) and is dedicated to the memory of the many who have lost their lives through violence because of who they were or who they were perceived to be.



Above: My dear friend Jenny Downey, who, with her husband Pat, are longtime allies of LGBT persons, their families, and their rights – Solidarity Sunday 2007, St. Paul.

Solidarity Sunday began in 1995 when the Board of Directors of DignityUSA recognized that 70-80% of American Catholics supported equal rights for gays and lesbians. It was decided to invite these people to join in solidarity with LGBT Catholic and to work with them to end verbal and physical abuse.

Locally, Solidarity Sunday events are organized by Dignity Twin Cities. This year, Dignity Twin Cities encouraged Catholics to attend the noon Mass on Sunday, October 7, with a small rainbow ribbon attached to their clothing.

Sadly, it’s now Archdiocesan policy to deny communion to anyone wearing a rainbow ribbon or sash. Accordingly, my friends and I were denied communion on October 7.



Above: The keynote speakers at the 14th Annual Twin Cities National Coming Out Day Luncheon – Minneapolis Convention Center, Friday, October 12, 2007.

From left: Kevin Winge, executive director of Open Arms of Minnesota and author of Never Give Up: Vignettes from Sub-Saharan Africa in the Age of AIDS; Beth Zemsky, former co-chair of the National Gay and Lesbian Task Force, founding director of the University of Minnesota’s GLBT Programs Office, and the driving force behind the foundation of the Steven J. Schochet Center for GLBT Studies and Campus Life; Dr. Nancy “Rusty” Barcelo, Vice President and Vice Provost for Equity and Diversity at the University of Minnesota; Sam McClure, executive chair of Quorum, the Twin Cities GLBTA Chamber of Commerce; and Joe Wright, currently a freshman at the University of Minnesota, and recently honored as the first winner of the Quorum Scholarship.



Above: Celebrating Dignity Twin Cities’ 33rd anniversary – October 12, 2007.

As part of DignityUSA – the nation’s largest Catholic LGBT organization – Dignity Twin Cities envisions and works for a time when LGBT Catholics are affirmed, experience dignity as beloved persons of God, and are able to participate fully in all aspects of life within the Church and society.



Above: Sr. Kate Kuenstler and Lena Woltering, keynote speakers at Call to Action Minnesota’s Annual Conference – Saturday, October 13, 2007.

Sr. Kate Kuenstler, a canon lawyer, spoke on “The Rights of the Christian Faithful,” while Lena Woltering explored the growing lay synod movement through her presentation entitled “Powerful Persuasion.”

For an interview I conducted with Lena for The Progressive Catholic Voice, click here.



Above and below: As often as I could throughout October, I took advantage of the pleasant fall weather and rode my bike, “Kongoni,” down to the shoreline of the Mississippi River, just a ten minute ride from my home!

How lucky am I?



Above: Standing at right with (from left) Rev. James Pennington, Carol Curoe, and her father Robert – The House of the Beloved Disciple, Monday, October 22, 2007.

The Curoes, co-authors of the recently released book, Are There Closets in Heaven? A Catholic Father and Lesbian Daughter Share Their Story, were the keynote speakers at CPCSM’s Second Annual Bill Kummer Forum. This event was originally scheduled to take place at St. Frances Cabrini Catholic Church, but after the Archdiocese of St. Paul/Minneapolis intervened and prohibited the Curoes from speaking on Catholic property, it was relocated to the recently established House of the Beloved Disciple, a center for progressive Catholics dedicated to “preserving Catholicism in the spirit of Jesus.”

For a commentary and pictures of the Curoes’ October 22 presentation, click here.

For The National Catholic Reporter’s coverage of the Archdiocese’s treatment of the Curoes, click here.

For The Rainbow Spirit interview with Carol Curoe, click here.



Above: Celebrating my 42nd birthday with Ken and Carol Masters, my “surrogate American parents” – Tuesday, October 23, 2007.

I was even mentioned (and quoted) in a story in the Star Tribune newspaper on my birthday!



Above: Celebrating my birthday with the many wise and inspiring women in my life!

From left: Marguerite Corcoran, CSJ; Kate McDonald, CSJ; Brigid McDonald, CSJ, Paula Ruddy; Mary Beckfeld; Theresa O’Brien, CSJ; Mary Lynn Murphy; Rita McDonald, CSJ; Jane Arnes, CSJ; and Rita O’Brien, CSJ.



Above: From left: Marguerite Corcoran, CSJ; Jane Arnes, CSJ; Steve Boyle; Rita McDonald, CSJ; and Paula Ruddy – October 23, 2007.



Above: From left: Kate McDonald, CSJ; Theresa O’Brien, CSJ; Brigid McDonald, CSJ; James Pennington; and Rita O’Brien, CSJ – October 23, 2007.



Above and below: Halloween hijinks at the house-warming party of my friend Sue Ann (above right) – Saturday, October 27, 2007.







See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
• Back in the USA
• It Sure Was Cold!
• An Energizing and Spirited Weekend
• Out and About – April 2007
• Out and About – May 2007
• Out and About – June 2007
• Out and About – July 2007
• Out and About – August 2007
• Out and About – September 2007

Out and About - September 2007

Above and below: Autumn in Minnesota.





On September 15-16, I was honored to be part of a retreat for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender Catholics - not only as a participant, but as the facilitator of one of its sessions.

The retreat was entitled “Come As You Are,” and in many ways was inspired, the organizers told me, by a previous Wild Reed post that focused on a hymn of the same name that I’d grown up with in Australia. Basically, the retreat invited those in attendance to reflect upon their spiritual journey, and explore and experience different ways of acknowledging, celebrating, and deepening their relationship with God.

The retreat was held at Dunrovin Christian Brothers Retreat Center (pictured above) just north of the town of Stillwater. It was a very beautiful and peaceful location, with lots of woods to walk through, a small lake, and an abundance of wildlife - birds, in particular.

The session I facilitated on Saturday involved participants identifying and exploring key experiences of their lives when they were gifted with an increased level of awareness and acceptance of themselves as LGBT people of faith. What were these experiences and how did they discern God present and active in them? How were they changed by these experiences? How have they helped clarify and shape their understanding of God, themselves, and the Church? That sort of thing.

Those in attendance, numbering about twenty, genuinely seemed to appreciate and benefit from the various activities and discussions I facilitated. And as a teacher by training, that’s always heartening to know!

For more about this retreat, click here.



Above: Recently, two national initiatives – the Iraq Moratorium Committee and the General Strike for Peace – called for making the third Friday of every month a day of activity against the Iraq War.

The first of these “days of activity” (or inactivity, I guess, in the case of the General Strike!) was Friday, September 21. Accordingly, I joined with approximately 40 others, including my friends Shane and Lauren (pictured above), for an anti-war protest and bannering at Mayday Plaza on the West Bank in Minneapolis.

For more images and information about this event, click here.



Above and below: On Thursday, September 27, I was one of several adults to chaperone students (including my young friend Joey) on a day of canoing on the St. Croix River.

In the photo above, Joey (who looks uncannily like Harry Potter!) is pictured with his classmate Fred in the canoe we successfully navigated down the beautiful St. Croix.




Above: Members of the Progressive Catholic Voice - Minnesota, gathered for a September 27 planning meeting.

As a newly formed coalition dedicated to reflection, dialogue, and the exchange of ideas, the Progressive Catholic Voice will seek to make audible the voice of renewal and reform within the Catholic community of Minnesota and beyond.



Above: Standing at left with fellow Progressive Catholic Voice members Mary Beckfeld; Theresa O’Brien, CSJ; and Brigid McDonald, CSJ – September 27, 2007.

I’m honored to be part of this new coalition – one whose first initiative will be the October 4 launch of a monthly e-newsletter entitled The Progressive Catholic Voice. This e-newsletter will list upcoming events and contain interviews and articles written for and by Catholics who share the call to actively participate in the ongoing renewal of the Roman Catholic Church.

October 4 is, of course, the Feast Day of St. Francis of Assisi (whose portrait by Jon Giuliani can be seen in the photograph above). We purposely chose St. Francis as the e-newsletter’s patron saint as, in his time, he heard and responded to God’s call to “repair my Church.” This call continues to resound today in a Roman Catholic Church that, at its worst, is corroded and weakened by clericalism, hypocrisy, intellectual dishonesty, a profound lack of imagination, and a monarchical mindset and structure totally contrary to Jesus’ egalitarian model of community.

I’ll share more about The Progressive Catholic Voice e-newsletter (including how you can subscribe to it) in a future post.



Above: The leaves of many of the trees may be turning and beginning to fall, but there are still some beautiful flowers blooming in my front garden - such as these asters. I also have some sunflowers in spectacular full bloom in my backyard!




See also the previous Wild Reed posts:
Back in the USA
It Sure Was Cold!
An Energizing and Spirited Weekend
Out and About - April 2007
Out and About - May 2007
Out and About - June 2007
Out and About - July 2007
Out and About - August 2007