Fr. Mychal Judge: First Gay Saint?

I am so honored to be mentioned in SLATE's article on Fr. Mychal Judge, the "Saint of 9/11." Here's a snippet:

When Salvatore Sapienza saw the small classified ad in the back of OutWeek, a gay news magazine in New York, he thought it seemed like a sign. “In the spirit of Francis of Assisi,” the ad read, “serving our brothers and sisters affected by AIDS.” At the bottom was the address of the St. Francis AIDS Ministry on West 31^st Street in Manhattan. Sapienza was gay—he had been out for years—but he was also a Marist Brother, a Catholic office similar to the priesthood. New York City in 1989 was not an easy place to be both gay and Catholic. The AIDS crisis would claim more than 5,000 people in the city that year, and the church was vocally opposed to condoms and homosexuality. Sapienza felt like that little bulletin, appearing among pages advertising sex phone lines and astrologists, was written just for him. A black-and-white drawing showed the 13^th-century saint, a symbol of charity and humility, overlooking a pastoral landscape as skyscrapers loomed in the background. Sapienza found himself wondering who’d placed the ad.

The address for the St. Francis AIDS Ministry turned out to be the Church of St. Francis of Assisi. Four people answered the ad, including Sapienza, and soon they were visiting AIDS patients in hospital rooms, praying for them and holding their hands. When Sapienza first showed up at the soaring 19^th-century church, he was led inside to a tiny office on the ground floor of the attached friary. The beaming man who greeted him seemed big in every way: tall, loud, boisterous, and joyful. His name was Father Mychal Judge.

Read the full article HERE. Thank you to writer, Ruth Graham.

Purchase my book: Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Father Mychal Judge on Amazon or Barnes&Noble.

Pastor Denounces Christian Church's Treatment of Gay People

Watch as Rev. Salvatore Sapienza, pastor of Douglas UCC, says the Christian Church is responsible for destroying more gay lives than the Orlando shooter ever did. This powerful message was given at a Vigil for Orlando in Saugatuck, Michigan.

Rev. Sapienza is the author of the books, Seventy Times Seven; Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Father Mychal Judge; and Gay is a Gift, all of which are available on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Christian Pastor Say Gay People Are Not Broken

Watch as Rev. Salvatore Sapienza, pastor of Douglas UCC, gives a message for Gay Pride Sunday about how gay people are not broken, but that being gay is a gift from God.

Rev. Sapienza's book, GAY IS A GIFT, is available at Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Time to Canonize Gay Saint of 9/11

Thank you to San Francisco's BAY AREA REPORTER newspaper for quoting me and my book, MYCHAL'S PRAYER in their recent article about Fr. Mychal Judge, the Saint of 9/11, and the calls for his canonization to become a saint in the Catholic Church.

In the article, reporter Seth Hemmelgard, writes: 

Advocates are pushing for a gay New York priest who ministered to people living with AIDS and rushed into the burning World Trade Center on 9/11 to be made a saint. Father Mychal Judge, a New York fire department chaplain, became known as "Victim Number One" after he died when he and other first responders went to help others. o

About two weeks ago, Pope Francis added the "Offering of Life" category so that somebody who "knowingly gives his or her life for other people" is eligible for canonization.

Salvatore Sapienza, 53, of Saugatuck, Michigan, worked with Judge in the late 1980s and early 1990s, as the AIDS crisis was hitting its peak in New York.

"The Catholic Church was not responding to the crisis at all, and many people in the gay community saw the Catholic Church as the enemy," said Sapienza.

With the help of Sapienza and some others, Judge started an AIDS ministry in the monastery where he lived.

"Nobody in the church was really doing anything until Mychal had the idea to start something," he said.

Judge was "larger than life," said Sapienza. "He really was like one of those people you see when they walk into a room gets everyone's attention."

The priest "always wore the Franciscan robe and sandals everywhere in Manhattan," even on the subway, he said. Judge explained he saw it as his uniform. Just as people would seek out police or firefighters when there was an emergency, Judge wanted people to be able to find him when they needed spiritual help, said Sapienza.

"He really was a saintly figure in so many ways," he said. "Unfortunately, we think of saints as being people who were pious holy rollers, and Mychal was a very real person. He was the New York City fire chaplain, so he was hanging out with these blue-collar firefighters from the boroughs, and he could laugh with them and tell jokes with them."

Sapienza added that Judge "saw the light in everybody. He saw the goodness in all people and met them where they were."

Judge, who was out to his circle of friends, "was very clear he was a celibate man. He was faithful to his vows," he said.

Every morning, Judge recited a prayer that said, "Lord today take me where you want me to go, let me meet who you want me to meet, tell me want you want me to say, and keep me out of your way," according to Sapienza.

Judge's habit of "surrendering to life" and being "in the flow of life" is probably what led him into the World Trade Center just after it was attacked, he said, adding, "That's where he was supposed to be."

A link to the full article can be read here at Bay Area Reporter.

The book, MYCHAL'S PRAYER, is available on Amazon and Barnes&Noble

Catholic Bishop Says Being Gay is a Gift from God

From New Ways Ministry:

Being gay is a “gift from God” according to one Catholic bishop in Brazil.  Bishop Antônio Carlos Cruz Santos said:

“‘If [being gay] is not a choice, if it is not a disease, in the perspective of faith it can only be a gift. . .The gospel par excellence is the gospel of inclusion. . .The gospel is a narrow door, yes, it is a demanding love, but it is a door that is always open.'”

Cruz added that perhaps “our prejudices do not get the gift of God” in LGBT people. Prejudice, he said, puts “concept before experience” and creates a negative impact.

As a black bishop, he related the situation with homosexuality today to a time when black people were enslaved due to white people’s prejudices, adding:

“‘Just as we were able to leap, in the wisdom of the Gospel, and overcome slavery, is it not the time for us to leap, from a perspective of faith, and overcome prejudices against our brothers who experience same-sex attraction?'”

Cruz also preached that people discover their sexual orientation rather than choose it. 

—Robert Shine, New Ways Ministry, August 10, 2017

Read Salvatore Sapienza's book GAY IS A GIFT, which has been called "Chicken Soup of the Gay Soul." It is available on Amazon and Barnes&Noble. 

Remembering John McNeill

Today, we remember John McNeill, who passed away this week. McNeill was a hero to the gay Catholic community for decades. A Jesuit priest for 40 years, McNeill was forced by the Vatican to leave the priesthood if he continued to minister to the gay and lesbian community. McNeill left religious life with no bank account, health insurance, etc., but he did not abandon his faith nor his dedication to serving LGBT people of faith. He wrote several books, including the groundbreaking The Church and the Homosexual.

"It has always been the prophetic role of lesbians and gay men to lead the Church and Western culture toward embracing embodiment, a sense of identity with the body and its sensuousness," McNeill said, and he stressed the calling of our gay community: to guide humanity to a deeper appreciation of beauty, hospitality and compassion.

"Do not waste one ounce of energy in a negative attachment of anger with the Church, but rather, let's commit every ounce of our energy to the positive ministry of love which God has called us," McNeill said. Let us remember and honor his life and spirit. #gayisagift.

Apple CEO: Being Gay is a Gift from God

www.gayisagift.com

"Binding & Loosing"

Watch Video: Author Salvatore Sapienza on Gay as a Spiritual Gift

Coming Out Spiritually from C3Exchange on Vimeo.

"Meditation & the Balanced Life" - Salvatore Sapienza

I will be giving a talk on "Meditation & the Balanced Life" at Spirit Space on September 15. 

Sal Sapienza on AFSI (All Faiths Seminary International)

Father Mychal Judge, gay saint of 9/11

An Excerpt from my latest book, Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Father Mychal Judge:

Jesus in Love Blog: 10 years later: Mychal Judge, gay saint of 9/11

Gay is a Gift: Jason Collins

My latest newspaper column: "What Would You Do If You Were Brave?"

Click: Susan Boyle - Radio Campaign - Recognition - Accomplishments - Posters:
Slice of LifeWhat would you do if you were brave?...:

Gay is A Gift By Salvatore Sapienza

UNITY is one of the most inclusive churches, and they have an amazing LGBT page as part of their website. 

I am honored that they have included an excerpt from my book Gay is a Gift on their affirming webpage.  Visit it: Gay is A Gift By Salvatore Sapienza

Anderson Cooper: Gay is a Gift!

Anderson Cooper: ""I've had many blessings in my life and being gay is certainly one of the greatest blessings. It has allowed me to open my head and open my heart in ways that I never could have predicted. The ability to love one another is one of God's greatest gifts and I thank God every day for enabling me to give and share love with people in my life, with my family, my friends, and my partner Benjamin." GAY IS A GIFT!

Gay Spirituality Weekend: LGBT Retreat at Unity Village

Hope you can join me at the "Out in the Open" LGBT Spirituality Retreat at Unity Village in September.  Watch the video for more information. 

Gay is a Gift on the radio

Author Salvatore Sapienza (Seventy Times Seven; Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Father Mychal Judge) talks about his book Gay is a Gift on the show "Living a Sacred Life" with Dr. Raymont Anderson on Voice America radio.

Take a listen below:

Living a Sacred Life | VoiceAmerica™

"Mychal's Prayer": Another Great Review

Thank you to Amos Lassen for his wonderful review of my new book, Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Father Mychal Judge:

All of us have heard of Father Mychal Judge who has come to be one of the heroes of 9/11. As a Catholic priest, he helped to establish the Saint Francis AIDS Ministry in New York City and he gave of himself to others even when it ultimately cost him his life. As he died, he was serving not only God but others and he responded to Mayor Rudy Giuliani when the mayor requested that he pray for the people of New York. He responded with “I always do!” and those were the last words anyone heard him speak. He was the only priest to enter the World Trade Center and he did so in order to give absolution, aid and prayers to those trapped inside. It was there that he met his own death. He refused to evacuate the building when told to do so; his “boys”, the firefighters were working hard at saving lives and he was there with them.

In honor and commemoration of the tenth anniversary of 9/11, Salvatore Sapienza gives us this beautiful little book of prayers for Father Mychal. Sapienza worked side by side with him when they created the Saint Francis AIDS Ministry and he felt that this was one way to honor his friend who died while trying to save the lives of others.

The book is about spirituality and it is composed of a series of prayers and meditations which are joined to events and actions that were part of Father Mychal’s life. Yes, it is religious to a degree but it can also be used for spiritual guidance and that is one of the wonderful things about it.

This is the third book of Sapienza’s that I have reviewed and I must say that with each book, for me, at least, the gap between my religion, Judaism, and his religion, Catholicism, narrows. It really is not about religion, it is about God and each of must find our own way to understand and deal with Him. I have total respect for Sapienza’s view and I know that he reciprocates that with me. The important thing is now how you believe or where you pray but that you believe and once we realize that the God of the Catholics and the God of the Jews and the God of the Episcopalians, Lutherans, Methodists, Baptists, etc is the same God we shall have more harmony. I work towards that as does Sapienza.

As I read his little book, I had one thought—these prayers are so Jewish. They, like Father Mychal share the “Universal Divine Wisdom” that all the religions of the world share. That was one the attributes that made Father Mychal so special—he shared that wisdom. Father Mychal was pastor to the marginalized, men and women like us who have had a hard time finding our place in organized religion and this might have been considered heretical by some. Father Mychal did what he felt he had to do and all of us are so much better because of it.

As I write this, I cannot help be reminded of the verses that the author uses from Isaiah 6:8

“Here I am Lord. It is I Lord.

I have heard you calling in the night.

I will go, Lord, where you lead me.

I will hold your people in my heart.”

This is a book of love and is a love tribute to a man who defined the word love. Let me add that the definition of Salvatore Sapienza is also love. I have never met Sal and I know him only through his writings, a few emails and some meager Facebook chat. Yet I know that he is the kind of friend that all of us dream of having. This book is proof of that. I love the little stories of Father Mychal’s life and how they explicate his faith and love. I do not know if Sal realizes it or not but as he put this book together, he also filled it with his love and as we read, we cannot help but feel it. For that, I say “Thank you” once again.

Fr. John McNeill: Taking a Chance on God documentary

John McNeill has been a hero to the gay Catholic community for decades. A Jesuit priest for 40 years, McNeill was forced by the Vatican to leave the priesthood if he continued to minister to the gay and lesbian community. McNeill left religious life with no bank account, health insurance, etc., but he did not abandon his faith nor his dedication to serving the GLBT community.

Father McNeill was also friends with another modern gay spiritual hero, Father Mychal Judge, whom I write about in my new book, Mychal's Prayer: Praying with Father Mychal Judge.

The above video is the trailer for a new documentary on the life of Father McNeill. You can learn more about this film at www.takingachanceongod.com

As for his books, Father McNeill has written many, the most recent of which are published by Lethe Press, the publisher of my own book. Gay is a Gift! indeed!

Mychal's Prayer: "A Must-Get Book"

Very excited and grateful that Michael Scully, the creator and webmaster of the definitive site devoted to Father Mychal Judge (see Saint Mychal Judge), has written such a wonderful review of my new book, Mychal's Prayer:

"This is a must-get book for those seriously interested in the life and spirituality of Father Mychal Judge. Written by a former monk who worked with Mychal, Mychal's Prayer is a series of prayers and meditations coupled with actual examples from Mychal's extraordinary life in the Holy Spirit. It points to ways we can also live more fully in the Holy Spirit according to the gifts God has given us. Mychal's Prayer will benefit all, but especially gay Catholics who struggle within the Church."