This blog was originally posted on The Catholic Woman. Dear sister, What do you do when things don’t fit? When you don’t fit? Not too long ago, if you had asked me about my sexual orientation, I would’ve told you I was straight. I wouldn’t have told you about the shelf in my mind labeled “weird.” The shelf held a growing collection of not-so-straight moments. I rationalized these experiences of attraction to other women as “outliers,” “flukes.” To call them anything else woul

It was my freshman year of college. I enjoyed newfound freedom, which mostly consisted of late-night trips to Steak & Shake with my new circle of friends. On the surface, my new life in university was flourishing, but in the depths of my soul, I sensed something integral to my well-being was muted, or missing. My growing sense of this lack followed a series of heartbreaks in my teenage years. At the time, I wouldn’t have told you that I had been in love. I never had a boyfrie

This blog was originally posted on Christopher West's Cor Project website. I awoke in the dark. It took a moment to get my bearings. I was in a sleeping bag, lying on the floor of a tent. It was cold, cold enough that I second-guessed the urgency of why I’d awakened. However, to paraphrase John Muir, nature was calling and I needed to go. I wiggled out of my sleeping bag and into the crisp mountain air. What I saw in the sky took my breath away. Allow me to explain. I’m a sub

The following letter was originally posted by The Catholic Woman. Dear Sister, I’ve been attracted to women since I was 15. Men were a little earlier. Everybody’s got something, eh? I was raised in the Catholic Church, encountered Christ in the Eucharist as a teen, and have chosen formation and community ever since. On my last birthday, more than 1/2 my life had been spent intentionally following Jesus. Next birthday, 1/2 my life has included attraction to women. Sister

I’m going to make a few assumptions here. I’m going to assume that you’re Catholic. I’m going to assume that you’ve had some kind of education for chastity. You’ve probably heard that sex is for marriage, marriage is between one man and one woman, and everything outside of that is grounds for a trip to the confessional. That's not inaccurate, but, for me, it never felt like quite enough. Granted, that could just be the millennial sensibility for customization. If we can have

This blog was originally published by NET Ministries. You know the feeling. The abyss that stretches in your chest in the silent places. We’ve all felt it. Sometimes the ache is cast in a halcyon glow, like when the sun rises over the water in a riot of color or we stand before the staggering expanse of mountain peaks. It’s those moments when beauty threatens to carry us out of our chest. But sometimes the ache feels like something else. It’s not a bursting out. It’s a cavin