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dcn steve's homily FOR THIS WEEK: Two dads and a baptism
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Current News
27 July 2021
SISTER LUISA DEROUEN, O.P.
Honorary Board MemberFortunate Families is delighted to announce that
Sister Luisa Derouen, O.P.
has been chosen as a Fortunate Families Honorary Board Member.Sister Luisa Derouen is a Dominican Sister of Peace
and has been ministering among transgender people
and their families nationally for 22 years.
She has a BA in Religious Studies from Loyola University in New Orleans, LA,and an MA in Liturgical Theology from the University of Notre Dame, IN.
She completed her internship in spiritual direction from the Ignatius Jesuit Center in Guelph, Ontario, Canada.
She has been a speaker and writer on transgender spiritual issues, as well as facilitating many transgender panels. It has been the greatest privilege of her life to know hundreds of transgender people and give witness to the sacredness of their lives.
21 May 2021
TRANS MINISTRY ZOOM SESSIONS FOR LAITYLGBT Ministry of the Catholic Dioceses of Lexington
and Fortunate Families’ JR Zerkowski
will host a three-part Zoom encounter,
“Ministry to Transgender Persons: a Pastoral Response,”
open to all Catholics this summer.
The online event will take place the afternoons of June 4, July 16 and Aug. 13. Each session will feature a different guest presenter offering suggestions on pastoral care for transgender persons:
Sister Luisa Derouen is a Dominican Sister of Peace and has been ministering among the transgender community nationally for 22 years.
Christine Zuba is a transgender Catholic and chair of the Transgender Ministry of Fortunate Families. She facilitates her parish LGBTQ ministry, “Together in Prayer,” at Sts. Peter and Paul in Turnersville, New Jersey.
Deacon Ray Dever is a permanent deacon in the Diocese of St. Petersburg, Florida, as well as a husband and father of three daughters, one of whom is transgender.
For more information, see the attached flyer by clicking here.
To RSVP, click here: www.eventbrite.com/e/trans-
ministry-for-the-people-of-god-tickets-145501475831
May 20, 2021
NEW UPDATED
Evangelization, Education and Transgender Ministries
RESOURCE LIST
(click here)
February 2021Welcome our newest
Fortunate Families Board Members
Fr. Francis Gargani, C.Ss. R.
&
Dr. Melinda Mooreclick here for their bios
and scroll down
NEW Resource List from our
Evangelization, Education and Transgender Ministries
click below
LGBTQ+ RESOURCE LIST
++++++++++++++++++++++++++
TRANS MINISTRY ZOOM ENCOUNTERS FOR CLERGY, DEACONS, and RELIGIOUS WOMEN AND MEN.
See flyers below for more information and to register
November 2020
In our world, ordained ministers and other pastoral workers can make present the fragrance of Christ’s closeness and his personal gaze. The Church will have to initiate everyone – priests, religious and laity – into this “art of accompaniment” which teaches us to remove our sandals before the sacred ground of the other (cf. Ex 3:5). Evangelii Gaudium, 169
October 2020
TO REGISTER, please email jrfflex@gmail.com
15 September
Feast of Our Lady of Sorrows
A TRANSGENDER CATHOLIC RESPONDS
Christine Zuba (she/her) is a Transgender Catholic,
she leads Fortunate Families Transgender Ministry
and is a Fortunate Families Board member.
Her reflection is personal and heartfelt.
Click below:
/documents/2020/9/A%20Transgender%20Catholic%20Responds%20%20FINAL.pdf
CHRISTINE ZUBA
ELECTED TO THE BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Fortunate Families is delighted to announce the election of Ms. Christine Zuba to the Board of Directors.
Christine Zuba lives in Blackwood, New Jersey, near Philadelphia. She received her BS in Electrical Engineering from Penn State University, and an MBA from Rutgers University. Christine is employed as a television and radio broadcast equipment sales manager to both regional and national networks. Christine is a member of the Society of Broadcast Engineers (SBE) and the Association of Federal Communications Consulting Engineers (AFCCE).
A lifelong Catholic born and raised in northeastern Pennsylvania, Christine has lived in southern New Jersey for over 30 years. Christine has two grown children, a daughter and son..
Christine has been a longtime parishioner of Saints Peter and Paul Church in Turnersville. As a Transgender Catholic she serves as a facilitator of her parish LGBTQ ministry, Together in Prayer. Christine is also a Eucharistic Minister, and a member of the hospitality committee. Christine also participates in other ministries such as Out Catholics of Philadelphia, One In the Spirit (Marlton, NJ), and in the NJ-PA Consortium of Welcoming Parishes, a group of similar ministries across New Jersey and Pennsylvania.
Fr. James Martin, SJ,
Honorary Board Member
We are honored to announce that Fr. James Martin, SJ, has accepted our invitation to become the first Honorary Member of the Fortunate Families Board of Directors. His prophetic ministry is a gift to our ministry and to the church.
Fr. Martin, accepting our invitation, said "I'm honored to be part of a ministry that has helped so many Catholic families over the years. Please join me in prayer for all the families with LGBT members who have been ministered to by Fortunate Families."
Our New Logo!
READ OUR LATEST
OCTOBER 2019 NEWSLETTER
THIS LINK!
https://conta.cc/2pFB0EO
February 2019
WELCOME to our NEW Board MembersANITA CAPILLO (KY)
BETTY DIRR (OH)
DEACON STEVE HESTER (RI)
JANICE SCHWEGMANN (KY)
FR. MARIO SERRANO, OFM CONV. (TX)
JASON STEIDL (NY)
LETTER TO CARDINAL DANIEL DINARDO,
President, United States Conference of Catholic Bishops
Click here to read the letter
(As of 15 February 2019, Fortunate Families has not received a response nor acknowledgement from Cardinal DiNardo nor anyone associated with the USCCB. Our letter was sent overnight with signature required.)
WELCOME OUR NEWEST EPISCOPAL ADVISORWe are delighted to announce that Bishop Thomas Gumbleton
has become an Episcopal Advisor to the Executive Director of Fortunate Families.
His prophetic voice and ministry is a gift to the Church.
Welcome Bishop Gumbleton!
Dear sisters and brothers,
Building the culture of encounter together, we begin with prayer. Please join me in praying every day, "God, make my heart like yours. Help me love like you love." And, let's pray daily for our church leaders, too - pope, cardinals, bishops, priests, deacons and lay - "God, make their hearts like yours. Help them love like you love."
Rooted in prayer, trusting in the Spirit, and working together, we'll soon be standing in awe at the miraculous and wonderful things God will accomplish.
Our LGBT+ sons and daughters, sisters and brothers, have a place in the Church. Their dignity as Children of God must be safeguarded and celebrated. Their call to ministry, issued at baptism, must be acknowleged, discerned and respected. It is up to you and me to facilitate conversations and help create the culture of encounter.
Fortunate Families' mission calls us to dialogue so that respect, compassion, justice and sensitivity for every LGBT sister and brother - and every sister and brother - become the hallmarks of our dioceses and churches.
We are living in an exciting time in the Church's history; the dialogue already begun is lifegiving, if difficult; the Spirit's movement is palpable. To move forward, we must be respectful, loving and kind when we tell our stories and in our discussion; we must presume goodwill even when words sting or downright hurt us. We must not react, but pray every single day, "God, make my heart like yours. Help me love like you love."
It is our duty, our sacred obligation,to pray for our church leadership. For them we pray, "God make their hearts like your heart. Help them love like you love." If this one prayer, alone, is answered, then hearts will be tranformed and all will be miraculously well. We don't need to pray for anything else. If we all learn to love like God loves, it will be heaven. May it be so.
When you pray, pray for me, too. And, please, consider supporting us financially, so that this ministry can continue and grow.
Your brother,
Stanley Francis "JR" Zerkowski
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