The Holy Family: It’s Complicated
Despite the depictions on countless greeting cards and stained glass windows, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus did not truly resemble a stereotypical modern, white, suburban family.
Brian Flanagan (he/him) is a theologian and Senior Fellow at New Ways Ministry. He is the Past President of the College Theology and most recently Associate Professor at Marymount University in Arlington, Virginia. His research focuses on ecclesiology and ecumenism, and his most recent book is "Stumbling in Holiness: Sin and Sanctity in the Church." He received his B.A. at the Catholic University of America, and his M.A. and Ph.D. in theology at Boston College. He is a married gay man and a parishioner at Holy Trinity Church in Georgetown, D.C.
Despite the depictions on countless greeting cards and stained glass windows, Mary, Joseph, and Jesus did not truly resemble a stereotypical modern, white, suburban family.
I want to think about the way being gay has allowed me to meet a whole group of people whom I otherwise would have missed or misjudged had my trajectory never been altered by my sexuality.
When we go back into the closet in various ways, when the wind and the waves of prejudice or misunderstanding seem too strong, we begin to doubt the One who tells us not to be afraid.
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