share your spiritual biography in 10 words, or less:
i am catholic heretic of sacred spirited sass
where are you turning for soul nourishment / joy / aliveness?
cartoons are part of my self-care in terms of being able to disconnect but also as sources of inspiration when engaging conversations around justice, identity, liberation, queerness, and more. also, spending time with my beloved who keeps me on my toes and who reminds me that i do not journey alone. lastly, being connected with enfleshed as well as queer christian fellowship has provided many wholizing moments especially that community and nourishment are not limited by physical spaces but can thrive in virtual spaces often in the most extraordinary and unexpected of ways.
what is a text you hold sacred?
right now, psalm 46:10, be still and know that i am God, i literally wear around my neck and carry with me. also, the lyrics to “defying gravity” and to “this is me” are my anthems to and for the world.
what is a spiritual practice currently sustaining you?
each day i do an ignatian (Jesuit) prayer/reflection as a way of reflecting on the day, lifting up where i experienced the sacred and where my spirituality may need some TLC … i try not to be hard on myself but see bloopers and blunders as spaces of divine revelation as much as celebrations and moments of joy are – how am i experiencing the divine in the messiness.
how would you describe the work you feel called to do in this world (even if it is not the work you get paid for)?
i currently serve as director of university lgbt center, the cantu center at UC Santa Cruz. as a person who holds both a MSW and a MDiv, i very much see my work on campus as a form of ministry in terms of creating spaces of solidarity, lifting up the sacramentality of queer and trans lives through vigils and spaces of belonging, and preaching through workshops/trainings.
perhaps not the ministry or pulpit my mdiv professors had in mine but it is very much ministry outside the box. students are sources of inspiration for me when it comes to living into my wholeness with authenticity and boldness. as a trans person, i have not been able to live into my journey of affirmation in the ways i would like (for now!) and seeing students live into and live out their identities with fierceness inspires me to do the same in the ways i can at this point in my life.
knowing that none of us “has it all together,” what is one question you are wrestling with, or bit of wisdom you are struggling to enflesh in your daily life?
something i stress with my team and the students i serve and in the groups i am a part of, is that we are enough and more then enough, we have nothing to prove. however, enfleshing this for myself is not easy and i wrestle with my own sense of enoughness and believing at the pit of my tummy – which is deeper then my heart – that i, too, am equally blessed.
who is one elder / ancestor / mentor whose guidance you draw from? what is one piece of wisdom they have offered?
my cloud of witnesses is vast from gloria anzaldua to pauli murray to john mcneil. an elder to lift up is my mother; her witness of going from the mom who sent me to reparative therapy to mom who marches in pride parades has been a reminder that the journeys of coming out and being out are collective and communal. yes, it is my coming out but it does not happen in isolation or alone … she, my sisters, my chosen family, my cloud of witnesses, and so many others are also on the journey. we may be at different points but together we are finding ways to figure it out, even if its just enjoying the confusion.
what’s one oppressive untruth you are practicing unlearning / divesting from?
Catholic guilt is real, especially around body and sexuality. wholeheartedly believing and embodying and allowing sexuality to be enfleshed is a struggle. similar to my journey with self-care, i am fierce when it comes to others embracing their own sexuality and asexuality and pleasure without shame, but not always able to enflesh it myself. i have come to realize that i am a masterpiece and a work in progress and remind myself that i too am on a journey.
what is one thing you wish were required listening / viewing? (please link to the song, poem, art piece, podcast, etc.)
THE COLOR PURPLE in all its forms … book, movie, musical, movie musical!
any of your website and/or social media handles you’d like us to include / highlight?
@delfinisms (instagram) … i do have a blog but it needs some love and care (https://laluchamipulpito.wordpress.com/)