My World of Religion, Politics, Entertainment and Social Issues

Dear Blog Visitors: As I continue to research my ancestry, I have been doing some writing on some of the more notable members of my family. One such person was the late Jay Jason. (His real name was Jonas Levy.) Jay's name will be familiar to those of you who used to frequent what was commonly referred to as 'The Borscht Belt.' The Borscht Belt was a name given to a group of summer resorts that lined the area surrounded by the Catskill Mountains in New York State. If you have been following either my blog or YouTube channel, you are aware that I have Judaism on my father's side of the family and Catholicism on my mother's side. One of my fondest memories of growing up in a mixed religious environment was our annual trek to the Prospect Inn in the Catskills. During some of these outings, we were able to see my cousin, Jay Jason, perform on stage. He also performed regularly at the well-known and popular resort, 'Grossinger's.' The Borscht Belt resort...

Dear Blog Visitors: An inspiring piece from the Chicago Tribune caught my attention this morning. It is headlined, 'Excommunicate Me, Please.' When I was ordained a married priest in 2006, there were two responses from members of the Roman Catholic hierarchy. One response was that because of my actions, I excommunited myself. The other response was the my ordination was valid, but illicit. The fact remains that I never received a formal excommunication letter from the Vatican. Does this mean I am in limbo? However, like many married priests around the world, I remain in active ministry, officiating at weddings, baptisms and funerals (in my case, with legal recognized certification from the Federation of Christian Ministries). In recent years, we have seen many women ordained as priests. Yet, to the best of my knowledge, none of them have received a formal excommunication letter from the Vatican. As in the case of myself, these women have simply been told that by their a...