b'Annunciation fresco by Joseph And wholeness is healing. Without Marys steady to help little children begin to understand Gods love.Erns Tunnerhand and open heart, our paths can be derailed by The book is a building block in their relationship withthe harsh judgements of others. God, and it starts with Mary, he says. His book isMy son is gay. When he came out, it took me a geared to preschoolers.while to realize that I needed to come out, too, she says, At one end of the spectrum, Mary can be understoodnoting how important it was for her to acknowledge in terms that even a child can understand. On the otherpublicly that her son is gay. I knew that neither of us end, there is an ocean of viewpoints about her. Some seewould be whole until I embraced this reality as my own. her as an archetype, a symbol or a multidimensionalDiane believes the Marianists and the gifts of the spiritual being. Perhaps that is why, for centuries,charism can help the Church heal. Its heartbreaking, people have turned to art to depict Marybecauseshe says. Seventy percent of Catholics in the pews she is larger than our imaginations can hold.accept LGBTQ members, yet some in Church leader- Marianists are encouraged to develop a personalship do not. Conditional love creates division. We relationship with Mary as a way of living and beingare not whole as the body of Christ whenever we in the world. Father Chaminade encouraged us tomarginalize our own. honor her, consult with her and live in a kind of deepintimacyan alliance with hermuch like a motherWho is Mary? and child, says Father Ted. Marys act of bringing Jesus into the world is huge, In the end, we are drawn to Mary because of hersays MSP participant A.J. Wagner. Its a love so humanity. She is one of us, always pointing the wayvast, its difficult to comprehend, he says.to Jesusthe Christ Mystery, the ultimate gift A.J., who was once a grade-school teacher, decided one who promises to transform and inspire us forto distill the story of Gods love into a childrens book the rest of the journey.for which he also provided the illustrations. I wantFor more information about the Marianist Studies Program and the projects created by the 2018-2019 MSP participants, visit nacms.org or call 937.429.2521.18 Call 1.800.348.4732'