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Mary Pezzulo

@marypezzulo.bsky.social

3.5K followers 1.1K following 18K posts

I write about the Gospel, politics, gardening, Christianity, spiritual abuse, neurodivergence and social justice. 🏳️‍🌈

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Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 2d

There were about two hundred other Catholics, priests and laity, with him. There were altar servers in lace. There were religious sisters in veils. They carried a processional canopy, and picket signs as well. They marched to the Broadview ICE facility.

In Chicago, The Church Wakes Up

Again, I saw the Body of Christ. I saw Him in the Monstrance and also in the Church itself. I saw the Church wake up, and be holy.

www.patheos.com

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 24m

...and THEN we watched a video of what it would be like to jump on different planets.
The point here is that human beings, particularly children, DO like to learn. We also like stupid stuff, but it's a human trait to like to learn. We can foster that. It's a good thing!

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 26m

...and after we watched that one, we watched a video on how astronauts go to the bathroom, and then we watched a video of the first man to break the sound barrier without a plane by jumping from the very top of the atmosphere...

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 27m

Jimmy's boy came over this evening and asked to go for a walk. Then he asked "can we watch attacks on your computer?" and I realized he meant he wanted to watch videos of old news footage from famous disasters. I taught him about the Challenger explosion....

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Here's the boilerplate with my tip jar. Best time to leave your favorite writer a gratuity is the middle of the month when all the bills are due! Thank you to my readers, fresh writing is coming up soon!
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Blogkeeping Notes For Fall 2025

Hi friends, This isn't a real post. This is just my every-few-months blogkeeping post, to help you keep track of what I've been up to and how to

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Everybody I’ve interacted with who works for Urban Mission is friendly and professional. But they’re the ones getting yelled at in the comment boxes just now, because they’re closing the homeless shelters.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Steubenville's Homeless Shelters Are Closing

Stop blaming the charity that runs them!

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Great is your faithfulness, said the river. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness.

I have been so sad and so afraid for the longest time. It took until I was forty to be even close to happy, and I’m still not very used to it.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Confession At Shafer's Rock

I went to the Wildflower Reserve, to see how the world was going to sleep. I can't even begin to tell you how I've longed for a hike this

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

When I was a little girl, I didn’t know whether to say that I liked history or not.
I didn’t like to memorize names and dates. But I liked to hear about how people lived. I wanted to know what clothes they wore, and whether they got gifts at Christmas.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Tell Them It Rained All Day

I hoped to make it to the summer, to share food with my neighbors. I felt that it couldn't possibly be real life. Tell them it rained all day.

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

History will have a lot to say about this time. But I’m afraid they won’t remember that we were human beings.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

In The Here And Now

Again and again, I try to write the way Northern Appalachia feels, here and now. I've got to find a way to crystalize the here and now.

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

They sounded like gunshots.

Eternal rest grant unto them, O Lord, and may they rest in peace.

And then the whole tower gave way, and New York was enveloped in a cloud of ash.

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

A Requiem For The Falling Men

Twenty years ago, when I was a teenager, I watched the 9/11 terrorist attacks on television. I turned on the TV in time to see the last tower still

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Maybe the birds were fighting. Maybe they were mating. Maybe they were crying “Eloi, Eloi, lama sabachthani” and “If you are the Son of Man, come down,” in honor of the day.

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

The God Of Crows And Eagles

The God of crows and eagles, streams of water, dilapidated Appalachian neighborhoods, of kind people like Jimmy and The Lady of LaBelle and of codependent failures like me.

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Before we left, Rose stopped to laugh at the devil– a seven-foot bat-winged animatronic creature, standing in a planter by the foyer, shouting threats.

“I SEE YOU! YOU WILL KNOW TERROR!” said the devil, reeling back and forth like a drunk.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

To Laugh At The Devil

Charismatics had me convinced that the devil was nearly omnipotent, that he could cling to a person and "oppress" them.

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

One year, my aunt got the idea of handing out packets of hot chocolate mix instead of candy, because it sounded so nice to warm up with a hot chocolate while inventorying your candy on a late October evening. She bought boxes and boxes of hot chocolate mix...
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Hot Chocolate And Hospitality On All Hallow's Eve

One year, my aunt got the idea of handing out packets of hot chocolate mix instead of candy, because it sounded so nice to warm up...

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

“Don’t spoil your dinner!” I found myself saying, and aged about twenty years in my mind’s eye.

“These taste like grandma cookies,” said the Artful Dodger, smiling to show it was a compliment, and I aged a decade more.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Becoming Grandma's House

It was a glorious day, but I wasn't feeling glorious. I'd caught Adrienne's head cold over the weekend, and I was now in the getting-over-it stage: no

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

I went to the vacant lot. The Gang was there, shouting about everything. They might’ve been yelling “Throw it to Jesus! Throw it to Jesus!” but I didn’t think to question that just then.

“You’re not playing baseball with a real pumpkin, are you?”
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Throw It To Jesus

"You're not playing baseball with a real pumpkin, are you?" No, they were not. This time, they'd played baseball with a lemonade packet...

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

I’m not a charismatic anymore and I’ll never be a charismatic again. I understand that I have an imagination. I’ll never be sure how much of what I imagined was God until I see God face to face. But let’s say God was there.

Let’s say we spoke.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Deeper Than I Know

I can't possibly describe for you the richness of the wildflower reserve. It's like a stained glass window spread out over several Appalachian hills...

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

We were on a curved squiggle beside shale cliffs, and then we were on a straight road past rolling grassy hills, and then we were back on the main road and at the grocery store, where Adrienne got a hot chocolate.

Could it be that the valley is beautiful?

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

When Grief Gives Way To Peace

At that word, the grief gave up on stabbing me and took out a flame thrower. I thought of how much I dread going to church, how severe the religious trauma has felt, how I've failed to be a proper zea...

www.patheos.com

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 32m

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

“Is that gryphon… EATING someone?” asked a little girl in the front row.
The gryphon on the illuminated page was, indeed, in the act of eating an unsuspecting pedestrian. I was at a loss to explain what this had to do with God to an elementary schooler.

www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

A Picture Of God

"Those people love God!" said Jimmy's boy. "Well, I guess so." "You should get a picture of God like that, for YOUR car."

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Rabbi Danya Ruttenberg @theradr.bsky.social · 2h

Jewish law & Bible scholarship don't think the word in the 10 Commandments for "steal" is about, like, shoplifting.

Look at eg Genesis 40:15, Exodus 21:16 , Deuteronomy 24:7--

the commandment is not to steal people. Don't kidnap.

Though you shouldn't need the Bible to teach you that. #AbolishICE

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

This is the same political party who says "why should we help people from South America when there are veterans living under bridges?"

John Collins @logicallyjc.bsky.social · 9h

What the fuck are we doing?

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Here's the boilerplate with my tip jar. Best time to leave your favorite writer a gratuity is the middle of the month when all the bills are due! Thank you to my readers, fresh writing is coming up soon!
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Blogkeeping Notes For Fall 2025

Hi friends, This isn't a real post. This is just my every-few-months blogkeeping post, to help you keep track of what I've been up to and how to

www.patheos.com

Reposted by Mary Pezzulo

Brendel @brendelbored.bsky.social · 4h

Welcome to Bluesky: Weird Al is on here but you sometimes don’t immediately get told that. That’s most of the important information.

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Everybody I’ve interacted with who works for Urban Mission is friendly and professional. But they’re the ones getting yelled at in the comment boxes just now, because they’re closing the homeless shelters.
substack.com/home/post/p-...

Steubenville's Homeless Shelters Are Closing

Stop blaming the charity that runs them!

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

Great is your faithfulness, said the river. Great is your faithfulness. Great is your faithfulness.

I have been so sad and so afraid for the longest time. It took until I was forty to be even close to happy, and I’m still not very used to it.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Confession At Shafer's Rock

I went to the Wildflower Reserve, to see how the world was going to sleep. I can't even begin to tell you how I've longed for a hike this

www.patheos.com

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

When I was a little girl, I didn’t know whether to say that I liked history or not.
I didn’t like to memorize names and dates. But I liked to hear about how people lived. I wanted to know what clothes they wore, and whether they got gifts at Christmas.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

Tell Them It Rained All Day

I hoped to make it to the summer, to share food with my neighbors. I felt that it couldn't possibly be real life. Tell them it rained all day.

www.patheos.com

Mary Pezzulo @marypezzulo.bsky.social · 3h

History will have a lot to say about this time. But I’m afraid they won’t remember that we were human beings.
www.patheos.com/blogs/steelm...

In The Here And Now

Again and again, I try to write the way Northern Appalachia feels, here and now. I've got to find a way to crystalize the here and now.

www.patheos.com