Yunuen Trujillo’s ministry to migrants and L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics

The Spiritual Life with Fr. James Martin, S.J.

America Media

Spirituality, Religion & Spirituality, Christianity

4.9 • 1.2K Ratings

🗓️ 26 May 2026

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

As a lay minister to L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, a faith-based community organizer, and an immigration attorney, Yunuen Trujillo wears many hats. And as a member of these marginalized communities herself, she knows their struggles intimately. ”I feel that when we minister to immigrants or L.G.B.T.Q. Catholics, I'm ministering from a place of an open wound,” says Yuenen, “But it's a good thing because when you connect with your wound, then you're able to be hospitable to the wound of other people.” Yunuen joins host Fr. James Martin, S.J., on “The Spiritual Life” podcast to share her journey of finding a loving and merciful God who walks with her in her fight for justice in many arenas. Timecodes: 0:00 Jesus teaches us about love through the parable of “the Good Samaritan” 3:17 Can I be gay and Catholic? 6:40 Yunuen’s intersectional vocation as an immigration attorney and lay Catholic minister 13:20 Yunuen’s spiritual resources for the daily battles 17:46 Navigating righteous anger without succumbing to rage 28:00 How Yunuen found a loving and merciful God 43:30 Being LGBTQ isn’t an ideology 46:34 Audience Question: How can you use prayer to help you look forward in life as opposed to revisiting old transgressions or wounds? Read Fr. Martin's article reflecting on this episode here Yunuen Trujillo’s books: ⁠ LGBTQ Catholics: A Guide for Inclusive Ministry ⁠ ⁠Católicos LGBTQ: Una Guía para Pastoral Inclusiva.⁠ Yunuen is the founder of @lgbtcatholics on Instagram Link to Father Jim’s spiritual advice article on this episode⁠: "Bringing your full (wounded) self to ministry" Do you have a spiritual question for Father Jim? You can write to us at: thespirituallife@americamedia.org Become a subscriber today at Americamagazine.org/subscribe Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	So whenever I'm doing ministry work, I always encourage people to try to root ourselves in the gospel.
0:13.1	And when asked, who am I supposed to love? Jesus responded with the story of the Good Samaritan.
0:18.3	And so your own salvation depends on your ability
0:21.5	to love the marginalized person or group of people whom you believe to be least worthy of salvation,
0:27.8	of mercy, of kindness.
0:33.3	Welcome to the spiritual life. I'm Father Jim Martin. On this podcast, we reflect on how people experience
0:39.3	God in their prayer and in their daily lives. And I am joined by my marvelous producer, Maggie Van Dorn.
0:45.9	Maggie, always good to be with you. Always good to be here with you, Jim. Who are we speaking with
0:51.5	this week? Today we are speaking with June Wen Trujillo.
0:56.1	And would you like to tell our audience a little bit about her background, which is fascinating?
1:01.0	Absolutely.
1:01.9	So June Wen Trujillo is a Catholic lay minister, author, faith-based community organizer,
1:07.7	and immigration and workers' rights attorney.
1:10.5	As a lay minister, she has served
1:12.3	in young adult ministry for more than 15 years and now serves an inclusive Catholic LGBTQ
1:18.0	ministry. June Wen has been a regular speaker at the annual Los Angeles Religious Education
1:23.2	Congress, as well as other regional religious formation congresses.
1:28.1	As a community organizer, June Wen has worked with LA Voice Pico, a faith-based,
1:33.5	multi-faith, multiracial organization that works to create a society reflecting the dignity
1:38.5	of all persons, addressing issues such as immigration rights, education, and criminal justice
1:44.0	reform.
1:45.2	June Wen is also the founder of at LGBT Catholics on Instagram, an online platform that provides
	...

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