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Select a Month February 2022 January 2022 December 2021 November 2021 October 2021 September 2021 August 2021 July 2021 June 2021 May 2021 April 2021 March 2021 February 2021 January 2021 December 2020 April 2020 March 2020 February 2020 January 2020 December 2019 October 2019 September 2019 July 2019 June 2019 May 2019 April 2019 March 2019 February 2019 January 2019 December 2018 November 2018 October 2018 September 2018 August 2018 July 2018 June 2018 May 2018 April 2018 March 2018 February 2018 January 2018 December 2017 November 2017 October 2017 September 2017 August 2017 July 2017 June 2017 May 2017 April 2017 March 2017 February 2017 January 2017 December 2016 November 2016 October 2016 September 2016 August 2016 July 2016 June 2016 May 2016 April 2016 March 2016 February 2016 January 2016 December 2015

July 2021

July 07, 2021

Throwing Stones at the Church

“It is precisely because you left communion with the Church that I think you have...

March 2021

March 04, 2021

Taking the Long Way Home

This is the third week of our Lenten Series: Sick Pilgrim's Progress. You can read...

February 2021

February 01, 2021

Things Keeping Us Going: Winter Weather Edition

Here in New England, this winter has been rather mild—until this past week. We began...

January 2021

January 08, 2021

Welcome Back, Sick Pilgrims

From its inception, Sick Pilgrim was intended to reach Catholics and Catholics-in-exile on the margins....

December 2020

December 31, 2020

Dark Devotional: Mary, the Mother of God

Mary, the Mother of God By Karl Persson I must begin with a confession: ...

April 2020

April 01, 2020

Book Recommendation: Meditations on the Way of the Cross

In these days of stay-at-home-orders and closed churches, many of us are looking for...

March 2020

March 03, 2020

Stardust to Dust: Lent as a Search for the Marvelous and Sacred

On Ash Wednesday, to everyone’s surprise, especially mine, I went to the early morning mass...

February 2020

February 27, 2020

Thirteen Ways of Looking at Catholicism: A Listicle with Apologies to Wallace Stevens

1. Inside you there are two wolves. One wolf is Catholicism; the other wolf...

February 26, 2020

Ash Wednesday with St. Anne

St. Anne, mother of the Virgin Mary, grandmother of Jesus, is the patroness of mothers....

October 2019

October 22, 2019

Iconoclasm and Misogyny at the Amazonian Synod

Yesterday, as the Amazonian Synod in Rome comes to an end, it was reported...

October 01, 2019

What I Learned from Dating a Catholic Priest: Part 1

Cool evening air whispered through the windows of my studio apartment where I lay one...

September 2019

September 27, 2019

What I Learned from Dating a Catholic Priest: Part 3

I began my summer. I started running in the mornings with a good friend....

September 27, 2019

What I Learned from Dating a Catholic Priest: Part 2

In March, we took a few weeks off from being in communication. He said...

March 2019

March 15, 2019

Dark Devotional: Un-Irished and Un-Catholiced on St. Patrick’s Day

I like digging holes, hiding things inside them. When I grow old I hope...

March 01, 2019

Dark Devotional: Where, O Death, Is Your Sting?

In the second reading, Paul writes to the Corinthians, “Death is swallowed up in...

February 2019

February 26, 2019

Respond to the Closet and the Cage with Compassion

For obvious reasons, there has been a lot of buzz about Catholicism in the news...

February 20, 2019

On Venomous Snakes and Bishops’ Summits

The moon is something strange and wondrous when seen at 2am. If you’re lucky,...

February 05, 2019

Advocacy and Exile: Roy Bourgeois and the Fight for Women’s Ordination

“What I came to, is that as Catholic priest, I was in a profession...

January 2019

January 21, 2019

Dark Devotional: Sunday in the Chapel of Split Ends and Hangnails

Body Let us build a house where love can dwell and all can safely...

September 2018

September 11, 2018

Mea Maxima Culpa: Clergy Sex Abuse Scandals Tempt Us to Despair

At this writing, the grotesque moral stench of the Pennsylvania Grand Jury Report lingers in...

September 04, 2018

Bishops, Fight Your Own War (Or Better Yet, Remember Who You Are)

Bishops, Fight Your Own War (Or Better Yet, Remember Who You Are) Before August...

August 2018

August 29, 2018

Fantasy Football and the Catholic Church

Every autumn, I’m left scratching my head as friends and family begin to fill out...

August 21, 2018

Reaction Round Up: A Hall of Shame

The past week has been eye opening. Not only is the world more aware than...

August 20, 2018

I Want to Believe: Fr. Stephanos Pedrano’s Story

Editor's note: I wanted this series, I Want To Believe, to highlight the authenticity of...

August 15, 2018

Dear Catholic Bishops, Time’s Up

Over the past few weeks, we at Sick Pilgrim have watched with unease as the...

July 2018

July 12, 2018

Sick Pilgrim Goes to the Movies: Pope Francis

In the romance languages the word sin means lacking or without. As a catholic,...

June 2018

June 22, 2018

Dark Devotional: Prayers for the Faithful

Art by the devout and confiscated Brian Jocks. O God, who raised up Saint...

May 2018

May 29, 2018

Something About Mary

One of the most treasured items of my 1960’s era Catholic childhood was a...

May 23, 2018

Family Photos, Statues, and Intergenerational Worry

Republished with Permission from the blog Crone Cafe That awkwardly-framed 80s photo is...

May 09, 2018

Here’s Yer Catholic Culture: The Met Explores the Enduring Influence of the “Catholic Imagination”

You know you're from Southern Louisiana when you're shocked that people are shocked by the...