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January 2017

January 23, 2017

St. Francis de Sales and the Artist-Theologian

Before I was confirmed in the Catholic Church three years ago, I had to choose...

January 18, 2017

Trying to Say God (as artists)

A few years ago, Kaya Oakes wrote in America Magazine that "Catholic literary culture today...

January 13, 2017

Sick Pilgrim and Sacramental Weird Fiction Writer, William Paul Blatty, Has Passed.

I'm sad today. William Peter Blatty has gone into the Unseen realm. As the writer...

January 13, 2017

And The Title For The Sick Pilgrim Book Is….

Jess: What do you think we should name our book? Jonathan: I dunno, what...

January 08, 2017

Dark Devotional: Baptism in the Crapper

My parish has persevered for over a century, resisting many of the trends that reduced...

January 05, 2017

The Wonder Podcast Episode I: Death in the Grand Canyon

We've been talking about it for months. But, finally, here it is, the first...

January 03, 2017

A Letter to the Devout Mother’s Son Who Skipped Christmas Mass

This week, I read an article on a Catholic blog about a son’s absence from...

December 2016

December 22, 2016

Dark Devotional: It’s Christmas, Let’s Get Drunk!

One of my earliest childhood memories is my dad getting tipsy from the communion wine...

December 19, 2016

Advent: The Catholic Church IS the Rebellion

A few days ago, I was talking about the new Star Wars movie, Rogue One...

December 14, 2016

Adventures of an Agnostic in the Weird World of Catholicism

When my roommates first told me that they were going to get time off...

December 08, 2016

Mothers, Artists, and Pain: Moon River and the Feast of the Immaculate Conception

My maternal grandfather was born on December 8, 1912, on the Feast of the Immaculate...

December 04, 2016

Feast of St. Nicholas: Slap a Heretic Day. Or Why Are We Hitting Ourselves?

Tuesday is the feast day of St. Nicholas and as usual, the story of him...

December 01, 2016

Advent: A Brief History of Time

The first Sunday of Advent begins the Catholic Church's New Year, and in his homily, our...

November 2016

November 28, 2016

Advent: Kicking your Darkness

Since I first heard the song in college, I've meditated on a lyric by Canadian...

November 25, 2016

The Broken Body of Christ at the Border

Last month, I attended Mass at the border; I was part of a community of...

November 20, 2016

Blessed are the Poor in Nature: Call to Conversion on the Environment

My uncle took me out squirrel hunting at 5 in the morning. Sitting with my...

November 19, 2016

Fantastic Magic and Where to Find It

(Spoilers ahead, so don't whine.) Full disclosure: I'm a huge fan of the Harry Potter...

November 18, 2016

The Anointing of a Sick Pilgrim

I hobbled into church yesterday for the Rite of the Anointing of the Sick, holding the...

November 16, 2016

10 Relics That Prove Catholics Have No Chill About the Communion of Saints

We're celebrating community here at Sick Pilgrim this month, based on the fact that we...

November 15, 2016

A Protestant Sermon On Purgatory

The most powerful sermon on Purgatory I ever heard came from the pulpit of a...

November 15, 2016

La Toussaint: How Cajuns Care for Cities of the Dead

In October we clean graves. We gather in the early morning or late afternoon...

November 07, 2016

Bear One Another’s Burdens This Election Day.

I looked around at my fellow Confirmands, most of them hiding zits with heavy doses...

November 07, 2016

Pornography, the Election, and the Problem of a Woman in Power

I first experienced pornography when I was 10 years old. It was 1985. One of my...

November 02, 2016

Making Contact: From the Ouija Board to the Catholic Church

In October we called for spooky stories from all our friends who follow the blog,...

October 2016

October 29, 2016

The Crucifixion Made Halloween Possible

The recent death of Jack Chick made me think about my own personal history with...

October 28, 2016

Dark Devotional: The Terror of the Saintly Call

At that time, Jesus came to Jericho and intended to pass through the town. Now...

October 27, 2016

We are Blood Thirsty: Twilight, Fifty Shades, and Leviticus

Editor's Note:This post discusses ritualistic cutting and self-injury in the context of a theology...

October 25, 2016

Jack Chick and The Year of Mercy.

HAW! HAW! HAW! My parents threw themselves into the charismatic movement of the late...

October 24, 2016

Spooky Pilgrim Ghost Stories: Kid’s Edition!

(Believe it or not, your esteemed Sick Pilgrim co-founders have kids. Jess has two...

October 17, 2016

Burn the Catholic Witches! (Like Me)

I've been doing some research on American saints and martyrs. A few of these stories...