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July 2016

July 18, 2016

I went to Communion and You’ll Never Believe What Happened Next!

I saw that it is the will of Christ’s love to be put into the hands...

July 10, 2016

Six Steps Toward Creating a Culture of Life

Catholic writers often find themselves in a weird position. We're accused of being neanderthal conservatives...

July 07, 2016

When White People Worship Death, Black People Die.

How does a white person write about what's going on in our country with the...

June 2016

June 26, 2016

Destroy the Walls: Modest Proposals for a Renewed Catholic (and Christian) Literary Imagination

A few weeks ago, a friend called me a "blue collar writer" and then...

June 12, 2016

The Conjuring 2, The Devil and The Catholic Church

I've been asked many times “why did you revert to the Catholic Church?” It’s a...

June 03, 2016

Dark Devotional: Murder Mysteries, Dead Bodies and Raising the Dead

As a paranormal mystery writer, I’m often ask why my books are so bloody...

June 01, 2016

Death of a Gorilla: A Sentimental Holocaust

For the past few days, my Facebook feed has been filled with video of...

May 2016

May 22, 2016

Surprised by Dangerous Joy: Lessons from Chewbacca Woman

By now, everyone has seen the video of Chewbacca woman, the lady who buys a...

May 20, 2016

Friedreich’s Ataxia Awareness- Dark Devotional

Note: May 21 is Friedreich’s Ataxia Awareness Day. Part of me is afraid that I...

May 18, 2016

The Babadook and the Faith Healer

I’m seeing a healer. The woman works out of an office where she officially does...

May 01, 2016

I have a Problem with Mary…and Possibly Women in General.

I wear a rosary around my neck and not for a fashion statement. My best...

April 2016

April 28, 2016

Dark Devotional: Fifth Sunday of Easter: All You Need is Love

A Reading from the Gospel According to John When Judas had left them, Jesus...

April 27, 2016

God at Platform 9 and 3/4

For the last year my faith has been a gritty, dig in and get dirty in...

April 26, 2016

The Bloody, Enchanted Host

About seven years ago, I took a job as an assistant minister in Columbus, Ohio....

April 22, 2016

The Dark Devotional: Christians Drive Me Crazy

"My children...This is how all will know that you are my disciples, if you have love...

April 03, 2016

Is this Heaven? An Ode to the Sacramental Beauty of Baseball

Our regular Sick Pilgrims might be shocked to read a meditation on sports gracing the...

March 2016

March 31, 2016

The Dark Devotional: St. Thomas Didymus: A Heart Made Double by Breaking

Thomas, called Didymus, one of the Twelve, was not with them when Jesus came. So...

March 30, 2016

Light One Candle

Every week after Mass I light a candle. I love the smell of hot wax...

March 28, 2016

A Mid-Life Report Card from St. Peter…..

(We are taking a week off here at Sick Pilgrim. So, Jess and I...

March 26, 2016

Dark Devotional: Holy Saturday: Sitting Outside of the Tomb

And Joseph took the body and wrapped it in a clean linen cloth, and laid...

March 24, 2016

Good Friday Dark Devotional: The Day God Abandoned God

Matthew 27: 45-46 From noon onward, darkness came over the whole land until three in...

March 22, 2016

Losing It: Colleen Mitchell Reads Seth Haines

I’ve been reading Seth Haines’s memoir Coming Clean, soaking up his call to make my...

March 16, 2016

St. Patrick, Five Songs and Three Books for a Pilgrimage (It Begins)

At 3:00 P.M. today, St. Patrick's Feast Day (appropriate, considering he was a...

February 2016

February 22, 2016

The Misadventures of a Pilgrim Dad: Teaching my Kids to Embrace the “White Martyrdom.”

Two weeks ago, I wrote about the pilgrimage that I'm taking with my kids. When...

February 18, 2016

Dark Devotional: Second Sunday of Lent: Mountain Climbing with Kathleen Tarr

A Reading from the Gospel According to Luke. Jesus took Peter, John, and James...

February 09, 2016

Dark Devotional: Ash Wednesday 2016: Bring on the Night

Click for the complete Mass readings for Ash Wednesday 2016. Psalm 51: 12 Give me...

February 05, 2016

The Dark Devotional: Fifth Sunday in Ordinary Time: Deep Waters

Click here for the complete mass readings for Sunday, February 7, 2016. I'm drifting in...

February 01, 2016

How Writing a Foreword for an Inkling Smashed My Idols

A few years go, I was having dinner with the editor of my first two...

January 2016

January 28, 2016

Dark Devotional: Fourth Sunday in Ordinary Time: God Disappears

Click here for the complete Mass readings for January 31, 2016. A reading from the...

January 26, 2016

Sick Pilgrims: Jack Kerouac

“The only people for me are the mad ones, the ones who are...