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February 2021

February 06, 2021

Dark Devotional: I Have Questions

The Job story does NOT sit well with me. At all. Why, I wonder,...

April 2019

April 26, 2019

Dark Devotional: Sitting on the Porch of Catholicism

The first reading today mentions a gathering on Solomon’s porch. I love porches....

December 2018

December 24, 2018

Three Paradoxes of Christmas

When I read the Christmas stories in the Gospels of Luke and Matthew, I’m often...

November 2018

November 07, 2018

Why I Can’t Stay

Something changed inside of me during the week following this summer’s shattering Pennsylvania Grand Jury...

March 2018

March 16, 2018

Dark Devotional: Hear Us, O Lord!

“Have patience with everything that remains unsolved in your heart. Try to love the questions...

December 2017

December 25, 2017

Christmas: It’s Complicated

Christmas is complicated. On one hand, the music is familiar, the smells are sweet, the...

December 12, 2017

The Shadow Side of Advent

Yesterday—the Saturday before the first Sunday of Advent—I read a poem by Nikki Giovanni, and...

October 2017

October 05, 2017

Approaching Mystery: Marybeth Bishop Haunts the Dead

States of Matter * I don’t know why the idea of dead bodies didn’t bother...

September 2017

September 21, 2017

Songs As Sanctuary: Jenn Morson on Johnny Cash

Ever since I can remember, when I saw Johnny Cash, I saw my dad.

September 14, 2017

Approaching Mystery: Brian Doyle Attends “The Viewing”

Walked into the chapel at dusk last night, and there she was, in the casket...

March 2017

March 31, 2017

Dark Devotional: Lazarus

My uncle died a few weeks before Easter last year, an uncle who lived...

January 2017

January 27, 2017

Dark Devotional: Blessed are the Poor in Spirit

5 When Jesus saw the crowds, He went up on the [a]mountain; and after He...

December 2016

December 28, 2016

The Dark Side of Christmas: The Murder of Innocents

“They said there’ll be snow at Christmas. They said there’ll be peace on Earth. But...

December 19, 2016

Jesus Frankenstein: Mary’s Baby and Mary Shelley’s Hideous Progeny

“I, the miserable and the abandoned, am an abortion to be spurned at, and kicked,...

September 2016

September 30, 2016

Dark Devotional: Out of the Dust

The hand of the LORD came upon me, and led me out in the Spirit...

September 18, 2016

Dark Devotional: Mother of Sorrows

After accepting that the mystical experience I had was about being drawn into full communion...

June 2016

June 30, 2016

Dark Devotional: In Search of a Mothering God

A reading from the book of the prophet Isaiah. thus says the LORD: Lo, I...

June 17, 2016

Dark Devotional: Grief as Treason

“On that day the mourning in Jerusalem shall be as great as the mourning...

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...

May 2016

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...

March 2016

March 30, 2016

Light One Candle

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

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 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...

February 2016

February 26, 2016

The Dark Devotional: Third Sunday of Lent: Burned, but not Consumed

A Reading from the Book of Exodus. There an angel of the LORD appeared to Moses...

February 17, 2016

The Danger of a Clean Faith: Colleen Mitchell

I’ve heard it for as long as I can remember, how it's our job to...