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February 2019

February 20, 2019

On Venomous Snakes and Bishops’ Summits

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

September 2018

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...

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,...

August 2017

August 28, 2017

Narcissism, Exorcism, and the True Nature of Evil

Sixty years ago, C.S. Lewis began his book, Mere Christianity by giving us an example...

February 2017

February 21, 2017

Why Are We So Afraid of Mercy and Our Own Heretical Little Hearts?

As I sort through the events of the past few months, I've tried to figure...

January 2017

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...

December 2016

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...

November 2016

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...

October 2016

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 04, 2016

Why Are Your Kids Leaving the Church? They’re Materialist Magicians

As someone who watches Catholic media for a living, it's hard to ignore the mass...

September 2016

September 27, 2016

Why Do We Need The Exorcist and Pope Francis? A Review

I grew up not far from St. Louis University, a Jesuit institution in the...

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 14, 2016

St. Kateri, Pray for the National Parks and Against Our Abuse of God’s Creation

I'm something of a National Park fanatic. On my cubicle wall at Ave Maria Press,...

May 2016

May 06, 2016

Dark Devotional: The Bad-Enough Mother

Once, I met a smart young woman who was very interested in what kind...

April 2016

April 24, 2016

About a year ago, I took one of my many trips to Utah, which has...

April 06, 2016

Sick Pilgrim Now Has Two Things in Common with the Pope

1. We're Catholic. 2. We share a publisher. We're writing a book for Loyola Press,...

March 2016

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...

March 16, 2016

Wanted: Spiritual Director for Two Sick Pilgrims

In my first post for this blog, I wrote that we were setting up a...

March 15, 2016

The Things that are Saving Our Lives Right Now, March edition

“One must do things sometimes to make life more bearable.” --St. Teresa of Avila While...

March 13, 2016

Dear Pope Francis: A Theology Book for Adults

My three hooligans love Pope Francis. They begged me to take them to Philadelphia...

February 2016

February 29, 2016

It’s the Season of The Witch: Fear, Trump, and Pope Francis

As a writer of paranormal thrillers, I get asked about horror movies all the...

February 08, 2016

The Misadventures of a (Divorced) Pilgrim Dad

I’m not ashamed to say the new Star Wars movie made me cry. But...

January 2016

January 12, 2016

Sick Pilgrim: The Catholic Church is a Hot Mess…and I love Her

Two years ago, I was confirmed in the Catholic Church with a group of eighth...