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August 2022

August 19, 2022

Theology of the Guinea Pig

It was time for McFluff's monthly bath and manicure. McFluff is the family guinea pig....

March 2022

March 25, 2022

Earth of Heaven

I want to draw your attention to an excellent piece by my friend Scott Eric...

July 2021

July 05, 2021

For Those Who Hurt On This Miserable Feast

It's that time of year again. It's time for the feast day of that saint,...

May 2021

May 23, 2021

The Spirit Doesn’t Hurt

We were running errands when we stopped by the church. This is what we do...

May 10, 2021

A Heart of Stone

There was a stone in my pocket. I kept forgetting it was there. Several...

April 2021

April 19, 2021

Deer in the Basement: Emmanuel and the Mystery of Spiritual Abuse

I dreamed that God was being kept prisoner in the basement. I don't think...

April 06, 2021

The Snake in the Plaster and the Resurrection

I always get tongue-tied when it comes time to talk about the Resurrection. I'm...

April 02, 2021

Good Friday and the Scandal of Christ the Victim

Yesterday I re-posted my piece on Christ as a victim of sexual abuse, drawing on...

March 2021

March 30, 2021

Passion Sunday and the Mystery of the Great God

One liturgical year ago yesterday, I stood in a parking lot in my sweatpants receiving...

February 2021

February 24, 2021

The Grace of God in Scrambled Eggs

It hasn't been the best of weeks. It started with the failed pixie cut....

February 20, 2021

The Mystery of Saint Francis and the Pixie Cut

I cut my hair off for Lent this year. Well, that's not exactly the sequence...

February 15, 2021

Christ is the Lord of the Clean and the Unclean

A reading from the book of Leviticus: The LORD said to Moses and...

January 2021

January 13, 2021

Lisa Montgomery is Being Tied to a Bed

Lisa Montgomery spent the day in the Death House. Well, truth be told, she...

December 2020

December 30, 2020

A Witness to Life

I am writing a narrative. No, not that kind of narrative. Not the kind people...

November 2020

November 28, 2020

At Midnight, at Cockcrow, at Morning

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Mark: Jesus said to his disciples: “Be...

November 22, 2020

Everyone Sees the Face of God

A Reading from the Holy Gospel according to Matthew: Jesus said to his disciples:...

November 03, 2020

Looking Back and Ahead on Election Day

Today's the day. I promised myself I wasn't going to be online today, but we...

October 2020

October 26, 2020

Zinnias in the Plague Time

Rosie and I went for a walk. Michael was out walking too, but he was...

October 20, 2020

Rosie, the Hardy Boys, and the Mystery of the Orange Extension Cord

We are homeschooling for another year. Every year I think we're going to get out...

October 07, 2020

What Does it Mean to be a Resounding Gong?

Have you ever played a gong? I got to play a gong once. It...

September 2020

September 13, 2020

While We Worried About Imaginary Children

Over the weekend, it's been revealed that our nation has expelled 8,800 unaccompanied minors...

September 10, 2020

Requiem for an Era

This year it is nineteen years since the 9/11 terrorist attacks-- almost a whole generation....

September 06, 2020

Rod Dreher, Drunk Driving, and the Problem of White Privilege

I just read Rod Dreher's unbelievably racist, ugly, self-satisfied essay "Moral Order and Civil Conflict"...

August 2020

August 22, 2020

This Inhuman Place

Want to hear a true crime story? This is one I didn't know about,...

August 12, 2020

The Lady of LaBelle

I was at the bus stop with Rosie. Someday, when this is over, I...

July 2020

July 13, 2020

Where Do You Go When You Go To Mass?

I wanted to be with Jesus. Since the COVID emergency began, I've had a...

July 07, 2020

The Hero of Somebody’s Story

Independence Day weekend was hot in Steubenville: breathtakingly hot. The grass was brown, it...

June 2020

June 28, 2020

And This A Holy Summer

Have you ever built a wire fence by hand? I'm not going to tell...

June 21, 2020

In Despair, In Resurrection, In Gardens

This week has been hard. On Thursday night, Rosie forgot to lock up her...

June 20, 2020

Frater Memento Mori

There is something about gardening that's almost guaranteed to make you superstitious. I was in...