There is a rhythm to pipe smoking, a ritual even, one that allows you, if you let it, to enter into a state of contemplation. You must pack the pipe first, and...
Spirituality
Discover resources and reflections to integrate Catholic spirituality into daily routines, relationships, and parish life.
Driving on a paved road not far from home last summer, I saw an injured snake, hit by a car, stuck by its open wound to the road. It was curling and writhing...
One night during graduate school, some classmates and I went out to a local brewery to celebrate the end of the semester. We each enjoyed one, maybe two, craft...
My friend recently asked me in an email conversation why I stay in the Catholic Church. “If that sounds confrontational, it’s not,” he wrote in his email. “At...
At my former parish I was the catechist for second graders, students for whom the chief focus and driving dynamic of the school year was, of course...
Once a week I take out the trash. It’s a bit of a journey, carrying the overstuffed bag down two flights of stairs, out a door, through a gate, and around the...
We all know the routine once Christmas enters the rearview mirror. Maybe we packed on a few holiday party pounds. Maybe we spent too much on gifts under the...
January is a month of possibilities, full of the hope and newness of a new year. In this spirit of renewal, we reflect on the past and discern our desires for...
“Do you think Christmas really happened that way?” I asked my friend Brian one cold winter evening at the Catholic Worker farm as we gathered wood for a...
In 2012, for baptism preparation, my husband and I brought our 3-month-old son down to a musty church basement where a nun played us a 20-year-old religious...






