The Orant

Found this little guy in a frozen pond this morning. I love the texture of the water's surface and I love how this little shoot breaks through it. Reminds me of myself.Winter catches me unprepared. I find myself still clinging to the leaves of the last season unwilling to move forward unwilling to let go.December is the season of Advent. A season liturgically designed to prepare us. It tells us to let go; let go of our little narratives for a bigger story; let go of our fears for a … [Read more...]

To my christian friends who are voting for Trump. I know why you are doing it. You hate Abortion.I know it's an important issue... but I feel I have to say something.But this pro-life only attitude has become dangerous. Not only for the nation and the world but even our souls.It's been used to cover such a multitude of sins.It's justified budgets that abuse the poor. It's justified supporting candidates who vote to cut food aid to the most vulnerable, those who support the death … [Read more...]

As you are probably aware, much of our civilization owes its existence to scribes. In the years before the printing press every book needed to be copied by hand. This process was hard, long and expensive. Simply having a copy of the Bible would often involve a year of hard work, the slaughter of an entire herd of sheep (their skin was used to the pages of books), and would cost as much as a house to produce. Books were treasures, and this wealth was produced primarily by monks who would dedicate … [Read more...]

One of the great parts of being a Catholic is the variety of spiritual approaches to the Christian life we are able to draw from through our shared herritage of religious orders. I've often wondered which order I fit into best. This is why I love this little quiz.  I got cistercian, which was a surprise since I have always thought of myself as more of a Jesuit. Let me know what you get! … [Read more...]

Father,We turn to you, turning all our life to you We turn away from all that is not given to you. We turn over all we have recived from you. We turn our hearts, our minds, our days, and all our ways to your grace.We remember the past with faith you are making all things new. We look to the future with hope in your unfailing promises. We walk today with love for we walk with you.Grant, to us, lord the grace we need. Grant faith that conquers despair Grant peace that conquers … [Read more...]

Things have been really quite here on my blog the last couple months. The reason for this is because I've been launching a new cafe and tap-house. Hopefully regular posts will start flowing soon. Until then I'd love it if you took a look at what we were doing. My friend Kathy wrote up a great profile on the project at Aleteia. You can read it now here. Here's an excerpt: Billy Kangas, Cultivate‘s director of coffee and cause, described the new venture, listing three principles upon which C … [Read more...]

I have been a longtime fan of Stephen Colbert. He's helped me to laugh through many of the most difficult and frustrating times of our nation's history over the past 15 years or so (first on the Daily Show, and later in his own political comedy satire). Now Colbert is about to take the reins of the Late Show. I think he'll do a great job.As the new show's launch approaches Colbert was profiled this week by GQ. The profile touches on a lot of Colbert own journey to where he is today. It's a c … [Read more...]