My Christmas tree is dead. Wilted and dry, its branches boast a decidedly untrendy combination of melting candy canes and homemade ornaments. I love it still. Happy to be a stubborn Catholic who never takes the tree down before Epiphany, I smile at its deadness each morning over my coffee, let the lights warm me to the core, and dread taking it down. This Christmas, more than ever, I am baffled by why I should enjoy my tree in... Read more
We’ve been talking about it for months. But, finally, here it is, the first episode of the Wonder podcast. You can download it on iTunes, Google Play or Podbean. If you like what you hear, please review it on iTunes–it really helps to get the word out–and consider supporting us as a “Friend of the Show” so we can make more Wonder. Episode 1: Death in the Grand Canyon Ever been to “that place?” You know the one I’m... Read more
Happy New Year, pilgrims. Most people see the beginning of a new year as a time to make resolutions and appreciate the invigoration and freshness that a new calendar year symbolizes. Most people, it seems, don’t understand math. For us at Sick Pilgrim, a new year is nothing more than how marking time works. We’re all continuously striving to better, holier, more considerate people; the fact that the date has changed doesn’t impress us. So rather than New Year’s resolution-crap,... Read more
This week, I read an article on a Catholic blog about a son’s absence from Christmas Mass and the grief this caused his mother. Even though the article was written for those lamenting family members who have left the practice of religion, I wanted to write a letter to the son and make him not just an object of a blog post, but an active and considered person. January 2, 2017 Dear Homie, I get it. For years, you’ve been... Read more
I followed the crowd into the building, my eyes adjusting to the multicolored light streaming through the stained-glass windows. The interior space of the large church intentionally fashioned to look like a forest. Large columns carved to give the impression of tree trunks more than building support. Much of the inside lacking all the detail of a traditional cathedral. The exterior walls of the church house the sculptures that tell the tale of La Sagrada Familia. But the inside, while not... Read more
“They said there’ll be snow at Christmas. They said there’ll be peace on Earth. But instead it just kept on raining. A veil of tears for the virgin birth.” So sings Greg Lake, disaffected by Christmas—and he’s not alone. A season so touched by light makes me even more aware of the depth of the darkness around us–“the people who walked in darkness have indeed seen a great light” (Isaiah 9:2). The contrast can be unbearable. Even the secular world senses... Read more
Every year, my local church divides each Mass on Christmas Eve and Christmas Day into two separate services, going on at the same time. One is held in the lavishly decorated church building, celebrated by the normal parish priest – like any other Mass. The other is held in the reception hall next to the church building, in a large conference room that normally houses banquets and parish picnics, complete with a retired priest celebrant and a temporary altar on... Read more
One of my earliest childhood memories is my dad getting tipsy from the communion wine on Christmas Eve. Being a Eucharist minister, he was required to help the priest drink the rest of the wine because none of it can go to waste. On one particular Christmas Eve, he had to serve at a few different Masses. That night, he walked home with us after the children’s Mass, elevated and in good spirits. When I told him about this a... Read more
It’s that time of year when I don’t know who to be more frustrated with: those who reduce Christmas to commercialism and saccharine songs, or those who allegedly want to put the Christ back in Christmas – by which they usually mean their favorite idol. If I were feeling uncharitable, I might make some sort of comment about it being impossible to put the Christ back in Christmas without putting the Mass back in Christmas, as it’s hard to understand Christ apart... Read more
A few days ago, I was talking about the new Star Wars movie, Rogue One (which I loved) when someone asked, rather sarcastically, if Jess and I see Sick Pilgrim as our own “little rebellion” against the Catholic Church. I responded, without thinking too deeply about my answer, “Why would I want to rebel against the very thing I gave up everything, and I mean everything, to join three years ago? That would be insane.” Later, I thought about her... Read more
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