By Michael Patrick O’Brien– I just wrote half a million words. It was not a goal, but it feels like an accomplishment. In 2016, after our youngest child graduated from…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Catholics arrived here 250 years ago in 1776. Back then, there was no Utah, no United States of America, and the land beneath my Salt Lake…
Michael Patrick O’Brien– During a recent visit to San Francisco, my wife and I ate at a century-old restaurant that serves good food but also symbolizes the amazing resilience of…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– In addition to iconic sights like the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman’s Wharf, and Chinatown, a half dozen historic Spanish Catholic missions also surround and accentuate San…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– A few years ago, my wife Vicki and I decided to visit all the historic Spanish missions in California. Our already interesting pilgrimage grew more intriguing…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Trappist monk Fr. Benedict Chao, the oldest Trappist monk in the world, has died in Hong Kong at age 108. His life/spiritual journey is remarkable and…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– It’s taken almost my entire lifetime to learn how to embrace the simple gift of being broken. It seems counter intuitive, doesn’t it? Our natural inclination…
There might be some rather interesting Utah names today if Franciscans Dominguez and Escalante had been settlers instead of explorers 250 years ago
0 By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Catholic and Spanish history in Utah runs deeper than most people suspect. In the Summer of 1776, as a new nation was born on the American…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Listening to a friend’s recent presentation about Utah’s Carmelite monastery—the only monastery left in the state—evoked a wave of memories about Carmelites and my own family.…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The 2026 release of Christopher Nolan’s epic film The Odyssey brought back memories of that one time the Greek poet Homer crashed our family trip to Italy and…