By Gary Topping– My wife and I are in the midst of our umpteenth annual re-watching of Rome, the magnificent HBO series, the two seasons of which first aired in…
Posts published by “mobrien@joneswaldo.com”
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Recent news headlines tell the stories of red-faced politicians apologizing for appearing in blackface sometime during their foolish youthful past. Unfortunately, I have to join the…
By Gary Topping– My posting last week included a brief mention of Deacon John Keyser’s homily, “When the Wine Runs Out,” which he read to us when he brought Holy…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– A couple of years ago, a Deseret News article noted a world rife with broken promises and official corruption, where half of all marriages fail. The…
By Gary Topping– On the night of January 18, 2019, I almost made it to the bottom of the stairs. I was on my way to bed, and yes, to…
Michael Patrick O’Brien– The monastic movement has contributed much to society. Monasteries have been centers of learning and scholarship, cultural preservation, and spiritual development. There are lesser known benefits too,…
By Gary Topping– Christian theology includes a doctrine called the “hypostatic union,” which is the idea that Jesus’ nature is both fully divine and fully human. The history of Christian…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Did you ever wonder how your own ancestors, especially those who were Martin Luther King Jr.’s contemporaries, dealt with issues of race and bias in their…
By Gary Topping– My wife Marianna and I met in the fall of 1991 when we were both hired to teach at Salt Lake Community College, she in the writing…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– While helping to find new homes for some the remaining items from the library at the now-closed Trappist monastery in Huntsville, I grew curious about how…