By Gary Topping– Part of the charm of Europe’s great medieval churches is that in most cases, with the primitive technology available, they took several centuries to build. During that…
Posts published in “Uncategorized”
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Human mortality decrees that we never meet the majority of our relatives in real time, in the flesh and blood. We must find other ways to…
By Gary Topping– As blogger-in-chief Mike O’Brien eloquently sketched for us this week, change is a constant part of Catholic history (see: The Catholic Church–a history of change). It’s a…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– During lunch a few months ago with my friends the Utah Trappist monks, we discussed how the Catholic Church had changed during their long lifetimes. After…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– My boyhood stomping ground of Ogden, Utah is so far away from Ireland—geographically, culturally, climatically— that I often bemoan what seems to be a chasm sundering…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– My dear wife Vicki is one of the kindest persons I know. That’s why I scratch my head trying to figure out why she sets traps…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– When watching the Winter Olympics on television every four years, I try to remember all the hard work that unknown people do behind the scenes to…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– A recent ordinary moment with my friends, Utah’s Trappist monks, now is an unexpected and extraordinary reminder of the essence of their unique monastic life. In…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Sometimes we take existence for granted and become oblivious to the sheer wonder of being. That’s why I recently took a couple of remedial courses on…
By Michael Patrick O’Brien– When I was a boy, my Trappist monk friends shared their homemade wheat bread with me. It was a precious moment of monastic hospitality, made even…