By Michael Patrick O’Brien– In his 1888 anthology of Irish folklore, Fairy and Folk Tales in the Irish Peasantry, the poet William B. Yeats explained that ghosts “live in a…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– Some folks might be annoyed or confused to find 20 lbs. of potatoes piled on their desk. I was delighted, and ate every single one of…

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…

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…