By Gary Topping– I grew up on the southern Oregon coast, and while I enjoyed living there, its drizzly humid climate did not always agree with me.  During the first…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– My first Boy Monk blog post, two years ago this week, recalled the September 2015 speech by Pope Francis to Congress. The Pope described how American…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– September, perhaps the Rodney Dangerfield of months, has not always enjoyed the full measure of my respect.  Yes, there is an abundance of peach pie and…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– A recent news headline reported that a priest at a Catholic elementary in Nashville, Tennessee has banned J.K. Rowling’s Harry Potter books from the school library. This ban…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– In the late 1800s, tuberculosis killed 1 of every 7 people on earth. This terrible bacterial plague—called the Captain of Death—claimed four of my own family…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– The old Trappist monastery in Huntsville, Utah was my second home, a source of lasting friendship, and a font of spiritual refreshment. I knew the place…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– I have a rather nerdy habit of e-searching newspaper archives for stories about my old friends, the Trappist monks who used to live at Abbey of…

By Michael Patrick O’Brien– My daughter and I recently watched the movie Fiddler on the Roof again. So much has changed, but not changed, since the first time I watched it almost…

By Deacon John Keyser (Guest Contributor)– The good Samaritan was someone who cared. Blessed are those who care: they will assure others that love can reach even them. Blessed are…

By George Pence– My father passed away last month. While seated next to his bed, and a few hours before his passing, I took this photo of his hand. Next…