• 10 articles

Tattoos on the Soul

Johnny Cash played concerts in prison. When asked the reason, he replied, “Because I’m a Christian.” “When I was in prison, you visited me.” A metal door slams. I turn my back to the guard and stretch out my arms. After the pat-down, I surrender my ID at the sally port, cross the exercise yard and head to the mess hall. A line of...

06 05 2024

Chiropractor Chapel

Two nuns occupy a corner of the waiting room. I take a seat near the door. To my right, an elderly woman pages through a copy of People magazine. On the sidewalk outside the window, a mother is giving instructions to three children.  The oldest one, a boy, frowns and stomps his foot. Soon, they enter the door and the sisters beckon the family...

02 05 2024

Cowboy Motel

Their faces gaunt. Their eyes are blurred. Their shirts all soaked with sweat. Johnny Cash’s mystic anthem, Ghost Riders in the Sky, still echoes in the West Texas wind. But if you drive along Route 66 on the north side of Amarillo, the only cowboy you’ll likely see is one that stares from a motel marquee. His face is made of tin and his shir...

11 29 2023

Labor Day Addendum

Labor Day Addendum: Welders, Blacksmiths and the Book of Sirach Consider the farmer whose mind is set on the furrows that he plows. He stays up late, tending the cattle. Consider, also, the blacksmith. The fire scorches his skin and the din of the hammer deafens his ears, yet he is intent on the tool he is shaping. (Sirach 38:25-26, 28) After hea...

09 18 2023

To Dwell in the Land

Trust God and do good, then you shall dwell in the land and be secure. (Psalm 37:3) I live in a remote area of West Texas. The population density of my county is 1.7 people per square mile. The closest barber is an hour away. The region is a good fit for me. The open plains help me feel “grounded”—excuse the pun. The vast horizon shine...

08 07 2023

Should Church be Fun?

A Homily for the Second Sunday of Easter A while back, while driving down I-27, I passed a billboard that said, “Church Should be Fun!” I thought to myself, “Really?” I weighed the notion, then shook my head. “What garbage!” Don’t get me wrong. I think church youth groups should be fun and pitching in at parish festival should...

05 17 2023

Saints in Rehab

“It takes two things to knock down a tree: a strong wind and a rotten trunk.” So began my presentation to a group of recovering drug addicts. I turned and pointed to a slide on the screen behind me: A STRONG TRUNK = STRONG CHARACTER.  “What builds strong character? Virtue! The practice of virtue.” I was fired up. I could hear convic...

03 24 2023

Talking At Each Other

This article was previously published in Sword & Spade Magazine. Tommy Killackey discusses the loss of virtuous friendship in our culture of kitsch.   A sunset, an adventure, a tragedy, a profound belief, a moment encountering the sublime: life’s most riveting moments seem to demand from deep within us the need to share them....

02 21 2023

Discernment Is Not About You

This article was previously published in Sword & Spade Magazine. Benjamin Mann, as one deeply involved in vocations within the Eastern  Catholic traditions, corrects a common problem in discernment.   It is quite traditional and correct to speak of “discerning a vocation” — particularly to consecrated life or the priesthoo...

11 15 2022

Of Fatherhood and Harvests

Mighty grain elevators—1,500 broad-shouldered "Sentinels of the Plains"—once stood guard over farm towns across the State of Texas. Today, less than a third of the aged watchmen report for duty. In their place, prison towers now shadow the edge of many rural communities. I spent the first week of November in one of those prison towns. Normal...

11 09 2022

No results