Publications

Full Moon

Full Moon

As I back out of the garage and pull the car toward the woods I see her, shining full circle, white as alabaster behind the bare trees that stand like soldiers guarding her, the top branches spidery against the moonlit sky. She lights up their silhouette....

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Goodbye Gracious Guatemala

Goodbye Gracious Guatemala

I am awakened by orchestrated bird song, an aching hip, a constant awareness of an uneasy earth and the rumbling of trucks down the cobblestone roads outside our room at the Hotel Porta Antigua, Guatemala. My stomach flips. I hurry to the bathroom. Traveler’s diarrhea...

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A cathedral of words

A cathedral of words

“Having faith in God did not mean sitting back and doing nothing. It meant believing you would find success if you did your best honestly and energetically.” - Ken Follett, The Pillars of the Earth It is early March in Pennsylvania – still no sign of spring. My...

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On salt and preservation

On salt and preservation

Originally published on Dappled Things. Without salt the feast is spoiled.-Polish proverb The salt arrives in the usual brown corrugated shipping box with the Amazon logo emblazoned on the side. The red 3-pound box of Diamond kosher salt and a smaller, somewhat...

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Should Catholic hymnody be more ambitious?

Should Catholic hymnody be more ambitious?

Originally published on Dappled Things “The aim and final reason of all music should be none else but the glory of God and refreshing the soul. Where this is not observed there will be no music, but only a devilish hubbub." - Johann Sebastian Bach.  The liturgy...

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