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... into this simple scene:   A little girl is sitting at the kitchen table, watching her father closely as he sets about carving the holiday turkey.  She is mesmerized by the entire process, which begins with him sharpening a long slender knife against what she has learned is called a “whetstone”. She wonders if that word has anything to do with whetting an appetite; she recently learned that word too.  Her father does the sharpening with a flourish, then puts the stone asid

... of my watercolors are included in the online exhibit "Upside-Down Kingdom" presented on the website GodLovesArt.com , which is a very imaginative global community dedicated to ministry through the arts. Please take a look!

Co-led with Mary Blankenship A n interactive experience of reflection, prayer, awareness and response about the reality of war’s impact on the children of the world.  If we open ourselves to the horror of that reality ... acknowledge the helplessness that it can engender in us ... we can then focus on concrete steps we can take as individuals to nurture hope for the entire world.  “Let there be peace on earth, and let it begin with me."

Seven books of the Old testament focus on the question: “How is life to be lived?” with answers ranging from the most practical to the most mystical and mysterious.  Collectively, these books take their name from the trait that infuses them all -- Wisdom -- in a form that the USCCB calls “the strongest personification of the Bible ... Woman Wisdom.”  Individually, each of the seven books -- Job, Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, Wisdom, Sirach, as well as the Psalms and the Song of Son

Many people know of Sts. Scholastica and Clare primarily because of their association with more prominent men: St. Benedict (Scholastica’s twin) and St. Francis of Assisi (Clare’s mentor).  Yet these women were powerful and charismatic spiritual leaders in their own right.  Both formed communities (still existing) of women religious organized around monastic guidelines: Scholastica in the early 6 th century according to the Rule of Benedict and Clare in the 13th century acco

I am sitting on a gentle snowy slope.  I am probably three or four years old.  The slope is bare of anything except snow -- and the little sapling tree that I am sitting next to and holding on to.  I sense things whizzing by me on each side.  Maybe I am cold, but maybe not, thickly bundled in a snowsuit that makes it hard to move my arms and legs.  I start crying, then stand up and stumble away from the little tree.  Onto the slope.  Where am I?  Where is Dad?   Then he’s nex

I know it's not the same That a dog is not a person But when my dog Elderly, diabetic, so diminished Unable once again to rise from his bed His legs splayed uselessly akimbo Raised his eyes to mine I knew what he was saying A few days later On the last day He did rise and stagger to me He lay his forehead against my leg Raised his eyes to mine I knew what he was saying

It's a delight to have this essay published in the September-October 2025 in Spirit & Life , the bimonthly magazine of the Benedictine...

This blog is on hiatus because I am on sabbatical for the next few months. In the meantime, please explore the previous posts and feel...

It’s an honor and a blessing for me to be published for the second time in “Benedictines”, the journal of the Benedictine Sisters of...

This essay was published today — the Solemnity of the Annunciation — on CatholicArtistConnection.com as part of their Lenten series of...