Perspective
House of grass and sky: an ode to the place that shapes us
Every house, in its own way, is a living thing. It changes as we change. It expands with joy and contracts under duress. This strikes me as a Catholic concept. […]
Perspective
Finding God in the wilderness
The sense of place and pull to the wild that inspired Nick Ripatrozone’s new book are tucked in his very name. The rip-roaring surname is the name of a mountain […]
Perspective
‘Hello World!’: advice for grads from a curious Catholic
George Corrigan never met a person who didn’t fascinate him. The delivery guy. The plumber. The barista. He wanted to know their names and their life stories, which came tumbling […]
Perspective
The hand-me-down: a love letter that endures
There are echoes of Romeo and Juliet, but the ending is happier. This story of forbidden love took place long ago on a Mediterranean island – 1870s Sicily, to be […]
Perspective
Learning from Horton — Say what you mean, mean what you say
Dr. Seuss’ fourth book was published in 1940 and met with critical acclaim. It features an elephant whose large ears and long trunk provided the ideal infrastructure for the artist’s […]
Perspective
When an obituary becomes a prayer
I’ve never had to write an obituary. I realize how fortunate that makes me. As a professional writer, I’ve imagined what it would be like to write one. Perhaps that’s […]
Perspective
The faith of Violet Jessop
When Violet Jessop set out to be a maritime stewardess, she wasn’t driven by some starry-eyed desire to see the world. She was moved by necessity. Her Irish father, a […]
Perspective
Of mice and men: a saint for our times
“Synchronicity.” That’s the word one journalist used in a Nov. 3 Instagram post to describe the fact that Election Day fell on the feast day of St. Martin de Porres, […]
Perspective
Hospitality at 6 feet: keeping our distance while letting others in
“Can you come in?” My grandma’s favorite question is one we now discourage her from uttering. The impulse to swing open her door and her arms, honed over nine decades […]
Perspective
Our balm for 2020: the communion of saints
Paula Kraus wasn’t afraid to utter the wish burning on her heart, the one that seizes so many preparing to lose a loved one. The Minnesota mom yearned for some […]
Perspective
Theology of home: an invitation to reclaim what matters most
The color-coded books caught my eye. It’s become one of my favorite flourishes in interior design, one that always stops me in my Instagram scrolling. And here it was, on […]
Perspective
How to intimately learn Catholicism
Fifteen years after Richard Louv’s bestseller “The Last Child in the Woods” was published, it is more relevant than ever. I’m fascinated by his insights on the “nature-deficit disorder” ailing […]