CatholicAuthor

The Dome of Gold Dust

[cat-tales]

Once upon a time there lived a young couple who made pots by the edge of a forest. They molded earth-clay by hand, stained them with color and fired them in kilns outside the back door. They were famous for their dark red bowls, pale grey jars, blue plates with real leaves pressed into them, and cream vases with berries and flowers carved onto the surface.

But the couple were not…

The Wellspring Chalice | A Catechism tale

A series of short, fairy-tale stories to illustrate points of Christian Faith and the Sacramental Life, to be assembled in a book called ‘The Catechism Tales’. Let me know what you think!

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Once upon a time, two young, twin princesses lived in a great castle near a lake. They were both completely identical in beauty, but completely different in manners. One enjoyed courtesy and kindness, and…

The King of the Dry Waterfalls

The second of a series of short, fairy-tale stories to illustrate points of Christian Faith and the Sacramental Life, to be assembled in a book called ‘The Catechism Tales’. Let me know what you think!

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Once upon a time a great river flowed from the mountains. No one could cross it, for it gushed deep and wide, and many sharp rocks lay beneath it surface. From the white snows that fed it, it…

The God of Golgotha | A Poem About History and Christ

A meditative poem told through the eyes of Jew who witnessed flowering of Palm Sunday, and then the forest of Golgotha grow. With the rending of the Temple veil, he is granted a vision of the Paradise angel who, in two strokes, shows him that Eden, Sinai, Tabor and Golgotha are chapters in the same story, and that Christ-God is now our Eucharist.

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A Taunt to War

A stranger I was in Israel…

The Silver-Chained Serpent | A Catechism Tale

The first of a series of short, fairy-tale stories to illustrate points of Christian Faith and the Sacramental Life, to be assembled in a book called ‘The Catechism Tales’. Let me know what you think!

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Once upon a time in a land far away where not all evil beasts were yet slain or imprisoned, there lived a snake so venomous and dangerous that the king commanded it’s death. It swept across…

A Funny Song for Coffee Drinkers (Sung to ‘Memory’ from ‘Cats’)

Sung to ‘Memory’ from Andrew Lloyd Webber’s ‘Cats’, this poem celebrates the cruciality (is that a word?) of coffee, and its centrality to life.

‘Karaoke’ is at the end to sing along. Can you sing it?

I’m waiting for the day that a cover is done with full braggadocio of an italian tenor. :)

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Coffee, When I wake in the morning, When thy ‘roma’s adorning All my moments awake, I remember the time…

Written in 2009, this poem is meant to be sung to the Irish melody ‘Only Our Rivers Run Free’.  It speaks to a resurrectionist hope that we are all called to have, knowing that God is Lord of History, and sometimes, in the darkest of moments, a sudden twist or turn brings about a new era, a new age. Start listening around 1:15.

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Catholic Wealth and Spending Infographic

These discussions never seem to go away, so here’s something (hopefully) socially friendly to help discussions!

“Sell the Vatican, Feed the world” goes the urban legend. Here are a couple considerations for the secular world in general and non-Catholic Christians who share this attitude. To the statement “The Catholic church wastes billions of dollars on chairs and cathedrals when it could be…

A Bouquet of Reality – A Poem

‘Tis often that we reach the end Of life’s short road and think That many things have sped us by, Faster than you could blink.

We never seem to pause and look Down at the wheels beneath That bore us through this hectic life, And oft become a wreath

Of flowers wrapt in memories, Of ivies and more such. If e’er we stopped in reflection We’d really find that much

Of what we’ve dragged to where we are

How the Guilds and Cistercians Created Capitalism

In a response to Rush Limbaugh’s misinformed attitude to Evangelium Gaudii, Fr John Trigilio makes this fascinating point about the origin of capitalism as an essentially Christian outgrowth from the guild system. The emergence of the middle class has its roots in a cultural acceptance and belief in the dignity and worth of the individual.

Contrary to what many modern public school textbooks…