The Apartments in the Vatican
Two Lamps, Issue 23: Saints John XXIII & Bruno of Cologne, the papal apartments in the Apostolic Palace at the Vatican, an evening in February 1959
Deacon Michael Halbrook
Faith, family, work, and life - all intertwined.
Permanent deacon of the Diocese of Springfield in Illinois. Husband, father of four sons, builder of Catholic technology, and writer of essays, fiction, and homilies.
All
Faith & Life
Homilies & Reflections
AI/SI
Building Something
Ad Alta
Another Voice
Missio Dei
Two Lamps
Lux Perpetua
Lamplight 05: Notes on September
Two Lamps Companion - Issues 18 through 21 - September 2026
The Better Part
Tuesday of the Twenty-seventh Week in Ordinary Time | Galatians 1:13-24 | Psalm 16 | Luke 10:38-42
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Organizational Effectiveness
The Meeting Where Nothing Was Decided
The meeting runs long. Everyone shares updates. Good conversation happens. And then no decision is actually made - because nobody in the room owns the discipline.
Homilies & Reflections
Here's Your Roadmap
27th Sunday in Ordinary Time (Year A) | Respect Life Sunday
Rome
He had been to Rome twice before - once for a conference in 2017, once for research in 2019 - and had experienced it both times as a city that was interesting in proportion to what you brought to it.
The Cell at Lisieux
Two Lamps, Issue 22: Saints Thérèse of Lisieux & Rose of Viterbo, Thérèse's cell at the Carmel of Lisieux, an autumn afternoon in 1893
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Mission
The Sentence a Catholic Institution Can Speak with One Voice
Most Catholic institutions can answer what they exist to do, richly and honestly - and differently from every seat. The question is whether they have woven them into one.
What the Chain Found in Valencia
I am writing this chapter before we go to Valencia.
Faith & Life
Five Things Blessed Fulton Sheen Taught Us About the Mass
I wore my Holy Hour stole to Sheen's beatification - the one I wear every Sunday evening at our parish's hour of Adoration. They asked us to wear white. Mine was more gold. But I figured a man who spent 60 years before the Blessed Sacrament would understand.