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.
Homilies & Reflections
Stop Counting
Peter asks about forgiving seven times. Jesus says seventy-seven - inverting the oldest pattern of human violence. Homily for the 24th Sunday in Ordinary Time.
Faith & Life
What Is Actually Asked of You
The most common thing Catholics get wrong about dying is believing the Church requires them to endure everything medicine can do. It does not, and it never has. What is actually permitted, and what to do about it this week.
Another Voice ↗
Essays
The Sanitary Food Preparation Act
The law that takes effect in Illinois today passed at two in the morning on Halloween, by the narrowest possible margin, inside a bill about food safety.
Faith & Life
The Exhausted Middle
On the quiet majority, the parish, and where healing actually starts
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Reflections
What the Wait Actually Buys You
Two expected payoffs don't materialize when you wait to ship something whole. Three quieter ones actually do. On what the wait actually buys you.
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Reflections
What I'm Not Doing This Week
Last week I promised a new offering would open for booking today. It isn't. Here's the decision behind the delay - and why the delay is itself the essay.