Lamplight 06: Notes on October
Two Lamps Companion - Issues 22 through 25 - October 2026
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.
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Technology
The Shadow System
Every Catholic institution I have worked in or with has a shadow system.The business manager's Excel sheet of major donors, carefully maintained for years, beca
The Table He Set by Emptying Himself
Tuesday of the Thirty-First Week in Ordinary Time | Philippians 2:5-11 | Psalm 22 | Luke 14:15-24
Another Voice ↗
Talking Points
Talking Points: Week of November 2, 2026
The closing argument is a countdown - one hundred hours, one vote, one fix. The reality is slower. Here's what the data shows on the eve of the midterms.
Daily Reflections
I Will Lose None of Them
The souls of the righteous are in God's hand. Jesus says he will lose none of those the Father has given him. These are the same promise - and November begins with the Church staking everything on it.
The November Dinner
He replied to Aldric's dinner invitation on a Tuesday morning in late October, ten days after returning from Spain.
Homilies & Reflections
The Beatitudes Are a Training Manual
All Saints Day - November 1, 2026 St. Elizabeth Parish, Granite City, Illinois
Faith & Life
Running the Whole Course
On integrity, shortcuts, and the person you become when no one's watching.
The Study at Lyon
Two Lamps, Issue 26: Saint Anselm of Canterbury with Saints Simon & Jude the Apostles, Anselm's study at Lyon during his first exile, an autumn afternoon in 1098
Daily Reflections
He Who Began It
Paul is confident that God will finish what he started. Jesus heals a man while his hosts watch in silence. Both are saying the same thing about how God works.
Daily Reflections
Go Tell That Fox
Herod wants to kill him. Paul is in chains. Both of them keep going anyway - and neither one is pretending the cost isn't real.