Valencia
The train from Rome to Valencia took seven hours, with a change in Barcelona.
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.
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
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.