I met Fr. Anthony Schueller, SSS for the first time at the Cathedral of the Madeleine, Salt Lake City, where I was serving as Director of Religious Education and as deacon, in 1993. During our brief conversation on that occasion, he invited me to submit three articles for Emmanuel to celebrate the one hundredth anniversary […]

What might we have to “surrender” in order for new life to grow? I have to confess I have never been comfortable with the smallness of my life. The world spins on its axis, sometimes seemingly out of control, and I sometimes feel like a tiny speck of dust ready to be hurled off into […]

Can storytelling become a sacramental encounter? Ron Hansen (1947-), an American novelist, essayist, and university professor, was born in Omaha, Nebraska, earned a B.A. in English at Creighton University (1970), an M.F.A. from the Iowa Writer’s Workshop (1974), and an M.A. in Spirituality from Santa Clara University (1995), where he presently teaches fiction and screenwriting […]

Does the Eucharist have its own language, if so, how does that language shape our faith? Eucharist as God’s Creative Language St. John Henry Newman has never seemed that far away from me. Not only did I follow in his footsteps making the journey from Anglicanism into full communion of the Catholic Church, but as […]

God speaks to us in prayer. How do we learn to hear God’s true voice? The call to enter prayer is a call by God, who is communication itself, that is first given at baptism. God exists as self-revelation within a holy communion of love between the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. God is a […]

January 2, 2022 Epiphany of the Lord Isaiah 60:1-6; Psalm 72:1-2, 7-8, 10-13; Ephesians 3:2-3a, 5-6; Matthew 2:1-12 On the feast of Epiphany, it is too easy to focus on the wise men mentioned in today’s gospel. Where did they come from, how many were there, what star could they have followed, and on and […]

Art • Music • Film • Poetry • Books Poetry THIS TIME Perhaps it was the fear of presencing that led me astray, An unwillingness to companion myself to my soul’s unchartered edges. So many times, I had resisted God’s nudges. This moment was different. I lingered. And God, who never tires of us, Was […]