• Friday Night Lights
    Friday Night Lights
    September 16, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Players rush the line with fearless grit. Cheerleaders sparkle and twirl. On a Friday night beneath the lights, it’s impossible not to catch the thrill of it all.
    Read More
  • Foundations
    Foundations
    September 8, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    The soon-to-be husband leads me into the basement of the old house. He points to a boulder in the south wall. “Just look at the size of it!” He rubs his hand across the pocked surface. “It’d take four men to shove this in place.”
    Read More
  • Morning Litany
    Morning Litany
    August 28, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    A boy with a deer-hunting uncle will occasionally hear that uncle mention “buck rubs," a term that refers to gouges left on tree trunks by bucks rubbing velvet off their antlers.
    Read More
  • Grey Mule
    Grey Mule
    August 20, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    It is my first time attending a meeting of the local historical society. It is also the first time I’ve heard of Grey Mule, a former town not far from where I live.
    Read More
  • Pocket Knife
    Pocket Knife
    August 13, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Agriculture is one of the deadliest jobs in America: twice as deadly as law enforcement, five times deadlier than firefighting.
    Read More
  • Contraband
    Contraband
    August 8, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    The prison guard weighed the small plastic bottle in the palm of her hand. “It’s not grape juice?” “No, ma’am.” She held the three ounces of rose-colored liquid up to the light. “Not permitted,” she said.
    Read More
  • Farm Mass
    Farm Mass
    July 28, 2022
    by Deacon Davin Winger, guest contributor
    I grew up on a farm, and spent twenty-four years of my adult life farming. I still can’t help but do a little “windshield farming” as I drive along.
    Read More
  • Wheeler Dad
    Wheeler Dad
    July 21, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Sometimes God pays me back for smart-aleck remarks.
    Read More
  • Coffee Mugs
    Coffee Mugs
    July 13, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    My cup runneth over.
    Read More
  • Prodigal Son. Celibate Dad.
    Prodigal Son. Celibate Dad.
    July 4, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Children occasionally wander off, casting parents into a state of anxiety and panic. As a celibate, I can only imagine how that experience must feel.
    Read More
  • Blue Highways
    Blue Highways
    June 27, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    When it comes to long-distance travel, most people book airline flights or drive Interstates. Personally, I prefer blue highways, those two-lane roads printed in blue, squiggly lines on foldout maps.
    Read More
  • Vessel of Devotion
    Vessel of Devotion
    June 19, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Invocations from the Litany of Loreto play in my mind as I drive through Indiana and across Illinois: Morning Star, Ark of the Covenant, Gate of Heaven.
    Read More
  • Processing the Damage
    Processing the Damage
    June 12, 2022
    by Br. Stephen Graves, OSB, guest contributor
    Monks are uniquely connected to the place where they live. What happens to our place happens to us all.
    Read More
  • Stones, Sacraments and Skin-in-the-Game
    Stones, Sacraments and Skin-in-the-Game
    June 3, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    When I was a boy, I’d walk into the house with pockets bulging with stones and pebbles, precious gems to a boy growing up on a Midwest farm with dirt lanes, creek banks and a gravel barnyard. My mother would make me empty my pockets outside the kitchen door. When she wasn’t looking, I’d go back and choose one or two of the stones and add them to the collection accumulating atop my bedroom dresser. Eventually, I started collecting baseball cards.
    Read More
  • Landlocked
    Landlocked
    May 29, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    The shower swept through around 2 AM. I woke and listened to the sound of wind and water buffeting my house. If it were daylight, I would imagine a gleeful child aiming a garden hose at the windows and siding.
    Read More
  • Cowboyin'
    Cowboyin'
    May 19, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    “Been cowboyin’ lately?” The question came from a young farmer named Josh. He and an older man were checking out a 1949 Ford pickup for sale across the street from the local farm store...
    Read More
  • Work Trucks
    Work Trucks
    May 12, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    My dad used to say, “Never trust a man who drives a clean truck.” He was referring to pickups that hauled bales of hay as opposed to bags of groceries. He was never impressed by jacked-up rigs with chrome bumpers. This son of his followed his lead...
    Read More
  • Bobber in the Tree
    Bobber in the Tree
    May 4, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Someone once said, “Fishing requires patience. Fishing with children requires a saint.” I witnessed the truth of this saying when my youngest nephew brought his two oldest children, ages 7 and 5, to fish at my pond...
    Read More
  • One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Dentistry?
    One, Holy, Catholic, Apostolic, Dentistry?
    April 29, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    My dentist retired a couple of months ago. His replacement is a young man with dark skin, long hair and a red bandanna tied at the nape of his neck...
    Read More
  • Brother, Pray for Me: A Letter to Blessed Stanley Rother
    Brother, Pray for Me: A Letter to Blessed Stanley Rother
    April 20, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    We never met in person, but I remember the first time I heard about you. It was back in 1981, a month after I was ordained a priest.
    Read More
  • See More