• Of Fatherhood and Harvests
    Of Fatherhood and Harvests
    November 4, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Mighty grain elevators once stood guard over Texas farm towns. Today, less than a third of the aged watchmen report for duty.
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  • Retirement?
    Retirement?
    October 28, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    For this priest, the ill-defined term, “retirement,” has come to mean a well-chiseled silence in which to hear the whispering of God.
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  • Working
    Working
    October 20, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    I loaded up my mare and hit the road before dawn, my dog, Guapo, in the cab next to me. It had been a while since I helped work cattle. Today’s job would take me to the Lazy J. We’d wrap up by Noon and a grilled steak would be our payment. Guapo could hardly wait.
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  • Fr. Clem: Priest and Pilot
    Fr. Clem: Priest and Pilot
    October 14, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    If we neighborhood kids were lucky, we’d be playing ball when Fr. Clem’s plane would swoop low over the pitcher’s mound and land in the outfield.
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  • Angel on the Wall
    Angel on the Wall
    October 7, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Sure enough, silhouetted against the wall—above a hunting bow and a bovine skull—loomed the shadow of a robed figure flanked by two wings.
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  • Daniel's Ladder
    Daniel's Ladder
    September 30, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Adam was created in the outback, whereas Eve was created in the garden. It’s the Bible’s way of explaining a man’s innate drive to explore the wild, swim the rivers and climb the mountains.
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  • Steeple Jack
    Steeple Jack
    September 23, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Deep Well, TX: A Place where Hope defeats Despair
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  • 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.
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  • 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.”
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • Wheeler Dad
    Wheeler Dad
    July 21, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    Sometimes God pays me back for smart-aleck remarks.
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  • Coffee Mugs
    Coffee Mugs
    July 13, 2022
    by Fr. Luke
    My cup runneth over.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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  • 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.
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