Keeping the resurrection burning within us

“God is in the rubble / with me to the end”

“A workshop in Nazareth,” Michael O’Brien. Happy feast of St. Joseph the Worker!

This week’s round-up of holy labors is coming your way a day late after back-to-back trips pulled me out of my normal routine. The time away was fruitful (and I can’t wait to share more about it later) but for now, enjoy!

1. Years ago, a fellow Catholic couple shared with us an icon from Michael O’Brien that they used as the prayer card for their infant son’s funeral. I finally found out more about this Canadian Catholic artist whose icons are influenced by Inuit art—and glow with the light of faith. Read an interview and see more of his art here: Keeping the ‘Resurrection Burning Within Our Hearts’: The Art of Michael O'Brien.

2. Ike Ndolo’s latest song God In The Rubble has been circling round my head all week.

3. Emily Stimpson Chapman
   shared a wise reflection from
   The Pillar
   by the Norwegian Trappist monk and bishop Erik Varden on the need to pray in this time between popes. (For a more humorous take: I Would Like To Be Pope from McSweeney’s.)

4. A book brigade helping a small Michigan bookstore move down the street? More lovely acts of community, please. “With the help of around 300 volunteers, Serendipity Books moved 9100 books and hundreds of boxes in just under 2 hours.”

5. Calling all writers: want to attend a fully-funded workshop from the

   Collegeville Institute
   ? You can still apply by this Sunday for Fifty Pairs of Eyes: Creating Characters in Fiction, Non-Fiction and Poetry.