LifeCraft Read-Alouds

[Excerpt from a Classic] Bishop Laval and Jacques, from Willa Cather's Shadows on the Rock

This is a powerful sketch of an early Bishop in French Canada (he was declared a saint in 2014) and his interaction with an illegitimate boy he encounters on the streets of Quebec. (Cather's portrayal is historical fiction about a real man.)

[Short Story] The Currach Race by Walter Macken

An exciting and moving tale set in western Ireland of a unlikely canoe race involving a father and his daughter’s suitor trying to win his approval. Suitable for all ages (though perhaps a little beyond younger children).

[Meditation] The Good Thief by Alban Goodier, SJ

In this heart-stopping sketch, a spiritual master retells one of the most dramatic moments of the Passion of the Lord: the interchange with the good thief. It offers a unique angle into the Divine Mercy and will emblazon on your heart the words, “This day you will be with me in Paradise.”

[Essays] The Honor of Work by Charles Péguy

This essay has no soft edges. Peguy is controversial and minces no words. “Today, an artisan is no longer an artisan.” “Those bygone workers… had an absolute honor.” Writing at the dawn of the twentieth century, Peguy is a Frenchman recalling pre-Industrial France; yet his trenchant reflections raise issues that have only become more pressing.

[Essay] The Idea of a Pilgrimage by Hilaire Belloc

In this provocative essay Belloc offers a conception of pilgrimage as a unique kind of journey that speaks to the deep desires of the heart. And though pilgrimages have become rarer today, what Belloc describes remains very much within our reach. This essay calls for a couple of listens.