Welcome
These are reflections on living a life in Christ by a faithful Catholic deacon and oblate under the Rule of St. Benedict, influenced by the Church Fathers, with a particular love for St. Augustine, St. Bernard of Clairvaux, The Venerable Bede, St. Gregory the Great, Fr. Ronald Knox, and most of all, our beloved Pope Benedict XVI, of happy memory.
The title is explained here and here, and comes from the Psalms, which as a Benedictine are at the center of my devotions. I feel it reflects our times and trials well: a nightbird haunting what’s left of a once-great civilization. It is 300 AD again, and we have a new world to evangelize.
I am like a pelican in the wilderness,
Like an owl among the ruins.
I lie awake;
I am like a lonely sparrow on the housetop.
Psalm 102
Who Am I?
I’ve been a jobbing writer most of my adult life, first in technology, and for the last decade in religion. If you read computer magazines in the 1990s and early oughts, particularly computer gaming magazines, you read my material under the byline T. Liam McDonald, among other names: PC, PC Gamer, Computer Life, Game Players, Computer Gaming World, Maximum PC, T3, &c &c. I was Editor-at Large of Games Magazine for about 20 years, and continue as a contributing editor for its successor, Games World of Puzzles.
Prior to that, I wrote for mystery, crime, and horror publications like Armchair Detective, Cemetery Dance, Mystery Scene, and others. Before going freelance I worked in film and television production, first with Laurel Entertainment, and then Universal Television.
For many years, I’ve also written about religion. During my heathen years, that included Shaman’s Drum, but after my return to the faith, I began contributing to Catholic publications, including a blog—God and the Machine—hosted by Patheos before it became a data-mining operation. You can find some of my work on the National Catholic Register, as well as Our Sunday Visitor, Catholic Digest, Faith & Family, Catholic World Report, Pastoral and Homiletic Review, Catholic News Service, and many others.
I have a Master of Arts in Theology with a concentration in Church History (Holy Apostles), a second Master of Arts in Systematic Theology (Seton Hall), undergraduate degrees in Film Production and English (New York University), and I’m a certified catechist for the Diocese of Trenton, and have a certificate in bereavement. I’ve taught sacrament prep, OCIA, adult formation, and Church History since 2003.
On May 18, 2024, I was ordained a deacon to serve the Diocese of Trenton. Aside from catechesis and the usual duties of a deacon, I work in hospital and consolation ministries. Needless to say, my writing is all my own, and does not represent either my parish or diocese.
One of my main areas of interest is medieval popular piety, which is a slippery subject because it lacks genuine primary documentation. (The voice of the medieval commoner is always mediated by the lettered elite.) In particular, I’ve spent a lot of time on how attitudes towards death, dying, the soul, and the afterlife evolved from antiquity to the middle ages, particularly in the way those shifting attitudes are reflected in theology, folklore, funerary practices, and accounts of ghosts, revenants, spirits, and other apparitions. I write about these at WeirdCatholic.com, which gathers many of my history pieces from over the years.
I’m spiritually Benedictine and Cistercian, theologically Augustinian and Ratzingerian (Communio and Ressourcement), and politically Localist. My only hobbies are reading, old movies, and board games.
I live in the New Jersey Pine Barrens with my family. I have never seen the Jersey Devil, but my wife and children are descendants of it.
Deacon Tom McDonald
Pax vobiscum.
