​​beautiful and engaging faith formation resources to savor every liturgical season

ARTICLES

Below are links to published articles that I have written. ​I think of them as long form poetry with an emphasis on the liturgical year, faith formation and storytelling.
The Comeback King
In a small studio in Memphis, Tenn., Elvis Presley and his newly formed quartet of musicians recorded a song with a pulsing eight-bar blues progression. Called “Heartbreak Hotel,” it was released in January 1956 and rocketed to No. 1 on the U.S. Billboard chart...
Seven Miles into Hell
​With an unquenchable thirst for adventure, Jacques Piccard and Don Walsh huddled together inside a reinforced-steel submersible and slowly descended into a dark trench seven miles below the ocean surface…
Cross Shaped Protection
In 1605, an artillery marshal of King Henry IV of France gave the monastery of the Grande Chartreuse a manuscript containing a recipe for an "elixir of long life," developed by a brilliant but unknown alchemist in the 1500's...
Burning Down Christmas
Every December, in a city halfway around the world, a security guard patrols the perimeter of a fenced enclosure that holds a giant creature...
How Can God be Three in One?
On the night of Dec. 6, 1273, priest and theologian Thomas Aquinas had a mystical vision of God...
Exploring the Divine Mystery
In 1991, a nationwide contest was announced. Children in classrooms penned their most creative essays, crossed their fingers, and hoped their submission would be chosen...
The Golden Record
Three years after liftoff, Voyager 1 completed its primary mission. But those involved in the development of the space probe had something more in mind...
Chasing Wisdom
Author and art collector Forrest Fenn carefully filled a small, ornate box with old coins, gold nuggets, jewelry, precious gemstones, and other exotic artifacts. Then he hid the box in the Rocky Mountains somewhere north of Santa Fe, N.M., and waited for someone to find it...
Meaning in the Margins
​In 1543, Copernicus knocked humanity off its pedestal at the center of the universe. In 1924, Hubble relegated humanity to the margins...
Shine like Stars
​The following Sunday, I stood in front of the congregation and made the announcement - Sunday morning worship is cancelled...
The Colors of Grace
​Granite Springs Church has a clear purpose and mission, but if you search the light-filled atrium entrance, you only find a painting...
Fire and Water
​Neighbors stepped outside their doors into the cold December night to watch the unfolding tragedy in stunned silence...
Loving God More Than Blessings
​As I hastily rejoined the group, ​I found myself thinking about a person in the Bible named Job...
The Psalms of Ascent
​Nine of us gathered in the student center in late March. We were about to embark on a pilgrimage...
Why I Still Believe in Santa
Hi. My name is Sam... and I believe in Santa...
S A M  G U T I E R R E Z
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