Mike Mastromatteo Journalist Profile

Articles

For novelist Jennifer Haigh, faith is a terrain of uncertainty

1 week ago | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Mike Mastromatteo

A new release from Boston-area novelist Jennifer Haigh ponders questions of causality and randomness in the lives of ordinary people striving for meaning in a seemingly “oblivious” cosmos. Rabbit Moon (Little, Brown and Company), released this April, describes the tribulations of a contemporary American family whose iconoclastic daughter disappears for a new life in Shanghai.
‘Believe’ offers a logical and compassionate case for religious belief

Dec 16, 2024 | osvnews.com | Mike Mastromatteo

“Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious”Ross Douthat Zondervan Books (HarperCollins Christian Publishing Inc) (2025)240 pages, $29.99 In October, New York Times pundit and author Ross Douthat penned an opinion column on the theme that religious belief among the disillusioned could be poised for a comeback.
‘Believe’ offers a logical and compassionate case for religious belief - OSV News

Dec 16, 2024 | osvnews.com | Mike Mastromatteo

"Believe: Why Everyone Should Be Religious"Ross Douthat Zondervan Books (HarperCollins Christian Publishing Inc) (2025)240 pages, $29.99 In October, New York Times pundit and author Ross Douthat penned an opinion column on the theme that religious belief among the disillusioned could be poised for a comeback. The column was timely for two reasons: First, there has
Conference series highlights why the Catholic imagination matters

Nov 25, 2024 | osvnews.com | Mike Mastromatteo

Anyone hopeful for a stronger Catholic presence in contemporary arts and letters can only be heartened in the aftermath of the recent Catholic Imagination Conference at the University of Notre Dame in South Bend, Indiana. The Oct. 31-Nov.
'Believe' offers a logical and compassionate case for religious belief

Nov 23, 2024 | oursundayvisitor.com | Mike Mastromatteo

“To atheists looking to be unsettled in their certainties, to spiritual searchers struggling to imagine a plausible destination, to believers wrestling with doubts and difficulties, and to anyone interested in the ultimate questions about human life, it makes (sense) that religion is not just an option but an obligation,” Douthat writes, “and that it offers a blueprint for thinking your way from secularism into religion, from doubt into belief.” Douthat takes issue with committed Darwinists...
Sculptor's static images become enduring representations of faith, spirituality

Sep 7, 2024 | ncronline.org | Mike Mastromatteo

Canadian Catholic artist Tim Schmalz, a native of St. Jacobs, Ontario, sculpts a figure of Jesus embracing a homeless person Sept. 27, 2022, during the annual national gathering of Catholic Charities agencies at the Hilton Baltimore Inner Harbor on Sept. 27-29. (CNS/Catholic Review/Kevin J.
23 poets featured in 'Contemporary Catholic Poetry, An Anthology'

Aug 14, 2024 | catholiccourier.com | Mike Mastromatteo

“Contemporary Catholic Poetry, An Anthology”April Lindner, Ryan Wilson eds., Paraclete Press (2024)240 pages, $35In the 2014 chapbook the “Catholic Imagination in Modern American Poetry,” distinguished poet and educator James Matthew Wilson celebrates that the “Catholic imagination” continues to inform and inspire American poetry.
Ethan and Maya Hawke hope ‘Wildcat’ will attract truth-seekers

Aug 7, 2024 | uscatholic.org | Nathaniel Hunter |Mike Mastromatteo

One of the more intriguing questions about the new Flannery O’Connor film Wildcat is how it came about in the first place. Directed and co-written by actor Ethan Hawke, and starring his daughter Maya in the main roles, the non-linear, innovative film focuses on the life and work of celebrated Catholic writer Flannery O’Connor. But Wildcat is much more than a typical biopic.
‘Dear Dante’ brings ‘Divine Comedy’ to new readers

Aug 5, 2024 | osvnews.com | Mike Mastromatteo

“Dear Dante”Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, Paraclete Press (2024)93 pages, $21 Anyone looking to appreciate Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” without having to wade through the 100 cantos will welcome this new collection from writer and educator Angela Alaimo O’Donnell.
'Dear Dante' brings 'Divine Comedy' to new readers

Jul 30, 2024 | catholiccourier.com | Mike Mastromatteo

This is the cover of "Dear Dante" by Angela Alaimo O’Donnell. (OSV News photo by Paraclete Press) | Section: Entertainment“Dear Dante”Angela Alaimo O’Donnell, Paraclete Press (2024)93 pages, $21Anyone looking to appreciate Dante Alighieri’s “Divine Comedy” without having to wade through the 100 cantos will welcome this new collection from writer and educator Angela Alaimo O’Donnell.