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Shannon Evans O'Brien

Shannon Evans O'Brien is NCR spirituality and culture editor and the author of The Mystics Would Like a Word, Feminist Prayers for My Daughter and Rewilding Motherhood. She leads retreats and speaks on topics related to contemplative spiritual practice and the creative life. Follow her writing on Substack at The Rewilded Life.

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A pile of books, an open book, a cup of coffee or tea, and a plant sit on a table near a window.

NCR Members read: Nonfiction

NCR Forward members share their best book recommendations.

A row of books on a shelf

NCR members read: Fiction and memoir

NCR Forward members share their best book recommendations.

Left: Pope Leo XIV leads his weekly general audience in the Paul VI Audience Hall at the Vatican Jan. 28, 2026. Right: U.S. comedian and writer Stephen Colbert speaks with reporters in the Lapidary Gallery of the Apostolic Palace, after meeting Pope Francis during an audience June 14, 2024. (CNS photos/Lola Gomez)

Can Colbert get Pope Leo on late night TV?

During a guest appearance on "Late Night with Seth Meyers" Jan. 27, America's second most famous Catholic revealed two secrets: the date of his final show and the interview he hopes to land before that time comes.

Pope Francis hands Cardinal Robert Prevost, prefect of the Dicastery for Bishops, a copy of Spes Non Confundit, ("Hope Does Not Disappoint"), his document proclaiming the Holy Year 2025, during a ceremony in front of the Holy Door of St. Peter's Basilica at the Vatican May 9, 2024. (CNS/Lola Gomez)

What can we learn about Pope Leo XIV from his X account?

Pope Leo XIV has read NCR. We took a deep dive into the tweets of Pope Leo XIV, from when he was Cardinal Robert Prevost, to begin to understand the man who will now lead 1.4 billion Catholics.

"The Raising of Lazarus," circa 1619 by Guercino (Giovanni Francesco Barbieri) (Metropolitan Museum of Art)

Q&A with Fr. James Martin: Tombs, deaths and why his new book wasn't titled 'Come Out!'

Jesuit Fr. James Martin's newest book explores everyday deaths and resurrections through the biblical story of Jesus and Lazarus.

Shannon Evans with her own mother and daughter Thea (Courtesy of Shannon Evans)

Moms want justice, not brunch, for Mother's Day

The best way to thank the mother figures in our lives this Sunday is not with flowers and breakfast — although those can be sweet gestures — but rather by taking one actionable step for a more just world in their honor.

Ahsoka Tano (Ashley Eckstein) is stranded in the underworld of Coruscant in "Star Wars: The Clone Wars," Episode 705, "Gone With a Trace." (Disney+)

May the Fourth be with you this Star Wars Day

May 4 is traditionally celebrated as "Star Wars Day" among aficionados of the beloved franchise. To join in the fun — and since Star Wars has deeper spiritual implications than it is given credit for — we've compiled a list of NCR's best reviews of everyone's favorite space fantasy.

 

Jesus carries the cross.

Joyce Rupp talks Lent, conversion and the one thing that gets her in trouble

Joyce Rupp hopes her new book will show readers that they are not alone in what they experience and find encouragement and inspiration to face what seems daunting for them or their loved ones.

NCR Vatican correspondent Christopher White, NCR contributor Sr. Rose Pacatte and NCR news editor Joshua McElwee discuss their respective experiences of visiting the body of the late Pope Benedict XVI in Rome. (NCR screenshot)

Josh McElwee, Christopher White, Sr. Rose Pacatte discuss the mood at St. Peter's Basilica

NCR's news editor and Vatican correspondent sat down with contributor Sr. Rose Pacatte in Rome to discuss their experiences of visiting the body of the late Pope Benedict XVI, and to reflect on his complicated legacy.

Dorothy Day and another woman at Holy Family Hospitality House

Book offers new look at the 'incredibly human' Dorothy Day

Dorothy Day "loved people and they annoyed her to no end. She loved the masses and yet craved solitary time. She smoked constantly until she was in her 40s and gave all her possessions away for the entirety of her life."

San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantú and theologian Cathleen Kaveny (NCR screenshot/YouTube)

Bishop Cantú, theologian Cathleen Kaveny discuss McElroy's cardinalatial appointment

Watch: NCR columnist Michael Sean Winters sat down in Rome with San Jose Bishop Oscar Cantu and theologian Cathleen Kaveny to discuss the importance of Pope Francis' decision to promote McElroy to this esteemed position.

Mother and child walking (Unsplash/Anton Luzhkovsky)

Returning motherhood to its original state as image bearers of an untamed God

Book excerpt: Could motherhood rewild itself into a healing and nourishing space in which to dwell? Dare I hope that if freed from the meddling of outside hands, my soul could be its own self-sustaining ecosystem?

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