About Brian

I’m Brian Junyor. Ordinary Things is where I write about faith and the everyday responsibilities that shape how we care for one another. My Catholic faith and the Benedictine tradition give me a way to consider those experiences and the questions they leave with me.

During middle and high school, I spent my summers volunteering at a hospital run by the Olivetan Benedictine Sisters. The Sisters also staffed its pastoral care team. Their example taught me the value of being present and doing the work that needed doing. Those summers still influence how I try to recognize Christ in the person before me.

Today, I volunteer as a firefighter and EMT and serve as a hospitality minister at the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Francis of Assisi in Santa Fe. The needs I encounter in those settings are different, but each asks me to pay attention to another person and respond with care. Service continues to give me something to think about long after a particular responsibility is finished.

Santa Fe’s deep roots of faith give that service a particular meaning for me. I take my place in a community of prayer that reaches back through generations. New Mexico’s meeting of cultures is also part of what I value about living here. Indigenous peoples, Hispanic communities and generations of newcomers have shaped this place in different ways. Their histories include both exchange and conflict. Living here reminds me how much I still have to learn about my neighbors and the place we share.

Home is on a ranch in the Sandia Mountains, where caring for the horses gives my days a familiar rhythm. Barn chores need doing regardless of what else is on my mind. I enjoy that practical work and the time outside, with the mountains around me and room to be quiet.

These reflections grow out of that life. I return to Saint Benedict and other teachers as I consider what faith asks of us in the small decisions of an ordinary day. Writing gives me time to stay with a question. I hope what I share here gives you some room to do the same.