Mike Bickerstaff

Husband, father, Catholic deacon, executive coach and mentor, dynamic speaker, Integrated Catholic Life editor in chief. @IntCatholicLife Opinions are my own.

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

Can you imagine having only Bud Light on tap for #FIFAWorldCup !!!

[Vince Langman @LangmanVince]

How funny is this? World Cup fans from Scotland drank the bars in Boston dry over the weekend!

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

Sign him up! #FIFAWorldCup #WeAre2026

[Sky Sports Football @SkyFootball]

Safe to say the Tartan Army were impressed by this Boston officer's keepie-uppie skills 😅👮

[Mr PitBull Stories @MrPitbull07]

May 16, 1963. Gordon Cooper was orbiting Earth alone inside a capsule barely big enough to turn around in, moving at 17,500 miles per hour.
He had been up there for over a day.
Then the warnings started.
First a faulty sensor screaming that the ship was falling — it wasn't. He switched it off. Then something far worse: a short circuit knocked out the entire automated guidance system. The one that kept the capsule steady. The one that was supposed to bring him home.
Without it, reentry was nearly impossible.
Too shallow an angle and the capsule would bounce off the atmosphere back into space. Too steep and it would incinerate. The margin for error was razor thin — and every computer that was supposed to hit that margin was dead.
Down on the ground, NASA engineers watched the telemetry in silence. They could see everything going wrong. They could fix nothing.
Cooper didn't panic.
He uncapped a grease pencil and drew lines directly on the inside of his window to track the horizon. He looked up at the stars he had spent months memorizing and used their positions to orient the ship by eye. Then he set his wristwatch.
Because when you have no computers left, you become the computer.
At exactly the right moment — calculated in his head, confirmed by the stars outside — he fired the retrorockets. The capsule shook. The sky turned to fire. For several minutes, no one on Earth could reach him as plasma swallowed the ship whole.
Then the parachutes opened.
Faith 7 hit the water just four miles from the recovery ship — the single most accurate splashdown in the entire Mercury program.
The man with a wristwatch and a few pencil marks on a window had outperformed every automated system NASA had.
We talk a lot about technology saving us. And it often does.
But Cooper's story is a quiet reminder that behind every machine, there still has to be a human being who can look out the window, think clearly under pressure, and decide what to do next.
The final backup was never the software.
It was him.

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

I have always greatly admired @BenSasse for his courageous faith and leadership. Would love your thoughts re this interview. May God bless and heal him.

[Hoover Institution @HooverInst]

In December 2025, former US Senator @BenSasse announced that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer. That's the primary topic for this @UncKnowledge conversation about mortality, faith, and what truly matters when time is short.

Talking to host @P_M_Robinson, Sasse reflects on "redeeming the time"—holding ambition lightly, loving family more deliberately, and resisting the urge to make politics or professional success the center of life.

The discussion also covers Sasse's thoughts on the failures of Congress; the dangers of a fragmented, attention-starved republic; the crisis of higher education; and the moral challenges of technological abundance.

He speaks candidly and movingly about regret, forgiveness, prayer, and suffering—arguing that while death is a real enemy, it does not get the final word. Watch the full conversation on X:

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

Notre Dame Pro-Life Medal Recipients Call on University to Rescind Appointment of Abortion Advocate| National Catholic Register https://t.co/W1XCcYOzwq

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

We are losing sight of our identity as children of God. Our faith is not meant to be relegated to an hour a week within church walls nor is it meant to be nothing more than social work. It begins with conversion, surrender, and the worship of God… and its mission is the spread of the gospel and the transformation of the culture through holy witness and service. Bishop Barron shares insights from he news of the day…

[Bishop Robert Barron @BishopBarron]

A recent statement by Representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez illuminates the Marxist ideology which continues to take hold of American politicians. Here are my thoughts.

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

Mr Stephens offers a powerful story and insights. He is indeed a man and possesses a God-given dignity shared by all human beings. His IS a life worth living.

#HumanRights #HumanDignity #RightToLife

[Anna Lulis @annamlulis]

"I am a man. See me as a human being—not a birth defect, not a syndrome. I don’t need to be eradicated."

Frank Stephens pleads for the humanization of people with Down syndrome, studies suggest 67-90% are aborted in the United States due to faulty prenatal screenings.

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

@KatTimpf @Gutfeldfox Always enjoy your contributions. You know that you are choosing what is most important right now and that is beautiful. #RightPriorities

[Condoleezza Rice @CondoleezzaRice]

Please find an update from my dear friend and colleague, Hoover Institution Senior Fellow Victor Davis Hanson. He remains in our prayers:

"I wanted to share a brief health update. I recently underwent surgery to remove a cancerous tumor and am now recovering. I’m doing well and hopeful as I move forward.

Thank you for the many messages of support and prayers—they truly mean more than I can say. As I focus on recovery, I may not be able to respond to everyone, but please know how grateful I am."

-- Victor Davis Hanson

[Jeremy Wayne Tate @JeremyTate41]

If you’re looking for a great read about the “warmth of collectivism” I would recommend the Gulag Archipelago.

No better way to experience the warmth of collectivism than 20 years in a Siberian labor camp watching everyone around you die.

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

When you go into your inner room to pray, you encounter Jesus, the God who made you, loves you, and desires to spend all eternity with you.
#prayer #JesusChrist #CatholicTwitter

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

New Life in Christ https://t.co/vycHinZ03k

Have you embraced your new life in Christ?

#Catholic #CatholicX #BaptismOfTheLord #Baptism

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

The Heavens Opened Wide https://t.co/Uu50FbpRSP
#CatholicTwitter #Catholic #baptism

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

God’s Gift to Us https://t.co/A9B4Pd6SCo

#Christmas2024 #MerryChristmas2024

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

@marcthiessen @nytimes Despicable!

[Cardinal R. Sarah @Card_R_Sarah]

Gloria in excelsis Deo,
et in terra pax hominibus bonae voluntatis.

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

A well-reasoned summary and critique of the House failure to do its job.

[Elon Musk @elonmusk]

Incredibly well said

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

#CatholicTwitter #Repentance

[Mike Bickerstaff @dcnmikebick]

Immaculate Mary https://t.co/mAVZ1o8ODL