Brother Mickey O’Neill McGrath, OSFS, an Oblate of St. Francis de Sales, is an award-winning artist, author, and storyteller. He is a popular presenter and frequent keynote speaker at conferences, parishes, and retreat centers throughout the United States and Canada. Using his own paintings and the stories which inspired them, Bro. Mickey makes deep and often humorous connections between art, social justice, and religious faith around a wide variety of themes and subjects.

Bro. Mickey also paints on commission for parishes and schools, and his most recent commissions can be viewed on his website. He has created illustrations and/or written articles for many of today’s leading Catholic publishers, including America Magazine, Commonweal, and St. Anthony Messenger. In 2010, his painting “Christ the Teacher” was presented to Pope Benedict XVI. God only knows where it is now.

Mickey’s first and foremost love, however, is books, in all aspects: illustrating, writing, publishing, and promoting.  In 2014, his book, Go To Joseph (WLP) was honored with four awards from the Catholic Press Association and Association of Catholic Publishers. He was also honored beyond measure to have launched his first publication with Clear Faith Publishing, Good Pope John XXIII, a copy of which was presented to Pope Francis soon after its launch.  Bro. Mickey sees his work as being at the service of Catholic social teaching. To that end, he has created posters for the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops to promote immigration reform and home missions and has licensed his work to Catholic textbook publishers. He is a recipient of the Thea Bowman Black Catholic Education Award in recognition of his work on Sr. Thea Bowman, his great spiritual mentor and inspiration.

Mickey also offers workshops on the creation of mandalas and other forms of artistic meditation. Since 1987 he has been a summer faculty member at the Grunewald Guild in Leavenworth, Washington, an interfaith art guild where he is officially designated a “Guild Master.”

Bro. Mickey currently lives and works in Camden, NJ. You can visit his website at www.bromickeymcgrath.com.