New York Times columnist Bill Keller might want to take a refresher course. In today’s paper, he describes the recent death of his father-in-law from cancer at the age of 80: When they told my father-in-law the hospital had done all it could, that was not, in the strictest sense, true. There was nothing the doctors could do about the large, inoperable tumor colonizing his insides. But they could have maintained his failing kidneys by putting him on dialysis. They... Read more
Parishes and schools are being encouraged to mark the special year that begins on Thursday by making a joyful noise: Churches around the country will ring their bells at noon to mark the beginning of the Year of Faith called for by Pope Benedict XVI. A joint project of the Cincinnati-base Verdin Co., the Son Rise Morning Show, and the Catholic Campus Ministry Association, “Ring in the Year of Faith” invites churches everywhere to ring their bells for three minutes... Read more
The unique new game show has struck a chord with viewers, according to Catholic News Service: The “American Bible Challenge” has been watched by more than 2 million people in the United States every Thursday night since its debut Aug. 23, making it the most successful show in Game Show Network in history. And to the surprise of its creators, an app based on the cable TV show is doing almost as well. Stephen Croncota, executive vice president and chief... Read more
Will this help? Here is part of the prayer composed for NOLA.com and the New Orleans Saints by Fr. Tony Ricard Director of Campus Ministry, St. Augustine High School, and New Orleans Saints Catholic team chaplain: God of All Grace, on this sacred day, the Who Dat Nation comes before you giving all honor and praise to you. Standing proud on the gridiron of life, we are grateful for the many highs and lows of our journey in the National... Read more
It has to be one of the toughest jobs in the world—and for some souls, what these police do is literally a Godsend. A rare look into the work of the men who try to rescue suicide jumpers, from the New York Times: On a concrete ledge off the upper deck of the George Washington Bridge, more than 200 feet above the swift and leaden Hudson River that November night, the two detectives gingerly approached the despondent man as he... Read more
Good luck with that. Details, from the Christian Post: Christians from Russia’s Orthodox community are demanding that the country’s Apple division remove the famous half-bitten apple logo from its products and replace it with a cross, because they find the apple image offensive to their beliefs. In popular culture, an apple is often used to represent the fruit that Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Knowledge when tempted by the devil, as found in Genesis 3 in the... Read more
Details from the Associated Press: Georgia Rep. Paul Broun said in videotaped remarks that evolution, embryology and the Big Bang theory are “lies straight from the pit of hell” meant to convince people that they do not need a savior. The Republican lawmaker made those comments during a speech Sept. 27 at a sportsman’s banquet at Liberty Baptist Church in Hartwell. Broun, a medical doctor, is running for re-election in November unopposed by Democrats. “God’s word is true,” Broun said, according... Read more
[Click here for readings] This Sunday is Respect Life Sunday, beginning Respect Life month. If you want to know what that really means, meet the Hudson family of Wauconda, Illinois, just outside Chicago. The Hudsons are a huge Catholic family – and I do mean huge. Lena and Tom Hudson have eight children, with a ninth on the way. But this morning, I want to tell you about the seventh child, a little girl named Sarah. When Sarah was born... Read more
From the Los Angeles Times: A Vatican court Saturday found former papal butler Paolo Gabriele guilty of aggravated theft in the pilfering and leaking of private internal documents in a scandal that brought extraordinary attention to the heart of the Roman Catholic Church. The three-judge panel senteced Gabriele to three years in prison, reduced to one and a half, because they said he had understood that he had betrayed Pope Benedict XVI and had acted under an “erroneous” sense of loyalty. Gabriele, in a brief statement following lawyers’ closing arguments in... Read more
A lot of regular visitors to The Bench probably know Deacon Doctor Bill Ditewig (“Triple D”), who makes frequent appearances here and in the comboxes. One of his parishioners alerted me to the very impressive website for his parish, which includes its own YouTube page and an archive of homilies, including several by Bill. If you want to see one of America’s best-known deacons in action, here’s your chance. Preach it, brother: Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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