Returning now to a favorite topic of debate on The Bench: deacons wearing the collar. I sit on the diaconal council for the Diocese of Brooklyn, and during our most recent meeting last week the subject was once again broached. Some men were wondering about wearing the collar while engaging in some ministries — notably when serving as chaplains at hospitals or prisons, or when presiding at wakes. Once again, the bishop said no. It’s too confusing, he said, and... Read more
While Chicago contends with anti-NATO protests, one person at the forefront of the activity is a woman with a lot of experience at this sort of thing. She happens to be a Catholic nun. Details: If you watched Sister Kathleen Desautels on Sunday morning near downtown’s Petrillo Music Shell, you could tell she’s been here before. And not here in terms of the place. Buthere in terms of the moment — the time leading up to a big protest march. At 74,... Read more
Sunday, my pastor and I were sitting in the sacristy, listening to a visiting priest preaching on the 7th Sunday of Easter. Evidently, he was keeping the congregation in stitches. This priest was a goldmine of winsome stories and wry observations — a few of his jokes were threadbare, and I’d heard them before, but that didn’t seem to matter to the people in the pews — and he seemed to have the church in the palm of his hand.... Read more
A great vocation story from the Boston Globe: Dan Kennedy will graduate from Boston College on Monday, summa cum laude, Phi Beta Kappa, and the recipient of the school’s most prestigious prize, the Edward H. Finnegan Award. Winners of the Finnegan, given to the student who best exemplifies the BC motto, “ever to excel,’’ tend to go big – top grad schools, Wall Street, overseas fellowships. Kennedy is planning to give away his computer, recycle his Blackberry, and move to... Read more
Buried in the bowels of YouTube, somebody uncovered this gem. While it may be of particular interest to folks in the Diocese of Brooklyn, it’s also a fascinating sort of time capsule that shows life in a college seminary in the 1970s. (Look beyond the platform shoes and sideburns and you’ll hear a lot of talk about service and social justice.) I wonder how many ended up making it to ordination, and how many today are still priests…? The description:... Read more
How did you spend Sunday afternoon? At my parish, we did this: It’s the “Living Rosary,” an unusual devotion that we practice twice a year — during Mary’s month of May, and during the rosary’s month, October. The pray the rosary in the front plaza of our church, one person representing one bead, singing verses of “Immaculate Mary” or “Hail, Holy Queen” between each decade. Each “bead” steps up to the microphone and says half the prayer — sometimes in... Read more
Here’s another take on this election from Jim Arkedis of the Progressive Policy Institute. It offers a window into how Democrats are thinking about Catholics: Catholics are up for grabs this year. A Gallup poll from April has President Obama and Mitt Romney tied among Catholics, 46 percent each. At nearly 20 percent of the population, Catholics have roughly mirrored the popular votein the last eight elections. They voted for Ronald Reagan and George Bush, but switched to Bill Clinton in 1992... Read more
Further proof that, even after a lot of lousy years when the humor was forced and the laughs were few and the cast was forgettable, SNL can still discover glimmers of gold. A consistent jewel of late: Kristin Wiig. Host Mick Jagger et al bid her farewell Saturday night. It was a nice sendoff. (And before you ask: I was fast asleep when it aired. God bless Hulu.) Read more
I confess: it took every ounce of fortitude I could muster to refrain from using the word “pope-sicle” in the headline. From Joanne at Egregious Twaddle: Bad enough I’m always torn between explaining to my artist friends that being a faithful Catholic is not drinking the Kool-Aid and explaining to my faithful Catholic friends that it’s not worth sweating over “art” that challenges Catholic piety. Now artist Sebastian Errazuriz has to go and put the whole business on ice: At... Read more
Hundreds gathered at Arlington National Cemetery to mark the 150th anniversary of the familiar piece of music. Watch and listen. You can read more about it here. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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