My blog neighbor Nancy French visited a bookstore in Tennessee the other day and got an eyeful: There, right next to the nice Civil War section (this is Tennessee, after all) is apparently a “sexuality” section, showing various sexual positions in plain view. And when I showing, I mean showing. One book promised to make this the most erotic year of your life with 365 sexual positions – one of which was shown in plain, naked view on its cover. Another... Read more
Two weeks ago, the Pope named two new auxiliary bishops for the Diocese of Brooklyn. Now, we’ve learned, one of them will be the new pastor at my parish. He’s Msgr. Paul Sanchez — shown above, concelebrating Mass with Brooklyn’s Bishop Nicholas DiMarzio. From his biography: The Most Reverend Paul Sanchez was born November 26, 1946, in Brooklyn. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from St. Bonaventure’s University, a Master of Arts from the University of Notre Dame and a... Read more
You may remember this post, announcing that the Prince of Darkness would be speaking at a small Jesuit university. The text of his remarks is below. DGK +++ Thank you. (loud applause) Thank you all very much. Thank you, Fr. Despereaux. Please, folks (continued applause), please be seated. A little restraint every now & then. . . (laughter). Seriously, this is quite an honor for me. I can’t say an unexpected honor, as this invitation was in the cards... Read more
“Love one another,” says Jesus. That means loving people, not judging them. That means bearing with them when we disagree with them, not attacking them at the slightest hint of a difference of opinion on church teaching. That means giving them the benefit of the doubt, not jumping down their throats when you think they’ve made a mistake. That means assuming that they too love God and the church, just like you do, maybe even more. That means hoping the... Read more
Last week, I swapped emails and had a great phone conversation with the husband of Marcia Morrissey — that would be Ed Morrissey, the blogging genius behind Hot Air. Ed wrote me yesterday to share some happy news: he’d just served for the first time as an Extraordinary Minister of Holy Communion. Great!, I said. Would you like to write about it? He would, and he did, and the result is below. +++ On Friday, I received training to be... Read more
The Catholic University alumnus spoke to its graduating class this weekend: Just six days ago, Pope Benedict XVI, in addressing bishops from Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Wyoming, spoke warmly of Catholic education here in the United States, and of the need of our Catholic colleges and universities “ . . . to reaffirm their distinctive identity in fidelity to their founding ideals and the Church’s mission in service to the Gospel.” The Holy Father showed a somber realism, though,... Read more
The weekly newsmagazines have lost their collective minds. TIME magazine offered us this jaw-dropper last week. And now, Newsweek ups the ante. Tina Brown, editor of Newsweek, is quoted here as saying “Let the games begin.” What’s next? Read more
Words can’t do justice to this beautiful, heartbreaking, inspiring video that’s now sweeping the Internet. People ask the mother all the time why she didn’t abort the baby. Here’s her answer. Take seven minutes and watch. Kleenex required. Read more
In the comments on my homily this weekend, someone asked: Just curious, but I wonder how many Masses brought up Obama’s gay marriage declaration this week? Good question. Did anyone out there hear anything about this from the pulpit this Sunday? If not, what did you hear? (Amy Welborn asks that question a lot on her blog, so I’ll steal it and use it here 🙂 ) Read more
In case anyone has missed it, here’s the disarming Mother’s Day doodle on the Google home page — animated. They also have a posting on their blog about moms and technology. Happy Mother’s Day! Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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