From the In My Backyard Desk… One of New York City’s more colorful mayors — who had a close friendship and collaboration with Cardinal John O’Connor — offered some advice the other day: Jews need to form stronger ties to the Catholic Church to ensure their survival, according to former Mayor Ed Koch. “We’re 13 million Jews in the whole world — less than one-tenth of 1 percent,” said Koch, while being honored by the Beit Morasha of Jerusalem public-... Read more
[Click here for readings.] Two years ago, a study at Columbia University found some alarming information that people should hear – if, in fact, they can hear. It’s about noise. The study found that just walking the streets of New York, or even working in some offices in this city, can put you at risk of going deaf. That may not be surprising to anyone who lives here and deals, every day, with subways and traffic and construction and airplanes. ... Read more
[Click here for readings.] Two years ago, a study at Columbia University found some alarming information that people should hear – if, in fact, they can hear. It’s about noise. The study found that just walking the streets of New York, or even working in some offices in this city, can put you at risk of going deaf. That may not be surprising to anyone who lives here and deals, every day, with subways and traffic and construction and airplanes. ... Read more
I wrote about this issue last summer. And I noticed today that a Queens pastor I know has taken the bull by the horns (or the baby by the diaper) and posted this on his parish’s Facebook page: One of the things we try hard here is to create a welcoming and child friendly atmosphere for our people. Whether it be at our Sunday Morning Family Mass or at our Youth Mass, we especially want parents to feel welcome to... Read more
I wrote about this issue last summer. And I noticed today that a Queens pastor I know has taken the bull by the horns (or the baby by the diaper) and posted this on his parish’s Facebook page: One of the things we try hard here is to create a welcoming and child friendly atmosphere for our people. Whether it be at our Sunday Morning Family Mass or at our Youth Mass, we especially want parents to feel welcome to... Read more
With all the buzz these days about the upcoming Super Bowl ads, I thought this one was worth a second look. The quality isn’t the greatest, but it’s awfully clever. Read more
She’s caused a firestorm of controversy and protest in Rhode Island. Who is she? Details: She is 16, the daughter of a firefighter and a nurse, a self-proclaimed nerd who loves Harry Potter and Facebook. But Jessica Ahlquist is also an outspoken atheist who has incensed this heavily Roman Catholic city with a successful lawsuit to get a prayer removed from the wall of her high school auditorium, where it has hung for 49 years. A federal judge ruled this month that the... Read more
One of the highlights of tonight’s GOP debate in Florida, on CNN, from Sen. Rick Santorum. Each candidate was asked why his wife would be a good first lady. WOLF BLITZER: Senator Santorum, your wife is not here tonight. SANTORUM: Yeah, she’s not. She’s — she’s doing what she does incredibly well, which is to be a mother to our seven children. And she is — she’s my hero. She’s someone who has been, you know, well- educated. She was... Read more
As if air travel weren’t stressful enough already, now some travelers will be flying on a wing, but not a prayer. An airline tradition is coming to an end: Alaska Airlines’ prayer cards always offended Gordon Bowker, not because the Seattle businessman cared what religion they represented, but because they suggested in-flight prayer was a good idea. “I’d get a clutch in my stomach when I read it,” said Bowker, who co-founded Starbucks and Redhook Ale Brewery. “My reasoning was,... Read more
From the Nostalgia File: writer and storyteller Thomas R. Pryor in today’s New York Times shares his memories of his beloved Catholic grade school in Manhattan: I had a wide variety of strategies for getting detention: talking in church after a warning, sliding into an imaginary second base on the smooth marble floor at the back of the church, listening to my classmates’ made-up acts of contrition in the confessional box and giving them the last rites in the classroom.... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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