[Click here for the readings.] If I had to name the most inspiring hour of television I’ve seen this past year, it would be no contest: it was Diane Sawyer’s interview earlier this month with Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. To see and hear Gabby Giffords, to see how alive she was after so many had literally declared her dead, was remarkable. But even more remarkable was the 40 minutes that preceded that. Those 40 minutes told the story of how she... Read more
You’d be hard-pressed to find a more moving story of generosity and gratitude than this amazing story, sent from a deacon reader: By the time parishioners, parents, students and staff at Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception got Father Val’s e-mail that Tuesday morning, Nov. 8, he was already in surgery. “Peace in the Lord!” read the e-mail from Rev. Valentine Handwerker, a 63-year-old Catholic priest who lives his life as if every day should end with an exclamation point. “I... Read more
[Click here for the readings.] If I had to name the most inspiring hour of television I’ve seen this past year, it would be no contest: it was Diane Sawyer’s interview earlier this month with Congresswoman Gabby Giffords. To see and hear Gabby Giffords, to see how alive she was after so many had literally declared her dead, was remarkable. But even more remarkable was the 40 minutes that preceded that. Those 40 minutes told the story of how she... Read more
They’ll be making a little bit of history in Scranton, Pennsylvania this weekend (my father’s home diocese, btw), and it’s attracted the attention of the local press: It hasn’t happened locally in six years, didn’t happen at all around here before 1993, and likely won’t happen again until 2016. So what, exactly, is almost as rare as a total Asolar eclipse over the Keystone State? The Diocese of Scranton ordination of permanent deacons, occurring in St. Peter’s Cathedral in Scranton... Read more
At a time when a lot of us are gathering with our families, a new study indicates that a majority of those families are fractured: Only 46 percent of children in the United States will reach age 17 having grown up in a home with biological parents who are married — a figure that has a significant impact on the nation’s graduation, poverty and teenage birth rates, according to a new report, reports Baptist Press. “We have never faced anything... Read more
With some time to kill this weekend, my wife and I decided to pay a nostalgic visit to St. Mary’s in Rockville, Maryland, the chapel where we were married 25 years ago. Afterward, we dropped by the graveyard next door to pay our respects to its most famous residents, Scott and Zelda Fitzgerald. This is what we found: Someone had thoughtfully left behind a well-thumbed copy of “Tender is the Night,” an open bottle of wine, and a partially filled... Read more
From the vault, one of my favorites: I suspect most Catholics don’t know the name Martin Rinkart. But this Lutheran deacon and composer left us a beautiful testament to faith and thanksgiving: he composed the hymn “Now Thank We All Our God.” Some details about his life and times shed new light on this familiar hymn: German pastor Martin Rinkart served in the walled town of Eilenburg during the horrors of the Thirty Years War of 1618-1648. Eilenburg became an... Read more
A lot of us know the story. It was the autumn of 1621. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a rich harvest, the men, women and children who had survived the first year in the New World gathered for a feast to offer thanks. One of the pilgrims wrote at the time: “By the goodness of God, we are so far from want.” What was it like? I did a little Googling and found that the menu for that first Thanksgiving had... Read more
It started with a pocket watch. In 1994, after my mother’s funeral, my sister, an aunt and I spent a few days in my mother’s apartment sorting through her things and dividing up what would go where. We came across a jewelry box, buried in a dresser drawer. I popped it open and inside was a small round object in a velvet bag. I looked inside; it was a silver pocket watch. Inscribed on the back were the initials: “Bro.... Read more
It started with a pocket watch. In 1994, after my mother’s funeral, my sister, an aunt and I spent a few days in my mother’s apartment sorting through her things and dividing up what would go where. We came across a jewelry box, buried in a dresser drawer. I popped it open and inside was a small round object in a velvet bag. I looked inside; it was a silver pocket watch. Inscribed on the back were the initials: “Bro.... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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