The Deacon's Bench
That’s how the ingenious Theo Jansen describes the experience of creating these incredible walking “Strandbeests,” powered purely by air and his own imagination. Just watch. Read more
That’s how the ingenious Theo Jansen describes the experience of creating these incredible walking “Strandbeests,” powered purely by air and his own imagination. Just watch. Read more
It finally happened. Details: The Rev. Mark Lewis awoke early on the last morning of his life as an Anglican priest and dressed in a suit and tie instead of his usual priestly regalia. That’s different, he thought, for the first of many times on a day when so much was different for St. Luke’s, the small Episcopal church in Maryland where Lewis had been rector since 2006. On Sunday — with Lewis wearing lay clothing and sitting with St.... Read more
Weeks after Phoenix moved to restrict use of the Precious Blood during Mass, it now appears that Madison, Wisconsin is moving in the same direction. Fr. Z. broke the news: On the site of the parish of the Cathedral of Madison in Wisconsin, where His Excellency Most Rev. Robert Morlino is, by the grace of God, the ordinary, there is a pdf of the parish bulletin in which it is explained that they are ending regular distribution of Holy Communion... Read more
Some sobering food for thought on a Sunday night, courtesy Religion News Service and the Barna Group: Why do young Christians leave the church? New research by the Barna Group finds they view churches as judgmental, overprotective, exclusive and unfriendly towards doubters. They also consider congregations antagonistic to science and say their Christian experience has been shallow. The findings, the result of a five-year study, are featured in “You Lost Me: Why Young Christians are Leaving Church and Rethinking Faith,”... Read more
In Cairo, clashes between Christians and military police have taken a deadly turn. From Reuters: Nineteen people were killed in Cairo on Sunday when Christians, some carrying crosses and pictures of Jesus, clashed with military police, medical and security sources said, in the latest sectarian flare-up in a country in political turmoil. Christians protesting against an attack on a church threw rocks and petrol bombs and set cars on fire, as thick smoke wafted through the streets in some of... Read more
Spotted on a friend’s Facebook page: Read more
How’d that happen? Some answers: Encouraged by a proactive vocations office and a supportive bishop, the Roman Catholic Diocese of Scranton’s class of men studying to be priests has doubled in the last two years to 17 seminarians. The diocese last had as many seminarians in 2004, when 20 men were studying for the priesthood. The welcome increase comes after the number of seminarians dropped to single digits in 2008 and 2009 and at a time when more than a... Read more
It happened last month, and is featured in this week’s Florida Catholic: Between them, they have 14 children and represent parishes from around the diocese. Their backgrounds and careers are all different: among them a doctor, dental professional, several businessmen and a computer engineer. Their paths crossed for more than five years here in the diocese. They became good friends, and immediately each man’s life changed. The seven began journeying on a path that led them to the same altar... Read more
It happened last month, and is featured in this week’s Florida Catholic: Between them, they have 14 children and represent parishes from around the diocese. Their backgrounds and careers are all different: among them a doctor, dental professional, several businessmen and a computer engineer. Their paths crossed for more than five years here in the diocese. They became good friends, and immediately each man’s life changed. The seven began journeying on a path that led them to the same altar... Read more
This past Wednesday, the world lost a giant. But I don’t mean Steve Jobs. In all the news coverage given to his passing, all the accolades about his life, much of the media overlooked another life that didn’t get as much attention. But I want to give it that attention this morning. I’m speaking of Rev. Fred Shuttlesworth. No, he was not a household name. Unlike Steve Jobs, he was not a billionaire who graced the covers of magazines or... Read more
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