Fr. Dwight Longenecker offers some timeless — and timely — advice: Where shall we find a holy person? Where shall we find a saint? It is difficult because the real saint is hidden and humble and holy. Instead of looking for the hidden holy ones we fall for the celebrity ‘saint’. We want the big dramatic conversion story. We want the dynamic, uncompromising speaker. We like the one who speaks out on sin and rails against the devil… …Stop and... Read more
From their website: From: Rev. Gerard Sheehan, SOLT Regional Priest Servant Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity Robstown, Texas Fr. John A. Corapi submitted his resignation from the Society of Our Lady of the Most Holy Trinity (“SOLT”) early in June. SOLT is a Society of Apostolic Life of Diocesan Right with its regional office in Robstown, Texas. While SOLT does not typically comment publicly on personnel matters, it recognizes that Fr. John Corapi, through his ministry,... Read more
And the branches are harder to discern. Below, cousins who are also, biologically, half-siblings. The New York Times looks at some strange and disturbing trends: Laura Ashmore and Jennifer Williams are sisters. After that, their relationship becomes more complex. When Ms. Ashmore and her husband, Lee, learned a few years ago that they could not conceive a child, Ms. Williams stepped in and offered to become pregnant with a donor’s sperm on behalf of the couple, and give birth to... Read more
From the poetic pen of Fr. Austin Fleming… If I don’t believe in summer, Lord, how will I believe in you or in heaven where summer’s joy surely never ends, where summer’s timeless stillness calms with peace all other seasons’ grief? I offer you these months, my heart’s July and August days: come summer with me, Lord; summer deep down in my soul; restore my faith in summer’s time, in rest, in joy, in play, in you… Summer in my... Read more
Looking for a swanky dock for your smartphone? Look no further. The LA Times spotlighted retro iPhone holders recently. There’s a whole line of these docks designed by Scott Freeland, for sale at this link. And that’ s just for starters. Check out this unusual gallery. Read more
That’s the theme of a unique fundraising campaign underway in Sioux City, Iowa. Details, from CNS: Father David Hemann is putting the profits from sales of a CD he recorded — his seventh – toward construction costs of his parish’s new church. He even has a slogan: “Buy a CD, build a church.” The new church is for Sacred Heart in Ida Grove; he also is pastor of Our Lady of Good Counsel in Holstein and St. Martin Church in Odeboldt. Sacred Heart has about... Read more
It may not be quite as far-fetched as it sounds. Just take a look at this attention-grabbing lead from Reuters: If Aubrey de Grey’s predictions are right, the first person who will live to see their 150th birthday has already been born. And the first person to live for 1,000 years could be less than 20 years younger. A biomedical gerontologist and chief scientist of a foundation dedicated to longevity research, de Grey reckons that within his own lifetime doctors... Read more
It was just a little crowded in the Magic Kingdom. (Don’t believe me? Click to enlarge. If memory serves, that shot was taken about 90 minutes before the fireworks.) But was it worth it? You bet. One of my happiest 4th of July memories, ever. Happy Independence Day, one and all. Have a blast! Read more
That comes from Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, seen below, from the Congregation for Evangelization. Details: The Catholic Church in Africa has been urged to support and promote women and encourage their participation in decision making. While addressing hundreds of delegates from Eastern Africa (AMECEA) during the 17th plenary assembly in Nairobi, Archbishop Savio Hon Tai Fai, the secretary of the Congregation for Evangelization also stressed the ever increasing role of the lay faithful in evangelization. “Given that between 70%... Read more
“Institutions tend to be strongest when they make significant moral demands, and weaker when they pre-emptively accommodate themselves to human nature.” — New York Times columnist Ross Douthat Read his column on gay marriage for the rest. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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