That’s the happy headline from the website for St. Luke’s Episcopal Parish in Bladensburg, Maryland (not far from where I grew up, actually). The website notes: It is with great joy St. Luke’s announces its intention to join the Personal Ordinariate of the Roman Catholic Church. We have been discerning the leading of the Holy Spirit since the Holy Father’s announcement of Anglicanorum coetibus in October of 2009. Since that time we have been in close dialogue with both the... Read more
A priest bounded into my cubicle this morning with his iPad. “You have to see this,” he said breathlessly. He’d downloaded this app, and was almost giddy with excitement. Could we do something like this with the magazine?, he wondered. As he flipped through the pages and fingered the pictures and expanded and compressed graphs, the reality — and tantalizing possibility — of what I was watching became clear. It’s awesome. Something like this may be in our future —... Read more
Ad multos annos, y’all! Details: The new deacons underwent an extensive application and interview process, psychological evaluations and screenings before beginning classes in January 2007. Four and a half years later, they will bring the number of deacons to 53 in the Catholic Diocese of Amarillo. “There are multiple requirements each man must meet before his ordination,” said Deacon Blaine Westlake, coordinator of the diaconate for the diocese. “The initial discernment period lasts about five months and after that, they... Read more
Ad multos annos, y’all! Details: The new deacons underwent an extensive application and interview process, psychological evaluations and screenings before beginning classes in January 2007. Four and a half years later, they will bring the number of deacons to 53 in the Catholic Diocese of Amarillo. “There are multiple requirements each man must meet before his ordination,” said Deacon Blaine Westlake, coordinator of the diaconate for the diocese. “The initial discernment period lasts about five months and after that, they... Read more
They were ordained Saturday. Details, from the Catholic Courier: As four new permanent deacons in the diocese of Rochester sat down before a round of applause for them had ended, Bishop Matthew H. Clark joked that they lived out Jesus’ words a little too well. “You really should never sit down before the applause is complete,” Bishop Clark said. “You are taking this Gospel too seriously.” Humility is one of the qualities evident in Deacons Eric Bessette, Donald Eggleston, John... Read more
Several months ago, I posted an item on this man’s unusual journey to the priesthood. Now, his journey is complete. He was ordained with two other men this weekend: A Protestant convert to Catholicism has become the first married priest in the Diocese of Sacramento. He was among three men ordained by Bishop Jaime Soto on Saturday, June 4, at the Cathedral of the Blessed Sacrament. Jeff Henry – now Fr. Jeff Henry – is a 51-year-old former Lutheran pastor... Read more
That’s one way of describing what is now happening in Indiana. Details: A looming showdown over Indiana’s new law that cuts funding for the Planned Parenthood organization may test how far Republican-led states are willing to go in pressing their tough new anti-abortion agendas. The stakes are high. The future of health care for more than 1 million poor and elderly Indiana residents hangs in the balance. Indiana became the first state this year to cut off all government funds... Read more
Why aren’t there more like them? A Dubuque newspaper looks for some answers: Thousands of tri-state area Catholic families are only a couple of generations removed from daily Mass, nightly family rosaries and schools staffed by religious sisters. It was from that heavily religious milieu that hundreds of priests, brothers and sisters, often from the same family, found their calling. Sisters and siblings Margaret and Mary Ellen Zimmermann answered the same inner call at different times. They were the youngest... Read more
It’s amazing what these little marvels can do now. This morning, while biding my time in the rectory between baptism intakes, I took the shot this below with my Android EVA Smartphone from Sprint. It’s a figurine on a top shelf in the rectory office. You can click on the image to enlarge. How’d I do that? I used a free app called Little Photo, which adds all sorts of nifty effects to phone camera shots. But that’s nothing. Check... Read more
Not long ago, I posted an item about my experience riding the new and improved “Star Tours” at Disney World. On the west coast, someone else was eager to try it at Disneyland. Watch what happened. It’s a hoot. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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