What would Monday be without a Crisis?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Well, here’s one for you: Crisis Magazine. It’s back! The press release says: Crisis Magazine is back as a digital magazine, the Morley Publishing Group, Inc. (MPG) announced today. “The Morley board and staff are thrilled to resurrect a brand that, for 25 years, fought for faithful Catholicism, sound economics, and limited government,” said Laurance Alvarado, chairman of MPG. Founded in 1982 by Ralph McInerny and Michael Novak to respond to the leftward drift of the U.S. bishops, the current... Read more

Fr. Robert Barron on bin Laden's death

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Amid all the clamor and noise, a voice of reason and faith. Check it out. Read more

Oops: parish publishes mass intention for Osama bin Laden

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The parish is saying it was a hoax. Details: Irish church officials have been left red-faced after announcing plans for an Osama bin Laden memorial Mass. Howth parish in Dublin yesterday hastily withdrew an online newsletter advertising plans to dedicate a Mass to the man credited with masterminding the 9/11 attacks on New York’s twin towers. The newsletter had stated the Mass would be held at 10am this Thursday in the Church of the Assumption in memory of “Osama bin... Read more

Boys Town names Hindu as its next chairman

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The legendary organization founded by Fr. Flanagan — or, Spencer Tracy, to people who remember the movie — will make history with a new non-Christian chairman: For the first time in its 94-year history, the board chairman of Omaha-based Boys Town will be a non-Catholic. In fact, the new chairman is also non-Christian — he is Hindu. “I think a ‘first’ is always good in the sense that there might be some stereotypes that people have about Boys Town,” said... Read more

Fr. Pfleger prays with mothers of slain children

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The suspended priest made a brief appearance for a special Mothers Day event in Chicago near his former parish, according to the Chicago Sun-Times: On a bright Sunday morning, children around the city celebrated their mothers while a group of mothers gathered at St. Sabina Church to remember their children lost to violence. For the past three years, the South Side church has been a Mother’s Day refuge for these women on what many call “the hardest day of the... Read more

"Do you know what brings you gladness?"

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

That’s the stirring question at the heart of a recent post by spiritual writer Tony Woodlief, and the point of it seems to echo something that was mentioned at the royal wedding last weekend: “If you become whom God meant you to be, you will set the world on fire.” Doesn’t the world need more heat and light? And gladness? A snip of Woodlief’s essay, which concerns an address he gave to college students: The particular words of (Frederick) Buechner’s... Read more

In the breaking of the bread …

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

One reason I look forward to this Sunday’s gospel reading every year is the opportunity it offers to hear this beautiful hymn. It was sung by our choir at the 11:30 mass this morning. (I’ve heard it in other settings, too — including, last year, as the communion hymn for a wedding.) Here’s a lovely rendering of “In the Breaking of the Bread” by Kitty Cleveland. Read more

Who does what: why the deacon proclaims the gospel

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Last night, I attended the annual convocation for deacons in my diocese. During dinner, one of the deacons — a classmate of mine, in fact — told me about a particular problem he was having with his pastor. “If I’m not preaching,” he said, “he doesn’t want me to read the gospel. He wants the person who is doing the homily to do the gospel. What can I do about that?” Well, as a priest in my parish likes to... Read more

Best wedding video ever?

Last updated on: September 30, 2016 at 5:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

That’s what they’re calling this jaw-dropping production over at Huffington Post. See what you think. Now, when I was married (25 years ago this month!), my uncle brought a gargantuan video camera from New Jersey and surprised us by shooting the whole thing on a big fat beta tape with blurry images and scratchy sound. But to this day, when my wife and I look at the faded copy of a copy we keep on our shelf, it never fails... Read more

Homily for May 8, 2011: 3rd Sunday of Easter

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 5:27 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The writer Amy Welborn lives in Alabama, near Birmingham, and she spent part of this past week volunteering at a call center, helping people whose lives had been turned upside down, literally, by the tornadoes that tore through the region. She wrote about her experience on her blog, and described what people were doing for one another. She said about half the calls were from people seeking help – and the other half, from people seeking ways to help. A... Read more