A deacon who was seriously injured during last year’s Easter Vigil is marking another Easter, and giving thanks for his recovery. Details: As he waited for the Good Friday Mass to begin at Immaculate Conception Catholic Church, Deacon Joseph Hieu Vinh took one more look at his watch. Church members entered the evening service and greeted him as they took their seats. “I’m pretty much back to normal and serving the church,” Vinh said during an interview earlier in the... Read more
That could be the title of a revealing memoir by Gaby Rodriguez (with a nod to the classic “Black Like Me“), recounting her experiences as a pregnant teen — who, it turns out, wasn’t really pregnant after all. Details: After surviving six months of high school with a steadily growing baby bump, Gaby Rodriguez finally delivered the big news: She was never really pregnant. The straight-A student instead faked the whole thing as part of her senior project on “Stereotypes,... Read more
This tells you all you need to know about modern liturgy. One of the members of my parish choir recently moved to Florida, and was looking for a job as a leader of song at a parish down there. She’s accustomed to singing, regularly, things like “Ave Verum,” “Panis Angelicus,” “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring.” Along with the usual seasonal chestnuts like “Once in Royal David’s City” and “Aurora Coelum Purpurat” and “Pange Lingua Gloriosi”. You know. Stuff like that.... Read more
That was how a priest at my parish opened mass this morning, and we all knew exactly what he meant. This is what it looked like from the front door of the church at 1:15, Easter Sunday: Standing room only at all the masses, lots of unfamiliar faces, a few colorful hats. A couple people who had been baptized the night before came again on Sunday, which always touches me. They just can’t stay away. The altar servers have developed... Read more
Doesn’t that deserve a little “Hallelujah”? I think so. Read more
A drizzly, miserable spring morning here in New York. Sloshed through puddles to the church for 9:30 coffee and bagels with the RCIA crew, followed by rehearsal for the Easter Vigil. I got to meet The Candle and try it out for size. It’s big. Really really big. One of the priests walked everyone through everything — offering bits of catechesis here and there about the ritual and what it all means. With the DRE and the MC, they somehow... Read more
Several years ago, the PBS series “American Masters” decided to profile a true American master, Don Hewitt, the creator and executive producer of 60 MINUTES. And the reporter asked him, what is the secret of the show’s success? How has it endured for four decades as one of the top rated shows in America? And Don replied: “It’s very simple. It comes down to four little words. Four words that every child knows: ‘Tell me a story.’” I think he... Read more
Several years ago, the PBS series “American Masters” decided to profile a true American master, Don Hewitt, the creator and executive producer of 60 MINUTES. And the reporter asked him, what is the secret of the show’s success? How has it endured for four decades as one of the top rated shows in America? And Don replied: “It’s very simple. It comes down to four little words. Four words that every child knows: ‘Tell me a story.’” I think he... Read more
It was busy. “Mary’s Way of the Cross” at 1 pm, led by me and my wife and accompanied by about 15 altar servers; incredibly, we had a packed church, close to a thousand people. Then, the liturgy commemorating the Lord’s Passion at 3, and again at 7:30. The 7:30 liturgy included a spellbinding performance of DuBois’ oratorio “The Seven Last Words.” The choir was, in a word, stunning. Both liturgies included the Veneration of the Cross, and again, the... Read more
This is one to watch again and again, every Good Friday: the last nine minutes of “The Passion of the Christ.” Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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