Bishop on deacons: ‘Let’s lift up this vocation, let’s emphasize its role’

Last updated on: March 15, 2018 at 5:56 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Arlington’s Bishop Michael Burbidge had some warm words about deacons in The Catholic Herald, which is running a series this year on the 50th anniversary of the restoration of the permanent diaconate: Fifty years ago, the Catholic Church reinstituted the permanent diaconate, and the men of the Diocese of Arlington have responded generously to the call. “We have a significant number of men stepping forward saying they want to be deacons. Recruitment, with God’s grace, is taking really good care... Read more

Larry Kudlow: from cocaine abuse to Catholic convert to CNBC to Donald Trump’s White House

Last updated on: March 14, 2018 at 3:22 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The New York Times: President Trump is expected to name Larry Kudlow, a CNBC television commentator who has served as an informal adviser to him, as director of the National Economic Council, according to three people familiar with the decision. Mr. Kudlow would become Mr. Trump’s top economic adviser, replacing Gary D. Cohn, who said he would resign after losing a battle over the president’s longstanding desire to impose large tariffs on steel and aluminum imports. Mr. Kudlow, in... Read more

Media FAIL: Vatican admits it doctored photo of letter from Benedict — UPDATED

Last updated on: March 15, 2018 at 4:30 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From AP: The Vatican admitted that it altered a photo sent to the media of a letter from retired Pope Benedict XVI about Pope Francis. The manipulation changed the meaning of the image in a way that violated photojournalist industry standards. The Vatican’s communications office released the photo of the letter on Monday on the eve of Francis’ five-year anniversary. The letter was cited by Monsignor Dario Vigano, chief of communications, to rebut critics of Francis who question his theological... Read more

Conor Lamb’s deacon connection—UPDATED

Last updated on: March 14, 2018 at 12:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The man who has been dominating the political headlines for the last 24 hours—and is close to winning the congressional seat in Pennsylvania—is Catholic: A Catholic, Lamb attended St. Bernard School in Mt. Lebanon, graduated from Central Catholic High School (Pittsburgh) in 2002. He graduated from the University of Pennsylvania in 2006 with a B.A. degree in political science, and earned a J.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School in 2009. But that’s not all: In 2013–14, Lamb... Read more

WATCH: Joy Behar apologizes to Mike Pence on ‘The View’

Last updated on: March 13, 2018 at 4:32 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

It happened this morning. You may remember this controversy from a few days back, when she compared his Christian faith to a mental illness. Check out her comments on this today below. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9UlLa9f3jXA Read more

What happened when a suburban parish introduced Gregorian chant?

Last updated on: March 13, 2018 at 3:08 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

You might be surprised. St. John the Beloved Catholic Church in Virginia started immersing the parish in chant several years ago — and now they’re even teaching the children how to sing it. How’d they do it? Check out this video from CNS’s Chaz Muth, part of their series in Gregorian chant. Read more

Mike Pompeo: ‘Jesus Christ our savior is truly the only solution for our world’

Last updated on: March 13, 2018 at 11:04 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

So, who is Mike Pompeo? It turns out, the man tapped to replace Secretary of State Rex Tillerson has some strong opinions about Christianity, as Michael Stone wrote in Patheos a couple years ago: Pompeo goes so far as to endorse the notion of a “Holy War” between Christians and Muslims. Speaking at a church group in Wichita, Kansas, in 2014, Pompeo claimed that Christianity was the “only solution” to combat terrorism, arguing that the greatest “threat to America” is... Read more

The year is young, but this just might be my favorite story so far

Last updated on: March 12, 2018 at 3:30 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This is awesome: An act of kindness has reaped a huge reward for one Texas teen. Evoni Williams, who works in a La Marque, Texas, Waffle House to save money for college, was photographed by a diner as she helped a 78-year-old man cut his food into small, chewable pieces during her shift. The observant diner, Laura Wolf, went on to post the photo on Facebook, where it fetched thousands of likes and comments praising Williams’s caring nature. The public... Read more

The challenge of being the pastor’s wife

Last updated on: March 12, 2018 at 2:41 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Deacon Norb Wethington sent this my way with a note: “Says something to the wives of RC deacons, as well, don’t ya think?” You decide: Everyone who walks in the church door can be helped or hurt in what happens during the next hour. Whether saint or sinner, preacher or pew-sitter, oldtimer or newcomer, child or geezer, everyone is vulnerable and should be treated respectfully, faithfully, carefully. No one in the church family is more vulnerable than the pastor’s wife.... Read more

Training priests to become pastors—and CEOs

Last updated on: March 12, 2018 at 12:01 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The St. Louis Post-Dispatch: Future Catholic priests spend years studying theology in seminary. But what they don’t learn there is how to actually run a parish. It’s easy to forget that parishes are not just communities of worship. They also have a business component, sometimes with multi-million dollar budgets. The pastor, the parish’s head priest, is essentially the chief executive officer. Alongside the parish finance council, a pastor is in charge of managing parish and school staffs, up to... Read more