This leaped out at me this morning, from today’s Office of Readings. It comes from a sermon by St. Augustine: After the Lord had shown what wicked shepherds esteem, he also spoke about what they neglect. The defects of the sheep are widespread. There are very few healthy and sound sheep, few that are solidly sustained by the food of truth, and few that enjoy the good pasture God gives them. But the wicked shepherds do not spare such sheep.... Read more
Here’s wisdom every one in ministry needs to remember. From Vatican Media: Pope Francis reflected on ordained ministry at Mass on Thursday, saying Jesus offers this gift to deacons, priests, and bishops so they might serve others. The occasion for his remarks was the presence of a group of priests and bishops celebrating their silver jubilee, or 25 years of ordination. The Pope invited everyone to reflect on the day’s first reading (1 Tim 4:12-16), in which St Paul invites... Read more
Here’s a story you don’t see every day, from Sacramento: The 1st District Court of Appeal in San Francisco ruled that a Sacramento-area transgender man can sue Mercy San Juan Medical Center over the last-minute cancellation of his hysterectomy, overturning a lower-court ruling that dismissed the case. Dignity Health, which operates Mercy San Juan, arranged for Evan Minton to have the procedure at Methodist Hospital in south Sacramento within 72 hours of the denial, court records state. The... Read more
This tweet popped up in my feed Wednesday morning, from the good people at Union Theological Seminary in New York. Today in chapel, we confessed to plants. Together, we held our grief, joy, regret, hope, guilt and sorrow in prayer; offering them to the beings who sustain us but whose gift we too often fail to honor. What do you confess to the plants in your life? pic.twitter.com/tEs3Vm8oU4 — Union Seminary (@UnionSeminary) September 17, 2019 Read more
From NPR: The U.S. abortion rate is continuing a long-term downward trend, according to new data released by the Guttmacher Institute on Wednesday. Guttmacher, which supports abortion rights, finds that the overall number of abortions dropped 7% — to 862,320 in 2017, down from 926,200 in 2014, the last time the data were updated. In 2017, the abortion rate — which measures how common abortion is among women of childbearing age — dropped to 13.5 abortions per 1,000 women ages 15 to 44,... Read more
“These are hurtful attacks against the image of Mary and the parish.” The press release: The Diocese of Brooklyn is announcing they are working with the New York City Police Department in response to two acts of vandalism, which occurred this past week, on the property at St. Gerard Majella in the Hollis section of Queens. This past Sunday evening, a woman broke into the parking lot and caused significant damage to the Rosary Stations which were crafted in Italy,... Read more
“She was a devout Catholic, and those of us who worked with her on some of those stories know how important her faith was to her, how much she lived it. She was somebody who walked the walk of the Gospels. One of the things you’ve heard a lot is how kind she was to everyone. I went through a hard time in my own life — my own faith life — and I will never forget how Cokie was... Read more
Another broadcasting legend is gone: Veteran journalist Cokie Roberts, who joined an upstart NPR in 1978 and left an indelible imprint on the growing network with her coverage of Washington politics before later going to ABC News, has died. She was 75. Roberts died Tuesday due to complications from breast cancer, according to a family statement. A bestselling author and Emmy Award winner, Roberts was one of NPR’s most recognizable voices and is considered one of a handful of pioneering... Read more
From CNS: The Catholic Church in the United States has spent a staggering amount of money — close to $4 billion in the past 20 years — to investigate, adjudicate and prevent clergy sex abuse, and to compensate victims for the harm they’ve suffered. And as those expenses have prompted dioceses to lay off staff, sell property and liquidate some assets, there is growing evidence that more Catholics across the country are deciding not to contribute to their bishops’ diocesan... Read more
From Reuters: Lawyers for former Vatican treasurer Cardinal George Pell on Tuesday filed an appeal to Australia’s High Court in a final bid to overturn his conviction for sexually abusing two 13-year-old choir boys, the High Court said. Pell is seeking leave to appeal the state of Victoria’s Court of Appeal ruling which upheld his conviction on five charges of abusing the boys at St Patrick’s Cathedral in the late 1990s when he was archbishop of Melbourne. By a 2-1... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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