The Deacon's Bench
Behold, the new commercial for Amazon Prime. I don’t know if most Americans seeing this realize they are hearing a sung Catholic prayer. But here it is. Read more
Behold, the new commercial for Amazon Prime. I don’t know if most Americans seeing this realize they are hearing a sung Catholic prayer. But here it is. Read more
From the Aberdeen News in South Dakota: The Rev. Tom Hartman’s first call was as a father. His second was as a Catholic priest. Hartman’s path to the cloth is one he loosely calls his resurrection story. It’s not a resurrection of mortal death, but the ending of one path and beginning of another he’d always felt called to. He married young. After five years, he and his wife had two children and a change of heart. Hartman speaks about... Read more
Check out this remarkable video testimony from The Miami Herald, which reports on how 300 people are now living in St. Francis de Sales Catholic Church in the Bahamas: Read more
Here’s a unique vocation, via Catholic Anchor, from Father Scott Garrett, who tends to the spiritual needs of his flock by flying a small plane from parish to parish: Although most of these remote villages have fewer than 50 residents, as a priest, there is tremendous satisfaction in unifying people together, converting non-Catholics and administering the sacraments. While celebrating Mass in a home, cannery or community center, there are normally people of many religions on hand. Before taking off I... Read more
Leave it to The New York Times to find a church in Manhattan where belief in God is optional: Observant Presbyterians are always part of gatherings at Rutgers Presbyterian Church. But much of the time, so are Roman Catholics and Jews, as well as a smattering of people who consider themselves vaguely spiritual. Valerie Oltarsh-McCarthy, who sat among the congregation listening to a Sunday sermon on the perils of genetically modified vegetables, is, in fact, an atheist. “It’s something I... Read more
This tweet says it all, from Bishop Robert Coerver of Lubbock, Texas: Been working with Diaconate Formation since 1982; never thought I would be the one ordaining. 18 new Deacons for the Diocese of Lubbock! Does this day have to end? pic.twitter.com/w1T7wuwcQP — Bishop Robert (@BishopLubbock) September 7, 2019 Here’s a class portrait. I’ll add more when I know more. Congratulations, brothers, and welcome! Ad multos annos! Read more
Don’t put your faith in what you can see. Trust, instead, in what you can’t. If we remember one name from the storm this week, it shouldn’t be Dorian. The name we should remember is Brent Lowe. Brent Lowe is a 49-year-old father in the Bahamas. Until a few days ago, he lived in a simple cement house on one of the islands. Then Hurricane Dorian hit. Mr. Lowe soon had company. As homes were demolished, desperate neighbors and relatives... Read more
From The Buffalo News: The pressure is building on Bishop Richard J. Malone, leader of Buffalo’s Catholic Diocese. Over the past 13 months, two of his most trusted confidants — people who worked side-by-side with him for years — have turned against Malone, publicly demanding that he resign from the job he has held since 2012 over his handling of sexual abuse allegations involving priests. In recent months, some local priests and deacons took the extremely rare action of calling... Read more
From Northwest Catholic: Archbishop Paul D. Etienne said he will not live in the 9,000-square-foot mansion on Seattle’s First Hill that many of his predecessors called home. In a letter sent to priests and deacons on September 3 — his first day as leader of the Archdiocese of Seattle — the archbishop wrote, “While the Connolly House has been home to the archbishops since 1920, it will not be home for me.” “I prefer to live a more simplified life,”... Read more
I suspect it is a question a lot of parents are asking these days. From Colleen Duggan in America: Every summer, the Archdiocese of Baltimore, where I reside and attend church, offers a Quo Vadis (“Where are you going?” in Latin) discernment retreat. High school boys gather at a local Catholic college with seminarians, priests and others for fellowship, prayer and guided discussions to help young men explore God’s potential call to the priesthood. The four days are filled with... Read more
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