From CNN:  Rep. Steve Scalise — as well as a congressional staffer and members of the congressional police force — was shot Wednesday morning in Alexandria, Virginia, in what sources are calling an apparent “deliberate attack.” Scalise, a member of the House Republican leadership as the majority whip, appeared to have been shot in the hip and it appeared two Capitol Hill police agents were shot, according to Rep. Mo Brooks, who told CNN he was on deck when the... Read more

The meals are being provided by Caritas Jordan, the Church’s humanitarian agency in the country. Details:   Most of the 657,000 registered Syrian refugees in Jordan are Muslim. That’s why the local Caritas campaign, especially launched for the holy month of Ramadan, aims both  to support those in need and to live the spirit of the month in  mercy and fraternity. This year, the campaign is rooted in Caritas’ aptly named “Mercy Restaurant” which prepares “Iftar” or evening meals for... Read more

Some sad news out of Canada: We are deeply saddened to share with you that Father Trevor Plug, Associate Pastor of St. Alfred Parish, died suddenly this morning while on holiday in British Columbia. Please pray that God will grant him eternal peace and pray also for his family and our Diocesan family and for all who mourn his loss. His ordination made headlines last year: None of Fr. Trevor Plug’s seminary professors is quite willing to say Plug is... Read more

From CNS:  Days after the dramatic testimony of his firing and dealings with U.S. President Donald Trump, former FBI Director James Comey made an appearance at a Catholic church on Holy Trinity Sunday, accompanying his father to Mass at a New Jersey parish. The (Bergen) Record newspaper, via its website www.northjersey.com, released video of Comey and his wife accompanying his father to Guardian Angel Catholic Church in Allendale, a borough of Bergen County in northern New Jersey. …The newspaper story... Read more

It happened last Saturday at the Cathedral Basilica of Sts. Peter and Paul in Philadelphia, as Archbishop Charles Chaput ordained a dozen men to the order of deacon. You can see a full slide show of the event here.  Story story, from Catholic Philly:  In his homily Archbishop Charles Chaput focused not on the designation of Stephen and his companions as the first Christian deacons but on the order of those dedicated to God’s serviced as described in Numbers 3:5-9.... Read more

A great read, from the Rev. Ryan Rojo, S.T.L., in Homiletic & Pastoral Review, who looks at “the liturgical potential of the permanent diaconate in the continued renewal of the Church’s liturgy”—and begins by reminding his readers of the link between deacons and angelic hosts: There were certainly no deacons at the dawn of creation. Does there exist, however, a created order that embodies the diaconate’s three-fold ministry of word, charity, and altar? We read in the Book of Revelation... Read more

The video above from EWTN offers some context. Additional details:  Dozens of Chaldean Christians were arrested by federal immigration officials over the weekend in the Detroit metropolitan area, leaving the local Church community with sadness and frustration. “Yesterday was a very strange and painful day for our community in America,” Bishop Francis Kalabat of the Chaldean Catholic Eparchy of St. Thomas the Apostle of Detroit stated Monday in a Facebook post. “With the many Chaldeans that were awakened by Immigration... Read more

An account of a recent Mass, via The New York Times: The word “pilgrimage” usually evokes visions of far-off, exotic places, but for some 100 gay and lesbian Catholics and their families, a pilgrimage to the Cathedral Basilica of the Sacred Heart here on a recent Sunday was more like a homecoming. The doors to the cathedral were opened to them, and they were welcomed personally by the leader of the Archdiocese of Newark, Cardinal Joseph W. Tobin. They were... Read more

A new survey shows how divided our country has become politically—and it extends to our religious leaders, as well. From The New York Times:  America’s pastors – the men and women a majority of Americans look to for help in finding meaning and purpose in their lives – are even more politically divided than the rest of us, according to a new data set representing the largest compilation of American religious leaders ever assembled. Like their congregants, religious leaders have... Read more

It’s the brainchild of John Tirado, of the Knights of Columbus, in New Jersey. You can watch the report by NET’s Currents above. As a friend pointed out—accurately, I think—something like this would have been unthinkable a decade ago. It shows, perhaps, that we are finally beginning to move beyond the scandals. Read more