Details, from Scotland: It’s hoped a new online documentary will inspire the men of Motherwell to become deacons. At the request of Fr Jim Grant, vocations director for the permanent diaconate in Motherwell Diocese, the Sancta Familia media group, based at his Holy Family Parish in Mossend, produced a promotional video in an attempt to provoke interest. Titled “Ordinary Men, Extraordinary Lives,” the film features interviews with five of Motherwell’s deacons showing them at work or home and showing them fulfilling their... Read more

Details:  A prison spokesman says an Arkansas inmate scheduled to be the fourth executed in a week opted to receive communion instead of a traditional last meal. Arkansas Department of Correction spokesman Solomon Graves says that [Kenneth] Williams received communion from his spiritual adviser. Williams was also served a regular prison meal that included fried chicken, beans, rice, corn, tomatoes, cinnamon rolls, two cookies, four slices of bread and punch. Last week, condemned inmate Ledell Lee also chose to receive... Read more

He has said this before, and he underscored it again today:  The Catholic Church needs laypeople with a missionary spirit, which means Catholics do not have to try to force members into a vocation that is the Holy Spirit’s to give, Pope Francis said. The temptation to impose a vocation on laypeople as some kind of validation of their service in the church “worries me,” the pope said April 27 during a meeting with members of Catholic Action. “What has happened... Read more

The post you are looking for has been removed, as I have had some second thoughts and considered the value of discretion. Pray for all priests. Thanks, Deacon Greg Kandra. Read more

I’ve never seen anything like this. From the Facebook page of Our Lady of the Angels Cathedral in Los Angeles. Lumen Christi!  On steroids! Read more

He’s been a familiar presence on cable television for years, but there’s more to Bob Beckel than his suspenders and his progressive politics. From Aleteia, here’s a look back at a profile of him in 2014, when he was promoting his new memoir: By the early 2000s, Beckel lived a life worthy of a profile in Washingtonian or George magazine. He was rich. He was on television; he was a regular political contributor to CNN. He had many friends, including Cal Thomas, a nationally syndicated Christian conservative.... Read more

Details:  A new Swedish study has shown that women who are taking the contraceptive pill might be putting themselves at risk for decreasing their overall health and well-being. Mood swings, energy level shifts, and a “significantly lower” quality of life were the reported side effects of the contraceptive pill when the three-month study had concluded. “Despite the fact that an estimated 100 million women around the world use contraceptive pills we know surprisingly little today about the pill’s effect on... Read more

Check out this intriguing interview from The TODAY Show, in which she talks about her new film “The Case for Christ,” and her Catholicism. She discussed her faith two years ago in Esquire:  I’m a new Catholic. I love the church; I love Mass. I go every morning at 6:30. When I’m on the right track spiritually and emotionally, things happen in my life. It’s mysterious. Meanwhile, a report from the 1990s noted that at the time she was taking instruction... Read more

Details:  Vice President Mike Pence and key members of President Donald Trump’s Cabinet participate in weekly Bible studies and prayer gatherings led by former NBA basketball player Ralph Drollinger, founder of Capitol Ministries, CBN News reported. Drollinger began arranging the study during the Trump team’s transition from the campaign trial to the White House. The mission of Capitol Ministries, which was founded in 1997, is “to make disciples of Jesus Christ in the political arena throughout the world.” “Our ambitious goal... Read more

Details:  Inside what look like oversized ziplock bags strewn with tubes of blood and fluid, eight fetal lambs continued to develop — much like they would have inside their mothers. Over four weeks, their lungs and brains grew, they sprouted wool, opened their eyes, wriggled around, and learned to swallow, according to a new study that takes the first step toward an artificial womb. One day, this device could help to bring premature human babies to term outside the uterus... Read more