‘God is a tourist attraction’?

Last updated on: August 23, 2019 at 11:18 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Now for something completely different, from our Anglican siblings: A controversial amusement park ride erected in Norwich Cathedral has come down after an 11-day installation. Rt. Revd. Johnathan Meyrick, the Anglican bishop of Lynn, delivered a sermon midway down the helter-skelter slide during the final liturgy held in the cathedral with the ride present. “God is a tourist attraction,” Meyrick said, claiming that God would be “revelling” in the joy it brought to visitors. During the time the helter-skelter was... Read more

Why aren’t more Catholics having church weddings? Maybe because of things like this.

Last updated on: August 22, 2019 at 8:51 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

A lot of clergy will tell you that Catholics aren’t receiving the sacraments like they used to. Baptisms and weddings, in particular, are down. Why? Well, if you want an understanding of why more Catholics don’t want to get married in church, read this from my friend Gerard Nadal, who posted this rant on Facebook: In discussing our wedding 27 years ago, tomorrow, Regina and I looked at what the Church of St. Vincent Ferrer in NYC was charging these... Read more

From hardwood to homilies: former NBA ref becomes a deacon

Last updated on: August 21, 2019 at 7:28 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Philadelphia Inquirer: The stirring anthem ended and those in the large Saturday night crowd, some clutching programs, took their seats. Steve Javie, a top-tier NBA referee for 25 seasons, moved into position and got ready once again to interpret the rules. But this was Mass at St. Andrew’s Roman Catholic Church in Newtown (Bucks County), not a basketball arena. Javie was wearing a green chasuble and white cassock, not the NBA’s two-tone officiating uniform. And the rules he... Read more

When a monk dies: ‘Life is a grand, sacred narrative’

Last updated on: August 21, 2019 at 1:20 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

My friend Father James Stephen Behrens, OCSO — known to many as “Jeff” — entered eternal life last Thursday. You can read more about him here. I’m unable to attend the funeral in Conyers, Georgia on Wednesday, but Jeff is very much on my mind and in my heart these days. His name has been on our lips as my wife and I prayed together in the mornings and evenings. The loss is palpable. In the long and winding story... Read more

BREAKING: Cardinal Pell loses appeal, will remain in prison

Last updated on: August 20, 2019 at 9:58 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

You can view the decision and reaction from Australian TV here: From CNN: Former Vatican treasurer George Pell will remain in prison after an Australian appeals court rejected the disgraced cardinal’s appeal against his conviction for sexually assaulting two 13-year-old choirboys in the mid-1990s. The most senior Catholic official to be convicted of child sexual assault, Pell was sentenced in March to six years in prison, with a non-parole period of three years and eight months, for an attack described... Read more

Gone: Pastor says half of his parishioners were seized in ICE raids

Last updated on: August 20, 2019 at 11:19 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

The video below, from a recent Mass, shows some of the emotion involved at the Mississippi communities impacted by the raids. Details: First, the Rev. Roberto Mena called forward a couple celebrating 23 years of marriage. He blessed them and the congregation applauded. Next up were two nuns, marking more than two decades in the Catholic Church. Mena then turned his attention to the immigration raids. When agents flooded seven Mississippi food processing plants on Aug. 7 — including two facilities in nearby Morton — dozens of Mena’s parishioners were... Read more

‘A day of reckoning’: Planned Parenthood withdraws from Title X

Last updated on: August 19, 2019 at 6:44 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From NPR: Planned Parenthood is leaving the federal Title X family planning program rather than comply with new Trump administration rules regarding abortion counseling. The new rules, issued by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services earlier this year, prohibit Title X grantees from providing or referring patients for abortion, except in cases of rape, incest or medical emergency. “The Trump administration has forced Planned Parenthood grantees out of Title X,” said Alexis McGill Johnson, Planned Parenthood’s acting president,... Read more

‘It’s a grace’: As Hispanic population grows in Missouri, deacons step in

Last updated on: August 18, 2019 at 10:16 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

I got an email this morning from Jefferson City’s Bishop Shawn McKnight with this piece of news, via the local News Tribune: The makeup of the Diocese of Jefferson City has shifted over the past 10 years, Bishop W. Shawn McKnight reported to the Vatican earlier this summer. The diocese he presides over is a mix of urban and rural areas, mostly made up of rural communities. And, while the area’s population slightly increased, he stated in his “ad limina” report,... Read more

Resurrection: Church damaged by ISIS rededicated in Iraq

Last updated on: August 17, 2019 at 4:02 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

This is wonderful: An Iraqi church damaged and defaced by the Islamic State in 2014 was rededicated Thursday for the parish’s celebration of the Feast of the Assumption of Mary. The Syriac Catholic Church of Mar Behnam and Mart Sarah in the Iraqi city of Qaraqosh welcomed Archbishop Petros Mouche of Mosul, priests, and the local Catholic community to celebrate the solemnity. Archbishop Mouche rededicated the church’s altar, which had been burned by the Islamic State. After renonvations and rebuilding,... Read more

Philadelphia deacon, wife honored by Pope Francis

Last updated on: August 17, 2019 at 3:16 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From CatholicPhilly.com: Forty Catholics in the Archdiocese of Philadelphia have been honored by Pope Francis for their dedication and exceptional service to the church, the archdiocese announced Aug. 16. The honors will be conferred by Archbishop Charles Chaput during a ceremony with Evening Prayer Sept. 5 at the Cathedral Basilica of SS. Peter and Paul, Philadelphia. The awardees, who include lay individuals, couples, a religious sister and a permanent deacon, will receive their honors among five award categories. Among the... Read more