Details:  A televangelist who encourages her followers to get closer to God by sending money to her has been invited to Donald Trump’s inauguration. Paula White spent much of the 2016 presidential campaign convincing evangelicals to vote for Trump, assuring them that he “accepts Jesus as his Lord and savior,” she told Politico. Now she’ll be praying with Trump at his inauguration. But the popular pastor, who Trump originally became smitten with after seeing her preach on television, has some... Read more

This strikes me as a very good idea:  In response to divisions that emerged from the presidential campaign and in support of healing and hope for the country, Bishop Gerald Barnes is asking parishes of the Diocese to participate in a one-day fast during the final 18 days leading up to the inauguration of Donald Trump as the 45th President of the United States. “It is meant as a show of support for our country,” Bishop Barnes said. “It’s a... Read more

From CNS:  When it comes to walking in the shoes of the people one serves, Deacon Jesus Herrera has been doing that since he was a child. After his mother died, young Jesus lived with relatives in poverty in Mexico. In eighth-grade he quit school to work and moved to New Mexico, where he became a U.S. citizen. These early years of suffering and sacrifice shaped his Catholic faith and led him to devote his life to serving others. In... Read more

Who could forget this moment from the 1966 musical “The Singing Nun,” loosely adapted from the true life story of Sister Jeanine Deckers? Deckers’ chart-topping hit “Dominique” was translated into English and sung by Reynolds in the movie—losing, I think, some of its charm in the process. But hot on the heels of “The Sound of Music,” (released the year before) this movie about a sister who sings helped catapult the notion of plucky Catholic nuns into the popular imagination. (“The... Read more

I’m late getting to this…but a few people have asked me if I had a text for the invocation I delivered Christmas Eve at the 102nd annual Christmas Celebration in Forest Hills, New York. Here it is. I adapted it from the “Blessing for a Christmas Tree” from the “Book of Blessings.” Merry Christmas! [img attachment=”131970″ align=”aligncenter” size=”full” alt=”img_0586″ /] INVOCATION Let us pray on this wondrous night that God’s blessings will be bestowed on all who gather here. Ever-living God,... Read more

Details from the Washington Post: Six prominent clergy members — including a Catholic cardinal, black and Hispanic Protestant leaders and a rabbi — will pray at Donald Trump’s inauguration. The inaugural committee told The Post on Wednesday that Cardinal Timothy Dolan, the Rev. Franklin Graham, Rabbi Marvin Hier, Bishop Wayne T. Jackson, the Rev. Samuel Rodriguez and Pastor Paula White will all give readings at the ceremony. Read more. And there’s this:  Tom Barrack, the Presidential Inaugural Committee chairman, said... Read more

Awesome: Bishop Pedro Torres and Marcello Rabbi Polakoff showed that there really is no “us” and “them.” They went together to the studio and recorded the song in Argentina. You have to see this for yourself. Watch below. https://www.facebook.com/WorldJewishCong/videos/10154823689079805/ Read more

As  the world mourns the loss of the actress who created one of the iconic characters of her generation, some of us remember a moment in her career when a young Carrie Fisher played the role of a nun on Broadway. The play was John Pielmeier’s three-person mystery “Agnes of God,” and Fisher took over the role of the young cloistered nun who has inexplicably given birth—a part created on stage by Amanda Plummer.  (In an interesting piece of synchronicity, Fisher and... Read more

From St. Louis:  In the beginning God created the Heaven and the Earth. Then there was Light. And Water. Oh heavenly water that pooled and cooled into a giant oval sheet of ice at Steinberg Skating Rink in Forest Park. For the Rev. Canon Jean-Baptiste Commins of St. Francis de Sales Oratory of St. Louis, the ice was good. So very good that on a crowded Saturday evening in early December after intently lacing up his Bauer hockey skates beneath... Read more