I received an email this afternoon from a graduate student at Purdue University by the name of Jenni Sigler. She’s working on a dissertation on preaching and asked me to reach out to my readers for help. It sounds like a worthwhile idea. For now, she’s focusing just on diocesan priests (who do most of the preaching every week anyway). Here’s her pitch: Hello, Father! My name is Jenni Sigler and I’m a doctoral candidate in communication at Purdue University.... Read more
He died today of pneumonia at the age of 80. Many will remember him as the bitterly unhappy and neurotic patient Carlin on “The Bob Newhart Show” in the 1970s, but a decade later he made a hilarious cameo in “Newhart”: His biography on Wikipedia notes: Riley was born in Cleveland, Ohio, the son of Agnes C. (née Corrigan) and John A. Riley.[2] After attending Saint Ignatius High School and John Carroll University, he served in the United States Army.... Read more
This is just wonderful: Go to NBCOlympics.com and you’ll find a video titled “Fiji rugby players sing after winning gold.” The full caption accompanying the video reads, “The Fiji men’s rugby team sang in celebration after winning the gold medal.” Oh, NBC, it was much more. They sang alright. They sang like David sang. This was the first Olympic gold medal Fiji has won in that nation’s entire history, and the Fiji rugby 7 were singing about the King. It’s... Read more
If you’ve been watching the Olympics down in Rio this year, and the endless television coverage on NBC, you may have caught some of the gymnastics competition. A highlight is the balance beam. I know you’ll find this hard to believe, but I am not a champion gymnast. So I had to look up some of the background on the balance beam. The rules are pretty strict. A beam routine must consist of two dance elements, one a leap, jump... Read more
This item in The Boston Pilot caught my eye this morning: Six candidates for Ordination to the Permanent Diaconate and their wives participated in the Ceremony of Sacred Profession of Faith and Oath of Fidelity on Aug. 9 at the Bethany Chapel at the Pastoral Center in Braintree. This ceremony is the final step for these six deacon candidates before they receive the Sacrament of Holy Orders on Oct. 15 at the Cathedral of the Holy Cross. The men are... Read more
From CNN: For years, the Jabara family says, their Tulsa neighbor terrorized them. He called them names — “dirty Arabs,” “filthy Lebanese,” they said. He hurled racial epithets at those who came to work on their lawns, they alleged. He ran Haifa Jabara over with his car and went to court for it. And it all came to a head last week when the man, Stanley Vernon Majors, walked up to the front steps of the family home and shot... Read more
From India: The head of the Syro-Malabar Church Cardinal George Alencherry has appealed to the faithful to put curbs on church festivities, to reduce noise and pomp, and turn feasts into occasions of simplicity and kindness. The Cardinal said it was time traditional festivals were given a makeover. The faithful are unable to pray in peace and tranquillity amid firecrackers and loudspeaker announcements during festival days, the Cardinal said in a statement issued to the press here on Aug 17.... Read more
Deacons at work in Santa Clarita, California: Every Sunday in July, Deacon Jay Reiser greeted Our Lady of Perpetual Help parishioners after Sunday services and collected donations for the Santa Clarita Valley Food Pantry. Hundreds of churchgoers participated, stopping to chat with Reiser and offer canned and boxed foods. Each week Reiser called on parishioners to donate a different type of item. One weekend it was boxed macaroni and cheese, jars of peanut butter, another canned meats. One weekend featured... Read more
From the online magazine Verily, a bracing and candid bit of counter-culture witness from Claire McArthur: You don’t realize how much people talk about sex unless you’re not having it. Seriously, I should know; from the age of around 15, when my peers started having sex, to the age of 25, when I got married, I got used to being the only person in the room who was deliberately abstaining from sex. …Consistently, the hardest thing about not having sex... Read more
Details: A Catholic school in Arkansas is getting a lot of attention online after posting a sign to parents about forgotten items on its Facebook page. The Catholic High School for Boys in Little Rock, Arkansas posted a photo of the sign that reads “If you are dropping off your son’s forgotten lunch, books, homework, equipment, etc., please TURN AROUND and exit the building. Your son will learn to problem-solve in your absence.” Since being posted on Aug. 10, the post... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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