NYC board reportedly to vote on removing “St. Patrick” from annual parade

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 4:29 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

[getty src=”466628690?et=rhVYyx03QrBcZaJKWH6iwA&viewMoreLink=off&sig=PFHkrIIM0OA2UZ3cLtkYKYo6cViJAhrRY4a31uEfFOk=&caption=true” width=”594″ height=”396″] View image | gettyimages.com The late Cardinal John O’Connor must be turning over in his crypt. The scoop: [Parade board director] John Lahey has called a meeting of the parade’s board of directors for Thursday, October 29, the purpose of which is a vote on several proposed changes to the organization’s bylaws. According to the meeting’s published agenda, committee members will decide whether to remove the section that states, “The Parade will be held in honor of St... Read more

Bishop to deacons: “I want you to be a witness in your parish”

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 4:21 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From The Trenton Monitor: Coming together as a brotherhood, deacons of the Diocese of Trenton were challenged by Bishop David M. O’Connell, C.M., to live up to the summons issued by Pope Francis on his recent trip to the United States. “When the Pope met with us, he told us to focus our energies on two things – prayer and preaching,” said the Bishop. “So he laid it out there for us, our agenda. “I want you to receive, to... Read more

John Boehner on the power of the Holy Spirit

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 4:13 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

This is something exceptional: the departing Speaker of the House, discussing candidly his Catholic faith and how it led to his decision to resign. Read more

Dear CNBC…huh?

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 4:03 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Dear CNBC: Things looked so promising Tuesday, didn’t they? Remember this headline from The New York Times?: CNBC May be the Big Winner of the Next Republican Debate Remember this excited quote from Becky Quick?: “Fantastic!” she said. “This is our time.” But 48 hours later, this is what the world—even in the left-leaning media—is saying: CNBC’s Really Bad Debate Night (Washington Post) Debate coach: CNBC’s atrocious debate (CNN) The biggest loser? The media (The Boston Globe) CNBC was the biggest loser... Read more

The pope will have the last word: Francis to write document following Synod

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 3:52 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: The Vatican’s second most powerful figure said Wednesday that Pope Francis will pen a document following the recently concluded Synod of Bishops on the family, something that until now no Vatican official had confirmed. Speaking to the ANSA news agency, Italian Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, said the pontiff will write an apostolic exhortation on the family in the upcoming months. “[When] I don’t know, but I don’t think it will take too long,” ANSA quotes Parolin... Read more

NYC board reportedly to vote on removing “St. Patrick” from annual parade

Last updated on: October 29, 2015 at 12:37 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

View image | gettyimages.com The late Cardinal John O’Connor must be turning over in his crypt. The scoop: [Parade board director] John Lahey has called a meeting of the parade’s board of directors for Thursday, October 29, the purpose of which is a vote on several proposed changes to the organization’s bylaws. According to the meeting’s published agenda, committee members will decide whether to remove the section that states, “The Parade will be held in honor of St Patrick, the Patron... Read more

High school students volunteer to serve as pallbearers for those who die alone

Last updated on: October 28, 2015 at 6:00 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Some may remember the story I posted last year about Jim Skerl, the teacher at Cleveland’s St. Ignatius High School. In 2002, he established a group called the St. Joseph of Arimathea Pallbearer Society, made up of young men who volunteer to serve as pallbearers at the funerals of people who had no one to bury them. I preached about his inspiring life—and brave death—last year on All Souls Day. I mentioned that, over 14 years, the pallbearer society had accompanied more than... Read more

How the Catholic Church forever changed Jewish life

Last updated on: October 28, 2015 at 4:13 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

At the clergy convocation in my diocese last week, a rabbi got up to speak about the 50th anniversary of Nostre Aetate and noted this sobering fact: when he was growing up in New Jersey in the 1960s, he would try to time his departure from school so that he wouldn’t run into the Catholic kids who went to the nearby parochial school. Because if he encountered them, odds were he would be beaten up. This was life growing up Jewish 50 years... Read more

In the email: “I’m the Catholic Deacon who married Tig Notaro…”

Last updated on: October 28, 2015 at 9:40 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

You may remember this story from over the summer: Catholic deacon presiding at lesbian wedding in Mississippi? It was about stand-up comedian and breast cancer survivor Tig Notaro: Her family is completely on board, including the Catholic deacon cousin who’s agreed to marry them. “They’re like, This is going to be the biggest thing to hit the Gulf Coast since Katrina!” she jokes. She guesses it will be the first lesbian wedding to go down in Pass Christian. “They’re so proud,” she... Read more

In the email: “I’m the Catholic Deacon who married Tig Notaro…”

Last updated on: October 28, 2015 at 5:01 am By Deacon Greg Kandra