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
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
From Orange County Catholic: A total of 15 men were ordained as permanent deacons for the Diocese of Orange Oct. 17 by Bishop Kevin Vann at St. Columban Church—all members of the “Hands of Christ” deacon class of 2015. “We are blessed to welcome so many new deacons into the permanent diaconate within our diocese,” said Bishop Vann. “These unique individuals will assist in serving the ever-growing and important needs of our flock, with particular focus on the acute needs of the poor... Read more
View image | gettyimages.com From Aleteia: The Synod on the Family may have concluded in the Vatican, but a “virtual synod” is now underway in the media. And one high-ranking cardinal is urging people not to believe the spin. On Sunday morning, prior to the noonday Angelus, Aleteia spoke with Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, about his assessment of the final synodal document and how it should rightly be interpreted. The Australian Cardinal also explained how clergy, ordinary... Read more
I can’t: a hamburger stuffed with Reese’s peanut butter cups. This, from a restaurant chain in Canada. Details here. This cannot possibly end well. Read more
Details: Most U.S. Catholics (62%) think the church should allow Catholics who have been divorced and remarried without an annulment to receive Communion, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And only about a third of American Catholics (35%) say they personally think getting remarried after a divorce without an annulment is sinful, compared with half (49%) who say it is not a sin. Only 21% of Catholics say simply getting a divorce is sinful, while 61% say it is not. These... Read more
From Orange County Catholic: A total of 15 men were ordained as permanent deacons for the Diocese of Orange Oct. 17 by Bishop Kevin Vann at St. Columban Church—all members of the “Hands of Christ” deacon class of 2015. “We are blessed to welcome so many new deacons into the permanent diaconate within our diocese,” said Bishop Vann. “These unique individuals will assist in serving the ever-growing and important needs of our flock, with particular focus on the acute needs of the poor... Read more
View image | gettyimages.com From Aleteia: The Synod on the Family may have concluded in the Vatican, but a “virtual synod” is now underway in the media. And one high-ranking cardinal is urging people not to believe the spin. On Sunday morning, prior to the noonday Angelus, Aleteia spoke with Cardinal George Pell, Prefect of the Vatican Secretariat for the Economy, about his assessment of the final synodal document and how it should rightly be interpreted. The Australian Cardinal also explained how clergy, ordinary... Read more
I can’t: a hamburger stuffed with Reese’s peanut butter cups. This, from a restaurant chain in Canada. Details here. This cannot possibly end well. [img attachment=”73164″ align=”alignnone” size=”medium” alt=”screen-shot-2015-10-26-at-11.01.15-pm” /] Read more
Details: Most U.S. Catholics (62%) think the church should allow Catholics who have been divorced and remarried without an annulment to receive Communion, according to a recent Pew Research Center survey. And only about a third of American Catholics (35%) say they personally think getting remarried after a divorce without an annulment is sinful, compared with half (49%) who say it is not a sin. Only 21% of Catholics say simply getting a divorce is sinful, while 61% say it is not. These... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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