Suicide bomber attacks Catholic church in Pakistan

Last updated on: March 15, 2015 at 9:43 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: At least 10 people were killed and scores were injured Sunday when suicide bombers attacked a Catholic church in the eastern Pakistani city of Lahore, another act of violence against religious minorities here. According to initial reports, at least two suicide bombers tried to make it inside St. John’s Catholic Church but were stopped either by worshippers or security personnel. The bombers then detonated their explosives, destroying the front of the church, The Express Tribune newspaper reported. UPI has... Read more

After gay organizations are welcomed, Catholic group urges removal of St. Patrick’s name from Boston parade

Last updated on: March 15, 2015 at 8:37 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From AP: Boston’s St. Patrick’s Day parade is making history as two gay and lesbian groups are being welcomed by the organizers after decades of opposition. The sponsoring South Boston Allied War Veterans Council has invited the gay military veterans group OutVets, and gay rights groups Boston Pride to join Sunday’s parade. Boston mayors have boycotted the event for 20 years over the gay rights issue, since the organizers won a U.S. Supreme Court decision upholding their right to invite or exclude marchers. And... Read more

Turning toward the light: Homily for 4th Sunday of Lent

Last updated on: March 14, 2015 at 6:28 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

About 20 years ago, the novelist William Styron took a courageous step, and described his battle with depression in a book called “Darkness Visible.” Depression is one of those afflictions that millions of us suffer with, but few want to talk about. The World Health Organization estimates over 120 million people live with it every day around the world. But Styron, as a famous and successful figure, came forward and wrote about how it had touched his life. He described... Read more

Ladies and gentlemen, “clergy on the catwalk”

Last updated on: March 14, 2015 at 2:14 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

View image | gettyimages.com From a fashion show a couple years back. Seriously? Yes. Read about it here. The very latest Parish fashions were modelled today by men and women of God who paraded down a clergy catwalk. Five vicars showed off the new designs in ecclesiastical wear, which are made in the different colours which are worn according to the season in the Church’s calendar. Hundreds of clergy jostled for a place on the show’s front row as the... Read more

Stations of the Cross and Benediction together?

Last updated on: March 14, 2015 at 1:21 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Reading about how my parish follows the Stations of the Cross with Benediction, a couple readers have wondered if this is liturgically correct or appropriate. A deacon candidate noted: “I’m being taught in diaconal formation that Benediction is not a closing to another devotion. Must be linked to the Eucharist.” Far as I know—and from what I’ve been able to find Googling— there’s nothing explicitly prohibiting Benediction from following a devotion like Stations of the Cross. An Internet search reveals... Read more

Great moments in journalism: reporter lies in confession, records priests’ responses

Last updated on: March 14, 2015 at 9:40 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

From Catholic News Agency: Laura Alari writes for Quotidiano Nazionale, which is headquartered in Bologna. She authored a series of four articles in the newspaper which disclosed the responses of priests in the area when she approached them under the pretext of seeking Confession.Alari went to Confession several times, inventing delicate issues for herself: she pretended to be a lesbian mother asking to baptize her daughter; a woman who cohabitates with her same-sex partner; and a divorced and civilly remarried woman... Read more

O happy fault: living with a deacon at Easter time

Last updated on: March 14, 2015 at 9:50 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

It can’t be easy living with a deacon, especially now. Every year, for a few weeks before Easter, the deacon pulls out sheet music and starts practicing that Everest of liturgical song, the Exsultet: a nine-minute a capella chant sung in near-darkness at the start of the Easter Vigil. Around our home, the Exsultet is the Muzak of our lives. It’s everywhere. I warble snatches of it constantly. My wife, saint that she is, has become politely oblivious. How she... Read more

Walking the way of the cross with Mary

Last updated on: March 14, 2015 at 8:20 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

Some images from Friday’s night’s Stations of the Cross, courtesy parishioner and friend Regina Faighes. My parish does “The Way of the Cross with Mary“ by Richard Furey—a stirring and deeply human interpretation, which follows the traditional stations, but seen through the eyes of the Blessed Mother. (You can order copies here.) Every stop includes a first person meditation by Mary (at our parish, read by my wife, Siobhain) along with a prayer read aloud by the congregation. Between each station, we... Read more

Pope announces extraordinary jubilee, a Holy Year of Mercy

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:11 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

From CNS: Pope Francis announced an extraordinary jubilee, a Holy Year of Mercy, to highlight the Catholic Church’s “mission to be a witness of mercy.”“No one can be excluded from God’s mercy,” the pope said March 13, marking the second anniversary of his pontificate by leading a Lenten penance service in St. Peter’s Basilica. “I frequently have thought about how the church can make more evident its mission to be a witness of mercy,” he said during his homily; that... Read more

Rome pulls the plug on Medjugorje event in St. Louis

Last updated on: March 13, 2015 at 4:11 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Diane over at Te Deum has all the details, but the letter below, from Archbishop Robert Carlson of St. Louis, makes it plain: “I have received a request from the Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith to remind everyone that they are not to participate in events that promote the so-called visionaries of Medjugorje…” Read more. Read more