Archdiocese of Cincinnati to clarify morals clauses in teachers’ contracts

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

From The Cincinnati Enquirer: Remember the Catholic schools contract that stirred controversy this past year? The one that included a new morality clause for teachers, sparking online petitions and a Downtown protest? Well, it’s getting another update – with some tweaked language and a new cover letter school officials say will clarify what is expected of employees. For example, the current contract prohibits teachers from “public support” of abortion, a “homosexual lifestyle” or in vitro fertilization, to name a few... Read more

Must-read: The preacher as “servant to dialogue”

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

Some rich and compelling ideas on preaching, from Fr. Michael Cummins over at Word on Fire: For preaching to be effective, the preacher must be in dialogue with Christ and in dialogue with the community of the Church. The preacher must know Christ and allow himself to be known by Christ fully. The preacher must know the heart of his community, in order to realize where its desire for God is alive and ardent, as well as where that dialogue,... Read more

One more reason to love “Weird Al” Yankovic

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

This will make your day. It’s a stellar performance of “Yoda”—in costume, no less—with Jodi DiPiazza, a teenage musician on the autistic spectrum. They’re joined by the Actionplay Chorus, an autistic children’s choir. This happened on Comedy Central’s “Night of Too Many Stars,” a fundraiser for autism. Just watch. God love ’em all. Night of Too Many Stars Get More: Comedy Central,Funny Videos,Funny TV Shows Religious footnote: I seem to recall reading somewhere that Yankovic was raised Eastern Orthodox. His Wikipedia... Read more

“God has not forgotten about this community”: One of California’s poorest parishes finally gets a new church

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

I love this story. Way back in 2008, I preached a homily about Our Lady of Guadalupe Parish in Mecca, California: It ‘s the poorest parish in southern California – in fact, one of the poorest in the entire state. Two years ago, the average income in Mecca was just $6,000. 60% of the people live below the poverty line. The congregation is made up largely of Latino farm workers who live in trailer parks. They own almost nothing. But they... Read more

Irish bishop: homosexuality is not what “God intended,” compares it to Down syndrome

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

Details: A Catholic Bishop’s view that gay couples with children “are not parents” has been described as “a nonsense”. The Bishop of Elphin Kevin Doran also said he believes “the jury’s out” on whether people are born gay. Dr Doran had this to say when it was put to him that gay people in Ireland already have children. “They may have children – but that’s the point – people who have children are not necessarily parents,” he said. “This legislation... Read more

“You’re too pretty to be a nun!”

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

A woman entering religious life writes in Huffington Post: When I tell people I’m going to be a nun, they are shocked. Their eyebrows shoot up, their jaws drop, their beers spill onto the bar. “You’re too normal to be a nun,” they say. “You’re too smart.” “You’re too pretty!” This last one took me by the greatest surprise — as if acne or a big nose is a prerequisite to being a nun. My looks have even been addressed... Read more

“This is how the Lord acts: He does things simply…”

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

“This is how the Lord acts: He does things simply. He speaks silently to you, to the heart. Let us remember in our lives the many time we have felt these things: the humility of God is His style; the simplicity of God is His style. And even in the liturgical celebration, in the sacraments, what is beautiful is that which manifests the humility of God, and not the worldly spectacle. It would do us good to journey through our... Read more

“What is your real value?”: what happened when inmates were assigned to write their own obits

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

View image | gettyimages.com A remarkable undertaking, as reported in The Los Angeles Times: In the wrong writer’s hands, an obituary can be a dull collection of biographical facts, the type of article that journalism professor William Drummond calls the “lowest common denominator” of newspaper writing. But on this day, he hoped for something more profound from his students, even if his classroom wasn’t filled with the high-achievers he was accustomed to teaching at UC Berkeley. Drummond was across the... Read more

Pope Jude??

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

From Variety: Jude Law is reportedly in advanced negotiations to play the lead role in Italian Oscar-winning director Paolo Sorrentino’s high-concept TV series, working-titled “The Young Pope,” about an imaginary pontiff who is the first Italian-American pope in history. Italian media is abuzz with unconfirmed news that Sorrentino has found his pope and Law is on board. Wildside, the Italian shingle that is producing the skein, has issed a “no comment.” Law would play a hard-line conservative American pontiff recruited by a Vatican fed... Read more

The traveling deacon: to Erie and Chicago, on a wing and a prayer

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

So I did a little traveling last weekend—more than I expected, actually. I flew out to Erie, PA to give a talk to a couple dozen deacons and their wives. The first thing to know: it was brutally cold. I had been in St. Petersburg 48 hours earlier, where it was 79 degrees; Erie, with wind chill, was 18 below zero. A mere 100 degree difference, give or take. I spoke at the St. Mark Catholic Center, which is also... Read more