From CNS: The liturgy should help the faithful enter into God’s mystery and to experience the wonder of encountering Christ, Pope Francis told priests of the diocese of Rome. People should feel the wonder and allure “that the apostles felt when they were called, invited. It attracts — wonder attracts — and it lets you reflect,” the pope said during an annual Lenten meeting with Rome pastors in the Paul VI audience hall. Sitting behind a table and talking off-the-cuff,... Read more
The Baltimore Sun notes: Baltimore Ravens head Coach John Harbaugh spoke at the NFL Combine on Wednesday and he drew a lot of attention — not so much for what he said, but for the ash cross on his forehead. Harbaugh apparently came from an Ash Wednesday service straight to the Combine. The reaction to the cross was almost immediate; some on Twitter wondering if he got into a fight, while the majority of people took note or complimented him... Read more
From The Los Angeles Times: Two deacons, one Episcopal, one Catholic, were standing on a street in Beverly Hills, in front of Tiffany’s, across from Louis Vuitton. It could have been the set-up for a joke — and some passersby thought it might be. Or maybe somebody was filming something? They stood and stared at the men dressed in purple stoles, white surplices and long black cassocks. “Are you real? For real?” one woman in oversized Chanel sunglasses asked Scott... Read more
So this happened tonight, after I came home from the last Mass at the parish… I get into the elevator. Young Asian man joins me. Doors close. He glances at me. “May I ask something?,” he says. He points to his forehead. “Why the cross? I’ve been seeing that all day.” “It’s Ash Wednesday,” I say. “First day of Lent. Forty days of prayer and penance. It represents our mortality. We try to live more holy lives as we get ready... Read more
From Christian Today: The brother of two of the 21 Coptic Christians murdered in Libya last week has thanked their killers for including the men’s declaration of faith in the video they made of their beheadings. Speaking on a live prayer and worship programme on Christian channel SAT-7 ARABIC yesterday, Beshir Kamel said that he was proud of his brothers Bishoy Estafanos Kamel (25) and Samuel Estafanos Kamel (23) because they were “a badge of honour to Christianity”. Harrowing scenes of the murders have been seen... Read more
From The Catholic Standard: Making an impassioned plea at the end of his Feb. 18 Ash Wednesday Mass at the Cathedral of St. Matthew the Apostle, Cardinal Donald Wuerl urged the faithful to offer prayers and speak out for Christians being persecuted throughout the world. “Lent is a time of prayer – pray for those who are suffering and offer your voice,” Cardinal Wuerl told a standing-room-only gathering of faithful. “Say, ‘This is wrong. There is no political, social, cultural... Read more
Here’s the report from Reuters: A prominent American Catholic gay rights group was given VIP treatment for the first time at an audience with Pope Francis on Wednesday, a move members saw as a sign of change in the Roman Catholic Church. “This is a sign of movement that’s due to the Francis effect,” said Sister Jeannine Gramick, co-founder of New Ways Ministry, which ministers to homosexual Catholics and promotes gay rights in the 1.2 billion-member Church. Gramick and executive... Read more
Details: As the eve of the Lunar New Year coincides with Ash Wednesday, the Archdiocese of Manila allowed certain members of its faithful to be exempted from the holy obligation of fasting and abstinence at the start of the Lenten season. “We grant dispensation from the obligation of fasting and abstinence to our Chinese-Filipino and Chinese Catholics in the Archdiocese of Manila from the afternoon of February 18, 2015 until midnight,” Manila Archbishop Luis Antonio Cardinal Tagle said in a... Read more
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The parish involved is Star of the Sea, which made news last month for the pastor’s decision to stop using girl altar servers. The latest: In the latest controversy to strike the Catholic Church in San Francisco, elementary school students at the Star of the Sea School were given pamphlets referring to sexual topics that some parents say were inappropriate and far too advanced for their children. At the Inner Richmond school whose parish recently made news when its pastor banned girls from... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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