The photo above is now making the rounds on Facebook. It appears to come from an Episcopal liturgy that first became popular in the United States about a decade ago. Check out this article on the hip hop Mass from 2004: It’s a religious form of hip hop which includes the publication of a hip hop prayer book, development of a hip hop Mass and writing of hip hop prayers and hip hop renditions of traditional prayers and hip hop hymns.... Read more
The once pro-life congressman switched sides last week—and now here’s some reaction and analysis from Kristen Day of Democrats for Life in The Hill: His pronouncement is a symptom of a larger problem within the Democratic Party – the abortion litmus test. Democrats once held a 292-seat majority in the U.S House with 110 pro-life Democrats. Today, we are in the minority and there are only a handful of pro-life Democrats. The number of pro-choice democrats has remained about the... Read more
From The Boston Globe: Forgive the Franciscan friars at St. Mary’s Basilica if they wonder what exactly is being worshipped at the giant, gleaming temple across the street. An extra point away from the elegant old church’s doors, the NFL Experience is open for business. All week, fans in football jerseys have filed by the thousands into the towering Phoenix Convention Center that’s hosting an 850,000-square-foot NFL theme park. Giant portable televisions blare on nearby street corners. Gleaming cream-colored SUVs,... Read more
11th century fresco of Christ performing exorcism in the synagogue in Capernaum via Wikipedia Several days back, just before the State of the Union speech, the New York Times ran a lengthy profile of the man who would be putting all those words in President Obama’s mouth: Cody Keenan, the 34-year-old speechwriter the President has nicknamed “Hemingway.” The Times article described weeks and weeks of writing and rewriting—sending drafts back and forth between different offices, deciphering the President’s notes in... Read more
I received the following email from Deacon John Coughlin, Co-Director of Permanent Deacon Formation for the Diocese of Honolulu: This is the first ordination of permanent deacons in the diocese since February of 2007 when the program was halted pending the completion of a thorough self-assessment. These men and their wives began their five year journey in January of 2010. They join 66 other deacons of which 41 are actively serving in the diocese. Bishop Larry Silva ordained the final... Read more
Danny Karetea-Goddard at his ordination in July 2014, from New Zealand Catholic. From Radio New Zealand: At the most recent New Zealand Catholic Bishops Conference, Bishop Barry Jones voiced concerns that the Mass in Te Reo was slowly dying due to a lack of priests, who could conduct them in Maori. Bishop Jones, a Pakeha, believed he is the only priest in the South Island who could speak Te Reo said the Maori Mass had been the foundation of the... Read more
Image: Good Housekeeping Magazine cover, 1908 / via Wikipedia Over at Pray Tell, they’ve posted a reflection by Msgr. M. Francis Mannion, from Catholic News Agency, wherein he rhapsodizes about the domestic church and the joys of housework, as reflected in Kathryn Allen Rabuzzi’s “The Sacred and the Feminine: Toward a Theology of Housework”: I recommend this book (published in 1982, but still in print) to anyone looking for an insightful understanding of housework and the task of homemaking. Rabuzzi’s... Read more
The full list is here. The Holy Father Francis, for the XIV General Assembly of the Synod of Bishops, which will take place in the Vatican from 4 to October 25, 2015 on the theme The vocation and mission of the family in the Church and in the contemporary world , has ratified the election by of the respective Episcopal Conferences of Bishops following: From the United States: Members : His Ecc.za Rev.ma Msgr. Joseph Edward KURTZ, Archbishop of Louisville, President of... Read more
I wish it would. This was staged in London a couple years ago. For some reason, it slipped by my Flash Mob radar. Enjoy! Read more
I don’t know what could top this. Truly. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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