The Deacon's Bench
Well, what do you know? Somebody at Saturday Night Live has been going to church. Is this satire? Investigative journalism? Whatever you call it, it’s hilarious. See if you don’t recognize your parish here. Read more
Well, what do you know? Somebody at Saturday Night Live has been going to church. Is this satire? Investigative journalism? Whatever you call it, it’s hilarious. See if you don’t recognize your parish here. Read more
Even Jesus had to do a face palm. Classic: Correction: December 12, 2014 An earlier version of this article misstated the circumstances of Pope Francis’ remarks. He made them in a general audience at the Vatican, not in consoling a distraught boy whose dog had died. The article also misstated what Francis is known to have said. According to Vatican Radio, Francis said: “The Holy Scripture teaches us that the fulfillment of this wonderful design also affects everything around us,”... Read more
I’m on the road this weekend and won’t be preaching about this Sunday’s readings. But from the vault, here’s part of my homily for Guadete Sunday from 2008: +++ This Advent many of us are waiting with an expectation and an anxiety that we have not known for a long time. And right about now, rejoicing doesn’t come easily. But Paul tells us in the second reading, very simply: “Rejoice always. Pray without ceasing. In all circumstances give thanks.” In... Read more
What a great tribute: Members of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and the adjoining Our Lady of Angels Regional School had the great fortune to have the late Deacon David Fosbenner in their midst for the four years he served the parish before his death this past fall of lung cancer. “He just lit up the room,” recalled OLA Principal Sister Debbie, of the Sisters of St. Francis of Philadelphia. “The students knew him from attending the First... Read more
…and makes an amazing cocktail. Fr. William Dailey is the Thomas More Fellow at Notre Dame. He is also, according to this account on the website Munchies, a “cocktail geek” who makes a great martini and likes to talk about it. From the interview: Drinking is often part of religious rites. How do you separate religious drinking from drinking for “fun”? Should it feel different? Father William Dailey: For Catholics, wine is a part of our celebration of the Eucharist.... Read more
A couple months ago, I got an email inviting me to hear parts of a new CD from the only Catholic boys school choir in the United States. That piqued my curiosity. Hearing the selections clinched it for me. What I heard was a little slice of heaven on earth. The CD, “Christmas at Harvard Square,” by the St. Paul’s Choir School in Massachusetts, is breathtakingly good. I ordered this back in October and my wife has been listening to it ever... Read more
This speaks to the vibrant faith of the American southwest—and the burgeoning immigrant population. Details: A longstanding Catholic parish in Chandler is moving forward with plans to build a second church at the southern end of the city. The new church, called St. Juan Diego…will be part of the existing parish at St. Mary’s Catholic Church but will stand as a separate church to meet the needs of the burgeoning Catholic population in the area, said the Rev. Daniel McBride,... Read more
If you’re in the neighborhood this weekend: I’ll be visiting Curé of Ars Catholic Church in Merrick, Long Island and preaching at all the Masses. The topic: persecuted Christians. Four months after ISIS began its purge, so many Iraqis are still homeless and in need of basic necessities. I’ll be there on behalf of CNEWA, along with some of my colleagues from the papal agency, to explain the plight of people in Iraq and Syria, what CNEWA is doing to support them, and... Read more
Well, I’m not. But I know some of you out there will love this: an inspired re-interpretation of Gilbert and Sullivan for Bible geeks! This is pretty hilarious, even though I don’t understand most of it. 🙂 Enjoy. Read more
From Nate Silver’s website comes this interesting look at the music we keep hearing during this time of year: Radio’s wall-to-wall holiday format is a recent development. Of course, stations in the past played some Christmas music on Dec. 24 and 25, but the vast majority of soft-rock stations began switching to all-holiday soundtracks in the 1990s. The first to throw out its regular playlist entirely was 99.9 KEZ (KESZ-FM) in Phoenix, in 1991 or 1992.1 The variety station saw a substantial jump in... Read more
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