If you want to understand what Advent is about, it helps to know the story of Mike Wise. Mike Wise is a sports columnist for the Washington Post. On a January night six years ago, he was jogging along the C&O Canal in downtown Washington with his dog, a golden Lab named Looly. The canal was frozen solid, and Looly decided to go exploring on the ice. It wasn’t as strong as she thought, and she fell through. Mike Wise... Read more
The Vatican text: of his brief remarks to the International Theological Commission: I meet you with pleasure at the beginning of a new five-year period – the ninth – the International Theological Commission . I thank the President, Cardinal Müller , for the words he addressed to me on behalf of all of you. Your Commission was born shortly after the Second Vatican Council , following a proposal of the Synod of Bishops, that the Holy See could make use of more direct reflection of theologians from... Read more
You can count me among those who were underwhelmed by last year’s “The Sound of Music” and bored by Thursday night’s “Peter Pan.” But if NBC wants to atone for its sins, here’s my humble suggestion: Reba McEntire in “Annie Get Your Gun.” Back in 2002, she replaced Bernadette Peters in a revival on Broadway. My wife has loved this show since she saw it in high school, so we snagged some nosebleed seats up in the balcony to see this shortly before Reba... Read more
Wow: A donor who asked not to be named has donated $20 million to the Roman Catholic Diocese of Orange to help fund its multimillion-dollar renovation and transformation of the 34-acre campus that was once home to Robert A. Schuller’s Crystal Cathedral. The donation, which will be paid off within seven years, is the largest gift the diocese has received outside of land donations, said spokesman Ryan Lilyengren. “I am blessed to offer my faithful and financial support to the diocese’s efforts... Read more
From The Wall Street Journal: Americans aren’t building churches like they used to anymore. Construction of religious buildings in the U.S. has fallen to the lowest level at any time since private records began in 1967. Religious groups will build an estimated 10.3 million square feet this year, down 6% from 2013 and 80% since construction peaked in 2002, according to Dodge Data & Analytics. In terms of dollars, spending on houses of worship totaled $3.15 billion last year, down by... Read more
You may remember the story of Deacon Greg Hall from last year. (This deacon from Texas also made news a few years back, for his work helping to rescue the trapped Chilean miners. ) Now, an update: The U.S District Court for the District of Minnesota issued a permanent injunction in the case of Rev. Mr. (Deacon) Gregory E. Hall and American Mfg Company v. Sylvia M. Burwell, et al. This is the first Minnesota federal decision that grants a permanent injunction to... Read more
Details: Just a few minutes into his first tour of St. Joseph School, Daniel Ramirez was sold. Looking for a new school for his three children, Ramirez walked into the 101-year-old private Catholic school in Santa Ana and saw teachers wearing suits. He also saw that each student had an iPad, that classes were small, that kids were engaged. “You could probably get a good education anywhere. This school offers that,” Ramirez said. “It also offers strong discipline,” he added.... Read more
From Science: Advocates of “legal personhood” to chimpanzees have lost another battle. This morning, a New York appellate court rejected a lawsuit by the Nonhuman Rights Project (NhRP) to free a chimp named Tommy from captivity. The group had argued that the chimpanzee deserved the human right of bodily liberty. “The court nailed it,” writes Richard Cupp, a law professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, and a noted opponent of personhood for animals, in an e-mail to Science. “The... Read more
From The Orlando Sentinel: Unlike last year, a Satanic Temple display will be officially welcome inside Florida’s Capitol during the holiday season. And Festivus, a non-commercial festival “for the rest of us,” will be back as a 6-foot stack of empty beer cans. Also expected are a pair of nativity scenes. The Florida Department of Management Services this week approved a holiday display from the Satanic Temple, which a year ago was rejected because the agency said it was “grossly... Read more
Hot on the heels of the Diocese of Brooklyn’s clever promotion for the season comes another advertising effort, this one from the Archdiocese of Washington. Turn up the volume—so you can turn it down for Advent. The archdiocese has also launched a website: FindthePerfectGift.org. It has prayer resources, links, a listing of events and suggestions for celebrating the season. There are also tweets and podcasts. It’s an impressive, ambitious undertaking. Take a look at their promotional video: Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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