From The BBC: A church building is to be used as a homeless shelter following an outcry over the death of a man on the street outside the Irish Parliament in Dublin. The 41-year-old man was pronounced dead on a doorstep on Molesworth Street at about 08:00 local time on Monday. The doorstep is just a few metres from the parliament and his death has been described as a “national disgrace”. The Catholic archbishop of Dublin has now said he... Read more
Many will remember the great WestJet Christmas video from last year, wherein the Canadian airline gave unsuspecting passengers some pretty extravagant gifts. Well, they’ve outdone themselves this year with another blockbuster video—and it is an instant classic. Break out the Kleenex for this one. I can’t imagine what this costs the company, but for all it gains in goodwill and in corporate branding, this sort of annual promotion is priceless—and really, just plain good. Watch below, as needy families in... Read more
The latest on the ground, from CNEWA’s blog One-to-One and Dominican Sister Maria Hanna: After four months of exile there are no signs of hope that the situation here in Iraq will be resolved peacefully. Unable to think or make decisions, everything is vague and we feel as if we have been living a nightmare. Christianity in Iraq is bleeding; so many families have left, and many are leaving to Lebanon, Jordan and Turkey, preparing themselves for second immigration and... Read more
From the BBC: Nearly 2,000 Brazilian couples have got married at an indoors sports venue in Rio de Janeiro, in the biggest mass wedding in the city’s history. The annual event, promoted by the local authorities, is aimed at helping low-income couples who cannot afford to pay for a wedding. The authorities in Rio booked special commuter trains for the couples and their guests. An estimated 12,000 people attended the ceremony at the Maracanazinho arena. Couples with a monthly family... Read more
My pal Matt Palmer at the USCCB sent this my way, and it’s Must See TV: the concluding moments from Sunday night’s episode of “The Newsroom” on HBO. I’m not a regular viewer—we’re Basic Cable people at my house—but from what I can gather, the lead character, a TV anchor played by Jeff Daniels, is about to go to jail (presumably over some First Amendment issue?). But first, he plans for a wedding at city hall, presided over by a priest—something that... Read more
Photo: by Barrett Stinson/The Independent An interesting glimpse into one deacon’s life, from The Grand Island Independent in Nebraska: According to Ecclesiastes, “For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under the sun.” Don Placke of Central City has discovered that his season has come in his 60s and 70s, not in his 20s as he originally assumed. “I went to parochial school my entire life,” said Placke, who is now a deacon at St. Michael’s... Read more
Details: The choir members filed up to the altar in robes the color of the red roses of Saint Elizabeth, the patron saint of their beloved church. They arrayed themselves on two risers and looked to the choir director for a cue. Then they raised their hands in unison and began to sign. “Jesus,” they signed together, touching their middle fingers to their opposite palm to represent the crucifixion. “Lord,” they signed, sweeping their fingers in an “L” formation across... Read more
It happened at one of Manhattan’s most celebrated Episcopal churches, according to The New York Daily News: Some well-off Manhattan residents paid $100 Friday for the honor of eating a candlelit holiday dinner with homeless people at a church, an intersection of two worlds that left one down-on-his luck man thinking the seemingly impossible. “What if a love connection happened tonight between the haves and the have-nots?” 44-year-old Craig James said before guests arrived. James, who has been homeless since losing a... Read more
A beautiful and poignant image from yesterday: Details: At the end of his speech, Pope Francis asked for Patriarch Bartholomew’s blessing and bowed down before him to receive it. Bartholomew then kissed Francis on the head. And so, the second day of the papal visit concluded with a highly symbolic gesture. Night had already fallen in Istanbul on the eve of the Feast of St. Andrew, Patron Saint of the Orthodox Patriarchate, as Francis entered the Church of St. George... Read more
Fittingly, as we begin Advent, my wife and I spent much of the last few days waiting. We waited at the airport to go to Washington for Thanksgiving. We waited at my in-laws for the dinner to be ready. Friday, we all went to a Chinese restaurant and waited about 45 minutes for a table. Saturday, again, we waited at the airport for our plane. And then, once we got on the plane, we waited about a half an hour... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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