The Deacon's Bench
This is how we should live. This video popped up Facebook over the weekend. Posted by Edgard Eleuterio Daza, it’s titled Eternamente Joven, which means “Forever young.” Enjoy. I dare you not to smile. Read more
This is how we should live. This video popped up Facebook over the weekend. Posted by Edgard Eleuterio Daza, it’s titled Eternamente Joven, which means “Forever young.” Enjoy. I dare you not to smile. Read more
My friend and brother deacon John Gerke, from the Archdiocese of Cincinnati, preached the Mass at NDICE this morning, the Feast of St. Mary Magdalene. The congregation was full of deacons and their wives. I had a plane to catch and missed the Mass — but John sent me his text. It’s too good not to share. ++ I’m going to tell you all something that may shock you. Not every parish in our Archdiocese follows the directives of... Read more
Someone posted this lovely hymn on Facebook this morning, noting that it was written in the early 20th century from the point of view of Mary Magdalene (whose feast we mark today). I haven’t found any other citation for that, but I suppose it’s a plausible interpretation. Wikipedia just has this: “In the Garden” (sometimes rendered by its first line “I Come to the Garden Alone“ is a gospel song written byAmerican songwriter C. Austin Miles (1868–1946), a former pharmacist who served as editor and manager... Read more
Details: Archbishop Charles Chaput of Philadelphia announced Sunday that St. John Paul II and St. Gianna Beretta Molla will be patron saints of the 2015 World Meeting of Families, being held in his cathedral city. “Saint John Paul II and Saint Gianna have been chosen as the two worthy Patron Saints to guide all in preparation and participation of this international event as they fully embody the history, mission and theme of the World Meeting of Families 2015,” Archbishop Chaput ... Read more
The National Catholic Register offers a helpful primer on annulments this week, beginning with a story about a deacon: Deacon Patrick O’Toole remembered how far away he felt from the Church 17 years ago. He wasn’t a deacon then — his wife had left, divorced him and took his children. He felt broken and angry, until a meeting with a Catholic Church official corrected his many misconceptions about the Church, sacramental marriage and annulments and put him on the path... Read more
Here’s a perspective you don’t hear often, from writer Aaron Reiss in The Houston Press: I’m sure it seems weird at this point that I chose to go to Catholic school. My grandmother on my dad’s side of the family was skeptical. I remember my dad and I picking her up from airport once while I was in high school, and the discussion of one priest sex scandal caused her to say she thought being a priest — mostly being... Read more
A reader sent this my way: Larry Schmitt from Blue River, Wisconsin is shown after his July 20 ordination for the Diocese of Madison with his three formation classmates Mike Schaefer, Dave Belland and John Bourke. Mike, Dave and John will be ordained later this year for the Diocese of La Crosse. Bishop Robert Morlino ordained Larry at Immaculate Conception Church (Larry’s home parish) in Boscobel, Wisconsin. The last permanent deacon ordination for Madison was on July 23, 2004. Congratulations... Read more
From the Central Kentucky News: Once a rebellious nun, Danville woman now eyes priesthood Snip: “Back when I was a nun, there were still a lot of people who went into the holy orders,” Watson said. “It was like the closest thing you could be because you couldn’t be a priest. My mother said, ‘You’re not quite like your aunts, you’ve just got that spunk about you and you don’t always like to follow orders, you’re kind of the renegade.... Read more
From The Detroit Free Press: After nearly two years of waiting, Melanie Bruss headed earlier this month to Minnesota to join the Consecrates of the Most Holy Savior, a Catholic religious order. Bruss was accepted to the order in November 2012, but had been held up by a stumbling block — her student loans. Like a growing number of people seeking full-time religious service — one study estimates about 4,200 people nationwide are in the same boat — Bruss had student... Read more
I’m frankly surprised that this has been going on for so long. Details: For the better part of 40 years in churches across the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rochester, clergy ceded the floor to laypeople for the delivery of the homily — the sermon that follows the reading of the Gospel at Mass. The practice, which dated to the mid-1970s and was simultaneously derided by the faithful for running afoul of church law and praised for its inclusiveness, has come... Read more
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