That singular and historic moment—no pope had ever been seen going to confession before—may be having an impact this Lent. We offer the sacrament every day at my parish, and people report longer lines. Tonight, we’re bringing in extra priests to help handle the expected crowds after our 7:30 liturgy. A New Jersey newspaper takes a closer look at the Sacrament of Reconciliation, and people’s perceptions of it: One of loneliest places in church these days is the confession line.... Read more
Details: Four Long Island teenagers have been expelled from their Catholic high school, two for wearing a Confederate flag at a sporting event and two for posting a photo of themselves in blackface on a social media site. The incidents took place last week and involved students at St. Anthony’s High School in the Suffolk County hamlet of South Huntington, The Associated Press reported. The students’ identifies weren’t available. St. Anthony’s principal, Brother Gary Cregan, said Wednesday he expelled two seniors who walked... Read more
From the Atlanta Vocations Facebook page: Atlanta seminarian Rev. Mr. Brian Baker will be serving at the Easter Vigil Mass with the Holy Father this coming Saturday! He will be chanting the Exsultet (the Proclamation which is sung at the beginning of the Vigil). Please say a prayer for him as he prepares for the Easter Vigil.You can watch the Easter Vigil from Rome on EWTN (or at EWTN.com) starting at 2:30 pm on Holy Saturday. Whatever pressure I may... Read more
About 15 years ago, my wife and I made a pilgrimage to the Holy Land. There, in the Old City of Jerusalem, we walked the Via Dolorosa, the Way of the Cross, passing shops and souvenir vendors selling cards and olive wood crosses. We prayed at the stations, and we encountered many of the sites mentioned in this gospel reading. But one site in particular stands out in my memory. It is the Church of the Holy Sepulcher—the site of... Read more
An alert reader sent these my way: snapshots from Pope Francis this afternoon. A report from Associated Press: Pope Francis washed the feet of 12 elderly and disabled people Thursday – women and non-Catholics among them – in a pre-Easter ritual designed to show his willingness to serve others like a “slave.” Francis’ decision in 2013 to perform the Holy Thursday ritual on women and Muslim inmates at a juvenile detention center helped define his rule-breaking papacy just two weeks... Read more
This time, a duet: “Girls Just Wanna Have Fun.” Check out the video below. CNS provides a translation of the conversation after, where one of the judges notes: Great stuff! It’s fabulous because it reminded me of the movie Sister Act where there’s this renewal, this move toward people who live the modern world of today that I think is fabulous because to bring that here… Plus, I believe in God and I think to bring God to something of... Read more
From USA TODAY: Jews in the eastern Ukrainian city of Donetsk where pro-Russian militants have taken over government buildings were told they have to “register” with the Ukrainians who are trying to make the city become part of Russia, according to Israeli media. Jews emerging from a synagogue say they were handed leaflets that ordered the city’s Jews to provide a list of property they own and pay a registration fee “or else have their citizenship revoked, face deportation and... Read more
Really. Details: Canadian singer Christo Graham has turned the water of one of Andrew Lloyd Webber’s most beloved musicals into the wine of glorious, everlasting parody, recasting Webber’s musical life of Christ with an all-felt cast with Muppet Christ Superstar. Casting Kermit as the Messiah, Gonzo as Judas Iscariot, and Miss Piggy as Mary Magdalene, Graham has re-recorded all the musical numbers from Jesus Christ Superstar. He also does fairly good impressions of all the various Muppets, including backup vocals from the Electric Mayhem,... Read more
I stumbled on this homily today, and it seems both appropriate and prophetic. It comes from the preacher of the Pontifical Household, Capuchin Father Raniero Cantalamessa. It’s part of his Good Friday homily from last year: We must do everything possible so that the Church may never look like that complicated and cluttered castle [described by Kafka], and the message may come out of it as free and joyous as when the messenger began his run. We know what the... Read more
From Vatican Radio: For the second year in a row Pope Francis has chosen to celebrate the Mass of Our Lord’s Supper among people often pushed to the margins of society. He will once again visit the Don Gnocchi centre in Rome’s Casal del Marmo area, close to the Youth Detention Center where the Pope celebrated Mass among young prison inmates last year. This year he will be visiting a sister center for the elderly and disabled. The Mass of... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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