The Catholic actor took the stage at the MTV Awards last night—and it was definitely different: The 2014 MTV Movie awards was filled with its usual wild antics, but the Twitter universe was especially talking about Mark Wahlberg’s acceptance speech in which he cursed profusely, encouraged Americans to go for the dream, and publicly confessed his love for God… …He accredited growing up in the land of opportunity to his success, and also paid homage to two American Christian athletes... Read more
From Pope Francis’ Angelus yesterday: At the end of this celebration I offer s special greeting to the 250 delegates – bishops, priests, religious and laypeople – who participated in the meeting about World Youth Days that was organized by the Pontifical Council for the Laity. In this begins the journey of preparation for the next world gathering, which will take place in June 2016 in Krakow and will have as its theme “Blessed are the merciful, for they will... Read more
A paper in South Jersey, the Courier-Post, looks at the controversy over where bishops live, including some bishops in New Jersey. The reporter, obviously acting out of desperation, spoke to a couple (cough) Catholic bloggers (cough). A snip: Controversies have flared recently over church leaders’ pricey homes in the Atlanta and Newark dioceses. And Pope Francis removed a German bishop from his post last month after the cleric spent the equivalent of $43 million for a new residence and related... Read more
After reading the post about Elizabeth Scalia’s forgettable Palm Sunday, a couple folks on Facebook noted that, in fact, the congregation (voicing the “crowd”) isn’t really supposed to be involved in this gospel reading. Similarly, the voice of Christ should only belong to the priest (unless, for some reason, that’s just impossible.) I was surprised to learn that. I went scurrying to find information. I uncovered this, from the Congregation for Divine Worship: 33. The passion narrative occupies a special... Read more
This sounds just awful. From the vault, Elizabeth Scalia’s reflections on last year’s Palm Sunday fiasco at her parish: This past Sunday”Palm Sunday”the assembly was invited to put down their missalettes. The priest celebrant was escorted from the sanctuary and into a pew, and members of the liturgy committee entered with bare feet and grave expressions to “act out” for us the Gospel “message” which dispensed with Luke’s narrative for a kind of scripted amalgam of all four Gospels. It... Read more
Details: Pope Francis, marking Palm Sunday in a packed St. Peter’s Square, ignored his prepared homily and spoke entirely off-the-cuff in a remarkable departure from practice. Later, he hopped off his popemobile to pose for “selfies” with young people in the crowd. In his homily, Francis called on people, himself included, to look into their own hearts to see how they are living their lives. “Has my life fallen asleep?” Francis asked after listening to a Gospel account of how... Read more
The third Blues Brother has been discovered. Palm Sunday vigil Mass at Our Lady Queen of Martyrs, Forest Hills, Queens. Photo by Rosalind Chan-Ganzhi Read more
Back in the 1960s, there was a TV show called “That Was The Week That Was,” which satirized current events. In many ways, it was a precursor to “Saturday Night Live” or “The Daily Show.” Well, what we are beginning today will commemorate the ultimate “week that was.” I’d like to take just a moment to invite you to think about what the days ahead mean to us. The liturgies of this week are powerful and primal. We are a... Read more
John Allen, as usual, sees the bigger picture. Writing about yesterday’s strongly-worded remarks on clerical sex abuse, Allen notes: Three points about Friday’s statement seemed noteworthy to observers who have followed the arc of the church’s abuse scandals over the last two decades. First, Francis did not merely express regret or sadness for the pattern of abuse in the Catholic church, but directly asked forgiveness. That’s a step that the late Pope John Paul II never took, though Benedict XVI... Read more
Mark M. Gray from CARA has some fascinating insight into which Catholics are most involved in church life—and it turns out, it’s the converts: Do you want to know the best way to ensure your child grows up to be a faithful, knowledgeable, and active Catholic? It’s simple: 1) Raise them as a Protestant AND 2) Only let them date Catholics and promise to pay all their wedding and honeymoon expenses if they get married in the Catholic Church. That second step... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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