Wow. Just…wow. First, helicopter drones delivering books for Amazon, now this. Behold the concept for a new table that the restaurant chain is developing, wherein the table doubles as a tablet, and can be used for ordering food, paying your bill and even gaming. Read more
From The Lowell Sun: A Catholic school in Harvard has withdrawn from the South Boston St. Patrick’s Day Parade, reacting to reports that a gay rights group will be allowed to march. Brother Thomas Dalton, principal of the school at Saint Benedict Center, said the school does not want to appear to condone the homosexual lifestyle that is completely contrary to the church and what St. Patrick stood for. “We decided years ago that if the gays ever marched in... Read more
From The Wall Street Journal: The Catholic Church is gearing up for an expected tough fight Wednesday at Malaysia’s highest court when it argues for the right to appeal a lower court decision banning it from using the word “Allah” in its newspaper. The lower court ruled the word is exclusive to Muslims, who make up the majority of the country. The church counters that it wants to use “Allah” for its Malaysian Malay-speaking members, who for generations have used... Read more
A great big H/T to Terry Mattingly over at Get Religion, who unearthed this nugget while reporting on the actor’s Oscar speech: It has been two years since the paparazzi literally chased McConaughey and his fiance (at that time) after church during the Cannes Film Festival. That led tot his material in The Daily Mail: The couple that prays together, stays together. Matthew McConaughey and his long-term love Camila Alves were spotted leaving a Cannes church together yesterday. … The Christian... Read more
Our Anglican siblings have been promoting this idea for a few years: On Ash Wednesday 2010, three Chicago-area Episcopal congregations independently took ashes and prayer to suburban train stations, Prayer on the street cornerand discovered commuters hungry for a moment of prayer, renewal and grace. Those who had no time to attend services or had forgotten about the tradition were delighted to receive ashes with prayer as they began their day. Many responded with tears or smiles of gratitude that... Read more
My blog neighbor Tony Rossi watched the Oscars last night so the rest of us didn’t have to—and caught some inspiration and some religion, to boot: One sweet moment occurred during Jared Leto’s Best Supporting Actor acceptance speech when he spoke about his mother’s past and shared a story that could give hope to other young women in the audience facing an unplanned pregnancy, a story that showed that choosing to have that child doesn’t have to stand in the way of... Read more
So says this video from Rome Reports, which notes: During the audience with the members of the Italian Federation for Spiritual Exercises, Pope Francis got a unique request. A priest approached him with cell phone in hand, and asked him to bless the 25-year-old woman on the other end of the line. Pope Francis did not hesitate one second and quickly imparted his blessing over the phone. See for yourself below. Read more
Photo: Tami Chappell for The New York Times From The New York Times: The young man, weighed down by luggage and despair, was a first-time flier on his way to a funeral in Detroit. His father’s. He was unaware that most airlines no longer haul checked bags free, and he was short on money. So workers at Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta International Airport did what they often do when passengers encounter a problem: They sent him to the chapel. The Interfaith Airport... Read more
From last week’s CBS Evening News. Beautiful. Heartbreaking. And wondrous. Read more
Maybe: Universal’s Non-Stop, starring Liam Neeson, surged ahead to take the lead in the weekend box office, snagging the spot from The Lego Movie, according to Forbes. Along with Neeson, the film stars Julianna Moore and 12 Years a Slave’s Oscar-nominated Lupita Nyong’o. The action thriller is set to bring in around $30 million over the course of this weekend. The Los Angeles Times reported that the action-packed film is expected to bring in $20 million over the course of the weekend. 20th Century Fox’s biblical film Son of... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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