From Reuters: A militant Islamist group has urged followers to pray for an earthquake in Sochi during the Winter Olympics to avenge Muslims who died there fighting “Russian infidels”. The appeal was made by a local branch of the Caucasus Emirate, a group which is waging an insurgency for an Islamist state in Russia’s North Caucasus and called on supporters last year to attack the Games. “All who are able to read this letter can supplicate that the Almighty destroys the land in... Read more
Photo: Nadia Shira Cohen for The New York Times Once again, tough economic times have people turning to the Church for help. From The New York Times: The seamstress gently fastened the ivory-colored silk-covered buttons of the lace corset. She took out the embroidered veil and laid it over the bride-to-be’s long black hair. Girlfriends and family members watched in silence, their eyes glistening. “If you have a dream and we can make it come true, we’ll do our best,” said... Read more
My blog neighbor Fr. Dwight Longenecker has a great insight into the two men in white now living at the Vatican: Together, Mary and Martha represent prayer and action, and both are needed for the Gospel to move forward. Now at this crucial time in human history, the Church offers in these two living popes an image of the unity of prayer and action. Pope Emeritus Benedict may have stepped off the world stage, but he still wears the white... Read more
My pal Brandon Vogt dropped by my office yesterday and in between catching up on the weather in Orlando (very warm) and Chicago (very cold) he said, “Hey, I wanted to tell you about something we’re doing at Word on Fire for Lent.” He sent me an email this morning with a link: Would you like a deeper, more powerful Lent this year? To start each day by drawing closer to Christ? Then sign up for Fr. Robert Barron’s free daily... Read more
From the pope’s general audience Wednesday: Dear Brothers and Sisters: Continuing our catechesis on the Sacraments of Initiation, I wish to reflect on how we live the Eucharist in our daily lives, as a Church and individual Christians. First, the Eucharist affects the way we see others. In his life, Christ manifested his love by being with people, and by sharing their desires and problems. So too the Eucharist brings us together with others – young and old, poor and... Read more
Here’s an interesting detail I hadn’t heard before, from Georg Ganswein, via CNS: Archbishop Ganswein said Pope Benedict had told him he was retiring long before the Feb. 11 announcement, but under the strictest secrecy. “Instinctively, I said, ‘No, Holy Father, it’s not possible,’ but I realized immediately that he wasn’t communicating something he wanted to discuss, but a decision already made.” The archbishop said the “VatiLeaks” scandal, which saw the publication of confidential papal correspondence and internal Vatican documents,... Read more
It almost happened, according to David Gibson: On a day when everyone is recalling Pope Benedict XVI’s historic — and stunning — announcement last Feb. 11 that he intended to resign the papacy comes a fascinating revelation from the 2005 conclave that elected Benedict: Cardinal Jorge Mario Bergoglio, who reportedly ran second to Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger in that conclave, later told a fellow cardinal that if he had been elected then he would have taken the name “John” after Pope... Read more
Miami is promoting an app that helps everyone to understand the Mass better: Called “Mass Explained,” it was created by a local Catholic, Dan Gonzalez, who made it completely interactive, with pictures, sounds and links to the Catechism of the Catholic Church, church documents and much more. Want to hear the Jewish blessing that precedes the breaking of bread, a blessing that finds echoes in the first prayer said by the priest during the Liturgy of the Eucharist? Touch the link... Read more
And there’s news this morning for Rockville Centre, too… This just in: Ed Scharfenberger is a good man and a great priest. He’s currently serving as vicar for Queens—and just last Sunday he visited our parish. I had the privilege of serving Mass and preaching for him. Little did we know we had a future bishop in our midst! (He’s also a regular and enthusiastic reader of these pages and therefore qualifies as a Friend of The Bench, or... Read more
What a year. I clicked on my computer early that morning to check the overseas news, and thought for sure it must have been a hoax. “Huh. Somebody probably hacked Reuters or something…” Read John Allen’s excellent analysis from yesterday’s Boston Globe. And Rocco has more on the aftershocks. And God bless Pope Benedict. Long live Pope Francis, who today tweeted: Read more
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