Seriously. A Boeing 777 made entirely of manila folders. It’s the brainstorm of 22-year-old Luca Iaconi-Stewart, a young man who clearly has vision, skill, patience—and a lot of time on his hands. Read more about it here. And see the full gallery of his amazing work here. Read more
Honestly? Sheesh: Password security is more important than ever. If you wonder which ones are the worst to use, check out the 25 most common passwords of 2013 and avoid them like the plague. According to password management company SplashData, the top three passwords of the year are “123456,” “password” and “12345678.” The top three passwords haven’t changed, but “123456” and “password” swapped places from last year. The company’s list of the “25 worst passwords of the year” was compiled using... Read more
I join the March for Life in Washington with my prayers. May God help us respect all life, especially the most vulnerable — Pope Francis (@Pontifex) January 22, 2014 Read more
Details: It may seem counterintuitive, but divorce rates are higher in religiously conservative “red” states than “blue” states, despite a Bible-based culture that discourages divorce. In a new study titled “Red States, Blue States, and Divorce: Understanding the Impact of Conservative Protestantism on Regional Variation in Divorce Rates,” which will be published later this month in the American Journal of Sociology, demographer and University of Austin professor Jennifer Glass set out to discoverwhy divorce rates would be higher in religious states like... Read more
photo: Darren McCollester/Getty Images “The normal Catholic in the parish might hear a sermon on abortion once a year. They’ll never hear a sermon on homosexuality or gay marriage. They’ll never hear a sermon about contraception. But if you look at the New York Times, in the course of a week, there will be 20 articles on those topics. So who is obsessed? Now, the Church’s positions are very clear and very consistent. For us, life is at the very... Read more
Details: The president of a suburban Seattle Catholic school has resigned in the turmoil following the school’s decision to force out a vice principal who married his same-sex partner. Eastside Catholic School trustees have accepted Sister Mary Tracy’s resignation, effective immediately. In an email sent to parents, staff and others Tuesday evening, trustees said it was a “difficult but necessary decision” for Tracy. The school and former Vice Principal Mark Zmuda have disputed the circumstances of his December departure. Zmuda... Read more
From our Church of England siblings in the Diocese of York in the U.K. comes this press release: A communion service set to the music of Les Miserables will be held at York Minster at 7.30pm on Sunday 19th January. Led by Transcendence, a team which holds a regular Multimedia Eucharist at York Minster, this service will feature prayers and hymns set to the tunes from the famous musical. The Revd Sue Wallace, who will be preaching at the service,... Read more
This is astounding. Girls to canoeing and out of nowhere, a “murmuration” of starlings appears. This article explains. But just watch. You want an amazing flash mob? It doesn’t get any better than this. God outdoes Himself. Again. Read more
Well, this gets my vote. And on a cold, icy miserable day here in New York, with the temperature falling and snow accumulation rising, this could warm even the iciest heart. Given what I slipped and slogged through on the way home tonight, I’m convinced the people here are doing this to just to keep warm. You can read more here. (H/T to Elizabeth Scalia, who knew I’d be a sucker for this.) So sit back and watch what happens when... Read more
A tradition continues. Watch below, courtesy Rome Reports: A couple years ago, CNS described some of the history and customs surrounding the blessing, which occurs on the feast of St. Agnes: L’Osservatore Romano, the Vatican newspaper, interviewed Holy Family Sister Hanna Pomnianowska about her convent’s role in the ancient tradition which makes a connection between the name of St. Agnes, an early Christian martyr, and “agnus,” the Latin word for lamb. The wool of the lambs blessed on the feast... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
Ad-Free & Subscriber Log-In