From the National Catholic Reporter: If anyone wants an example of what the emphasis on mercy under Pope Francis looks like in action, they’ll find one this afternoon in Rome at the Church of the Gesù, the mother church of the pope’s Jesuit order, where a funeral will be celebrated for a Colombian transgendered and homeless person beaten to death five months ago. The body of Andrea Quintero, who struggled with drug addiction and lived on the streets in the... Read more
Lest we forget, some beautiful words from my friend, Trappist Fr. James Stephen Behrens: The world is a feast of mysteries and we see but really do not understand them. We cannot penetrate them with our knowledge, our alleged sophistication. Yet they come again and again. We cannot catch them and hold them, to better see what we have, what we are given. It is believed by many that Jesus is the greatest mystery of all mysteries. Son of God,... Read more
Details: The angels will not be heard on high, nor will the little Lord Jesus sleep in heavenly peace at the Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center. The Augusta hospital announced Monday that it’s taking a stricter stance on its policy banning carolers from singing religious Christmas music in public patient areas. Last week, the facility prevented a group of high school students from Augusta’s Alleluia Community School from singing to its veterans a number of traditional holiday tunes that honor... Read more
One of its former students: Martin Scorsese. Details from The New York Daily News: The Catholic Church is peddling a piece of history — the oldest Catholic school in the city. The cash-strapped Archdiocese of New York is selling off the St. Patrick’s Old Cathedral School on Prince St., on the grounds of the original St. Patrick’s Cathedral in Little Italy, according to papers filed in Manhattan Supreme Court. The school once boasted students such as Oscar-winning filmmaker Martin Scorsese, who... Read more
More from my new Lumix LX7, with an amazing Leica lens that just drinks up the light. Merry Christmas, Day Two, from my in-laws’ home in Maryland. Below, Christmas Still Life: tree, father-in-law, fire, TV. Who could ask for anything more? Oh, and there are a couple small dogs involved, too. Below, the “upstairs tree.” Dessert: more chocolate mousse, and a slab of an Oreo cookie ice cream log. Read more
Photo: Dan Gross/The Gazette What a great idea: It was like a collection basket in reverse. Instead of collecting money to help the church’s outreach programs, Pastor Anne Benefield of Geneva Presbyterian Church in Potomac put money and a challenge in the hands of her parishioners. At the end of her Sept. 8 sermon, each adult parishioner was handed $50 in honor of the church’s 50th anniversary. Each child received $5. In all she gave out $6,600. The money came... Read more
Details: A Pennsylvania appeals court has ruled that a Roman Catholic Church official was wrongly convicted for his handling of priest sex-abuse complaints. The unanimous decision released Thursday by the state Superior Court also dismisses the criminal case against Monsignor William Lynn, a Philadelphia area priest. Lynn has been serving three to six years in prison after his child-endangerment conviction last year. Prosecutors had argued that Lynn reassigned predators to new parishes in Philadelphia when he was secretary for clergy... Read more
Okay. And this helps her cause…how?? Details: An activist of FEMEN women’s movement staged a protest action during a Christmas mass in the main cathedral of Cologne, Kolner Dom. The topless girl climbed onto the altar of the cathedral in protest against the Vatican propaganda of criminalization of abortions. The woman displayed a slogan “I am God” written on her body. “FEMEN demands Vatican elders and their fanatical followers should stop producing medieval chimera and bring religious dogma in line... Read more
Inspired by my blog neighbor Rebecca Hamilton, I thought I’d write about my own recent investment in a new camera. A lot of us of a certain age remember the camera shown here: a nifty Kodak Instamatic that used up plastic flashbulbs like ice cubes. My dad took hundreds, if not thousands, of pictures with one of those. We have shoeboxes full of curled and faded photographs, many off-center or off-kilter, from Christmases and Easters and graduations and weekend trips... Read more
“One evening, while awaiting his train at Penn Station, my elder son was approached by a disheveled, mildly aromatic middle-aged woman; she said she was hungry and wondered if he might spare some change. Instead, he walked with her to a food stand and bought her a hamburger and fries and a drink. As she ate, he sat with her, and they chatted pleasantly. When I asked him why he didn’t simply hand her a few dollars and keep walking,... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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