Church of England to offer transgender ‘baptism-style’ services

Last updated on: December 11, 2018 at 10:06 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Details: The Church of England has encouraged its clergy to create baptism-style ceremonies for transgender people to welcome them into the Anglican faith. New pastoral guidance, published on Tuesday, advises clergy to refer to transgender people by their new name, though it stops short of being a baptism. The guidance, which was approved by the House of Bishops on Monday night, also details how elements including water and oil can be incorporated into the service. It also advises that as... Read more

TIME’s Person of the Year: ‘The Guardians’

Last updated on: December 11, 2018 at 12:07 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

TIME magazine made their announcement of Person of the Year this morning — and it was actually a group of persons, journalists whom the magazine dubbed “The Guardians.” For the first time, the magazine included a deceased person in that list, Jamal Khashoggi. The magazine published four different covers, highlighting four journalistic heroes. One cover includes the staff of the Capitol Gazette in Annapolis, where five journalists were killed last summer. One of them was a man I went to... Read more

UPDATE: Massachusetts deacon says he’s barred from preaching, will be reassigned

Last updated on: December 11, 2018 at 8:14 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

You may remember the recent story about a deacon who says he was being punished for offering prayers for an outspoken deacon in Buffalo. Now, an update: David Baillargeon, a deacon who claimed he was reprimanded for speaking out against the church’s handling of clergy sexual abuse, said Monday that he has been barred from preaching at Holy Family Parish Roman Catholic church in Russell and placed for reassignment. Baillargeon said he was informed during a morning meeting with the Rev. Ron F.... Read more

Great moments in culture: principal orders Nazi symbols removed from production of ‘The Sound of Music’

Last updated on: December 10, 2018 at 3:34 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

What the heil? Details: The hills are alive … with the sound of political correctness. Nazi props were temporarily declared verboten in LaGuardia High School’s production of the Third Reich-set classic “The Sound of Music” prior to the show’s Thursday night opening. The principal at the elite “Fame” school, Lisa Mars, ordered Nazi flags and symbols removed from the stage set of the beloved tale of the Von Trapp family, who fled the Nazis from their native Austria as Adolf... Read more

Ordination update: 4 new deacons for Kingston, Ontario

Last updated on: December 10, 2018 at 12:21 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

The vocation is growing among our neighbors to the north! Details: On Friday, December 7, 2018, four men of the Archdiocese of Kingston were ordained as Permanent Deacons by Archbishop Brendan O’Brien at St. Mary’s Cathedral. Their reception of Holy Orders marks the end of four years of pastoral and theological studies, prayer, and service activities. Each of these men will be assigned a pastoral appointment that will complement his Ministry of Charity, which is the central aspect of the... Read more

Bridgeport’s Bishop Caggiano appoints laywoman to lead parish

Last updated on: December 10, 2018 at 11:03 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

This is a first for the diocese — and, perhaps, a sign of more change to come in Bridgeport and elsewhere. Via Crux: Less than two months after serving as delegate in the Bishops Synod on Youth which called women’s leadership within the Church “a duty of justice,” Bishop Frank Caggiano has established a new leadership model in a Connecticut parish, appointing a woman to serve as parish life coordinator. The appointment of Dr. Eleanor W. Sauers, which was announced... Read more

Thomas Merton on the Son of God: ‘His place is with those who do not belong…’

Last updated on: December 10, 2018 at 9:59 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

The great Thomas Merton died 50 years ago today, and I can’t let this moment pass without sharing once again this reflection of his, which seems perfect for Advent and speaks to the times in which we live: “Into this world, this demented inn, in which there is absolutely no room for him at all, Christ has come uninvited. But because he cannot be at home in it, because he is out of place in it, and yet he must... Read more

The nun who tweets daily prayers to President Trump

Last updated on: December 10, 2018 at 6:45 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

I hadn’t heard about this until this week, but she’s been doing it ever since he came into office. From The New York Times: In 2005, Sister Susan Francois entered the Sisters of St. Joseph of Peace religious order on the West Coast. It was around this time, she said, that she noticed other nuns praying for President George W. Bush and then, President Barack Obama. In 2017, two years after she had relocated to the St. Joseph headquarters in Englewood Cliffs,... Read more

WATCH: Unveiling of sand sculpture Nativity scene at the Vatican

Last updated on: December 7, 2018 at 3:17 pm By Deacon Greg Kandra

Check this out, via CNS: Details: The annual unveiling of the Vatican’s Christmas tree and Nativity scene brought some much-needed warmth to people’s hearts as winter approached. Hundreds of people in St. Peter’s Square Dec. 7 applauded as white curtains unfurled, revealing a 52-foot wide artistic representation of Jesus’ birth made entirely of sand and dubbed the “Sand Nativity.” The bas-relief sculpture, which weighed over 700 tons, was made with sand from Jesolo, an Italian seaside resort town roughly 40... Read more

The woman of ‘Yes’: Homily for December 8, 2018, Solemnity of the Immaculate Conception

Last updated on: December 7, 2018 at 10:47 am By Deacon Greg Kandra

It probably began like any other day. There were prayers to be said. Chores to do. Bread to bake. Clothes to clean or sew. Water to draw from the well. We don’t know what the weather was like. Nobody knows if a storm might have persuaded her to stay indoors, or if the sun was so warm she wanted to go outside for a walk. But at some point in an otherwise forgettable day in an ordinary town in an... Read more