How is this for love? From Battle Rattle/Marine Times: Former Marine Staff Sgt. Jesse Cottle told KTVB in Idaho that he joined the Corps in 2003. The explosive ordinance disposal Marine was on a foot patrol in Afghanistan in 2009 when he stepped on a pressure plate that triggered a blast. Cottle was left a double amputee, having lost his legs after struck by an anti-personnel improvised explosive device. The explosion was caught on camera, KTVB reported, as one of his fellow... Read more
A reader sent this my way: the first shot of the newly ordained deacons from the Diocese of Joliet (whom I first mentioned here.). Congratulations, brothers! Read more
I’m sure by now you’ve had your fill of the shock, outrage, apoplexy, hysteria and hilarity that have ensued following your headline-making appearance on MTV the other night. How does it feel to be a cultural icon for all that’s wrong with western civilization? I imagine your manager has sent you flowers and congratulatory notes. “Any publicity is good publicity, kiddo.” You are probably enthralled with the new reality that now awaits you: you have joined a pantheon that includes... Read more
I’ve seen her on the subway, shopping at Key Food, nibbling on french fries at McDonald’s, her mind clearly on something else. I imagine you’ve seen her, too. Keep her in your prayers. These are tough times to be a kid. And tough times to be a mother. St. Monica, on this your feast day, pray for us, and for all our children. Image: from St. Monica’s Church, Trenton, by John Nava, who created the stunning tapestries in the Los... Read more
A friend passed along a recent issue of The Tablet, the weekly magazine from the UK. It includes an excerpt from a new book on Jorge Mario Bergoglio, Pope Francis: Untying the Knots by Paul Vallely. Unfortunately, it’s only available online to subscribers. (You can visit the link here). But the excerpt charts the transformation of Jorge Bergoglio during his years working among the poor: One of [Bergoglio’s] Jesuit pupils, Fr. Rafael Velasco, now rector of the Catholic University of... Read more
Researchers say monks invented one of the most commonly used internet abbreviations. From Huffington Post: The @ symbol is one of the Internet’s most ubiquitous characters; and modern writers would probably be hard-pressed to think of a way that they would use it in a non-digital context. However, the “at” sign was actually invented hundreds of years ago, by monks, according to scholars. Before Gutenberg’s printing press, written material in the Western world consisted mainly of religious texts. The laborious process... Read more
Who knew? Details from CNS: During summer vacation season, when there is no congregation of Vatican workers and no homily, Pope Francis continues to celebrate daily Mass in his residence and, since mid-July, has been using hosts made by women incarcerated in an Argentine prison. The hosts were delivered to the pope July 16 by Bishop Oscar Ojea of San Isidro, who regularly visits the San Martin Penitentiary outside Buenos Aires. The prisoner in charge of making the hosts, Gabriela... Read more
Well now: there’s a picture you don’t see every day. Complete with altar server in surplice. Yee-haw! Details (and a prominent mention of one of our Patheos writers!) below: Bishop David Ricken, a founder of Wyoming Catholic College, flicked holy water across the prairie as a horse drawn cart took him over a portion of the 600 acres that will one day be the college’s home Sunday. Ricken is the former Bishop of the Diocese of Cheyenne. He now serves... Read more
Jimmy Akin writes, from a deep well: Every year in August I have a series of special days. First, the 22nd (Queenship of Mary) is the anniversary of my reception into the Church. Then comes my birthday. Then, on the 26th, it is the anniversary of my wife’s death. Visit his site for more. And follow the link to read his account of his young wife’s brief illness and early death. Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let... Read more
If you’re wondering: he’s the one on the left. From CatholicPhilly.com: In late May Father Dan Kredensor, a theology teacher at Archbishop Carroll High School in Radnor for the past two years, started planning activities with students on the ministry team for the upcoming school year. It’s been said that when you make plans, God laughs. This certainly seems to have happened with Father Kredensor, 32, who is now the youngest priest to be named a pastor in the Archdiocese... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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