As America marks the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington, many people may not know that the words “I have a dream” do not appear in the prepared text for the landmark speech—long considered one of the masterpieces of modern rhetoric. One of the men who helped craft that speech 50 years ago, Clarence B. Jones, recalled how it came together for the Washington Post a couple years ago: As we ate sandwiches, our suggestions tumbled out. Everyone, it... Read more
A reader alerted me to this a couple weeks ago, but as yet the Joliet diocese hasn’t published more information about the men. I can’t find a diocesan newspaper online. Too bad. This is news that more of the faithful should hear. Nonetheless, from the diocese’s vocations Facebook page, we have the picture above and the following: This past Saturday [August 17] Bishop Conlon ordained 17 men to the permanent diaconate at the Cathedral of St. Raymond in Joliet. It... Read more
Priests have been known to use them for celebrating Mass and for preaching. But the debate about whether it’s appropriate to use iPads in church goes on. Protestant ministers are weighing in: The tablet may undermine the spatio-temporal nature of church. When a member stands before the congregation, reading the sermon text from a tablet, there is something missing, something lifeless at play. Again, John Bombaro observes, “Digital texts are ephemeral; they are ontologically diminished.” There’s no “there” there, Bombaro laments. Surely this should... Read more
This will undoubtedly have the Catholic blogosphere buzzing this weekend. In a dramatic turnabout, Joseph Bottum comes out for gay marriage in the new issue of Commonweal. And he talks about it in an interview with the New York Times: Mr. Bottum’s change of heart is noteworthy. He makes several arguments. The first is pragmatic. Basic democratic premises like fairness, equal rights and majority rule suggest that the time for same-sex marriage has come, he says. We can agree, Mr.... Read more
A parishioner shared this with me, and it’s priceless. A little ditty by Richard Stilgoe and Peter Skellern about the Church of England—but it’s easily transferable (though, of course, we don’t have people like this in Catholic churches, do we?) Enjoy. Read more
Watch what happens when a man who appears to be Muslim needs help getting his tire changed. Read more
With beer! From CNS: Even before retired Pope Benedict XVI set up a pontifical council for new evangelization and convoked a world Synod of Bishops on the theme, a new group of Benedictine monks was using Latin and liturgy to reach out to those whose faith was weak or nonexistent. Now they’ve added beer to the blend, and people are flocking to the monastery in Norcia, the birthplace of St. Benedict, about 70 miles northeast of Rome in the Umbrian... Read more
Yes, editors are seriously wrestling with this question. Evidently, some contend that a person’s desire to be something trumps the reality of his or her actual gender. From the New York Times: It was an announcement that left typically agile news presenters, reporters and editors stumbling over their words on Thursday: the lawyer for Pfc.Bradley Manning told the “Today” show that his client would like to be considered a woman and referred to as Chelsea. With that, the debate over how... Read more
From the Baptist Press via the Biblical Recorder: As Hispanic populations across the United States, many of which are traditionally Catholic, continue to increase, so do opportunities for Southern Baptist churches to address the spiritual questions of current and former Catholics. Hispanics made up 38.1 percent of the population of Texas in 2011, the U.S. Census reports. This reflects a nearly 10 percent increase since 2006, when Hispanics accounted for 35.7 percent of all Texans, according to the Texas Comptroller... Read more
Behold, Nicholas Selby’s jaw-dropping welcome speech to students at Georgia Tech this week. It almost makes me want to go back to school. Almost. Read more about it here. Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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