Here’s a topic rarely brought up in Catholic circles. This comes from Tammy Ruiz, a nurse and bereavement coordinator: What has genuinely surprised me (and the main reason I wanted to write on this topic) is the overbearing sense of expectations I perceive coming from others and how it really hurt me and complicated my healing. I urge you not to do this to others in my circumstance. I have heard it said that a marriage is like a house... Read more
Several weeks ago, I wrote about my memorable visit to Denver, where I got to meet a few luminaries in the local church. Now Deacon Keith Fournier has reported on his visit there, and posted a speech delivered recently by Deacon Joseph Donohoe, the Director of Deacon Personnel for the Archdiocese of Denver, outlining developments in the diaconate therer. A snip below: A renewed emphasis has been placed on Deacons to study scripture and know the Gospels intimately, so that when... Read more
Msgr. Funaro, seated, with the parish clergy, just before Midnight Mass 2012. My pastor emeritus, Msgr. Joseph Funaro, is gravely ill. Please whisper a prayer for him and all who love him. He mentored me through diaconate formation, and helped make me the deacon I am today. Across the years, he has been a gracious and generous friend to both me and my wife. But more importantly: above all else, Joe Funaro is a good and faithful priest. Below is... Read more
Several weeks ago, I wrote about my memorable visit to Denver, where I got to meet a few luminaries in the local church. Now Deacon Keith Fournier has reported on his visit there, and posted a speech delivered recently by Deacon Joseph Donohoe, the Director of Deacon Personnel for the Archdiocese of Denver, outlining developments in the diaconate therer. A snip below: A renewed emphasis has been placed on Deacons to study scripture and know the Gospels intimately, so that when... Read more
Msgr. Funaro, seated, with the parish clergy, just before Midnight Mass 2012. My pastor emeritus, Msgr. Joseph Funaro, is gravely ill. Please whisper a prayer for him and all who love him. He mentored me through diaconate formation, and helped make me the deacon I am today. Across the years, he has been a gracious and generous friend to both me and my wife. But more importantly: above all else, Joe Funaro is a good and faithful priest. Below is... Read more
Here’s a topic rarely brought up in Catholic circles. This comes from Tammy Ruiz, a nurse and bereavement coordinator: What has genuinely surprised me (and the main reason I wanted to write on this topic) is the overbearing sense of expectations I perceive coming from others and how it really hurt me and complicated my healing. I urge you not to do this to others in my circumstance. I have heard it said that a marriage is like a house... Read more
An amazing saga, from the Louisville Record: Sister Mary Emily Burks, a Louisville native who died last month at age 92, was one of five siblings who, in the 1930s and 40s, joined the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, Maryland. The sisters grew up as members of St. Augustine Church at 13th Street and West Broadway near downtown Louisville. They were among eight siblings — six daughters and two sons of Emma and Charles Burks. Oblate Sister of Providence Mary Emily Burks, left,... Read more
Details from the Irish Times: A search for a religion with ‘more morals’ than the Catholicism she was raised in led Katherine Russell, 24, the widow of Boston bomber Tamerlan Tsarnaev, to convert to Islam, her husband’s former friend has revealed. [img attachment=”76010″ align=”alignleft” size=”full” alt=”BLOG – DEACON GREG – bomberwife” /] According to the Boston Globe, retiree Donald Larking, 67, commenced an unlikely friendship with Tamerlan in 2011 when the Boston bomber was 25 and his mother Zubeidat Tsarnaev had begun caring for Larking’s quadriplegic... Read more
The Anchoress had a scare the other night—and it turns out, there are many out there who believe the best weapon against Satan may not be prayer, but a pistol. Check this out, from Huffington Post: Every email Carl Chinn sends features the same signature: his name, followed by Chapter 4, Verse 9 from the Book of Nehemiah. “We prayed to our God and posted a guard.” On Sept. 10, Chinn will lead a seminar for several local, faith-based organizations... Read more
Here’s a topic rarely brought up in Catholic circles. This comes from Tammy Ruiz, a nurse and bereavement coordinator: What has genuinely surprised me (and the main reason I wanted to write on this topic) is the overbearing sense of expectations I perceive coming from others and how it really hurt me and complicated my healing. I urge you not to do this to others in my circumstance. I have heard it said that a marriage is like a house... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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