You may remember this story about a young man named Dustin Rhodesbattling brain cancer. The reporter who wrote that piece, Teresa McMinn, now has this update: Dustin Rhodes and his high school sweetheart Rebecca used to train together for York Catholic’s cross country teams. Frequently, practice for meets included a run up the incline near Mount Rose Cemetery. On Monday, the top of that hill will mark the final resting place for Dustin Rhodes, who died on Wednesday at age 29.... Read more
Photo: Gregory Shemitz A great profile of a great priest, from Greenwich Time: For a man just appointed by Pope Francis to be bishop of the Diocese of Bridgeport, which covers all of Fairfield County, [Bishop Frank] Caggiano has rather humble roots. He was born on Easter Sunday 1959, into an Italian family so new to the U.S. that his parents couldn’t even name him after his grandfather, Francesco, as they wished. When a hospital nurse wrote down “Frank” on... Read more
Fr. Paul, center, with clergy from the parish before Mass. For several years now, my parish has undertaken a novena to St. John Vianney, patron of parish priests, as a way to support seminarians and pray for vocations. The novena opens with a Mass celebrated by a jubilarian priest; it closes on a Sunday, as close as possible to John Vianney’s feast day, with a choir Mass celebrated by a newly ordained priest. Afterward, he offers blessings in a nearby... Read more
Some astute analysis of where we are today, from Rev. Paul Scalia (son of Antonin): The Church, like a nation, must defend herself and her faith. She must fight for the truth and for the salvation of souls. This demands doing battle, for which reason we call ourselves the Church Militant. Like a nation, however, the Church also encounters a danger: that the fighting spirit of the Church Militant turn against her. The danger is not of fighting—but of only... Read more
From my Shamelessly Proud of Where I Came From file…a great story involving my alma mater in Maryland, St. Vincent Pallotti High School: The first two people in line arrived within 10 minutes of each other Friday evening, ready to sleep on the sidewalk overnight for free dental care at a high school in Laurel on Saturday morning. Twelve hours later, one woman was reclining in a dentist’s chair, getting a new tooth made of a synthetic composite. The other was... Read more
Details: If measured in spirit, there is hardly a soul who would question the success of Pope Francis’ Mass on giant Copacabana beach last weekend. The count when it comes to the flesh-and-blood numbers of faithful who actually attended is an entirely different matter. The Vatican said an historic 3.7 million people were at the Sunday event, an eye-popping number that would have made it the second largest papal Mass ever. But number crunchers were splashing cold water on those... Read more
It was a mesmerizing and deeply moving moment during the pope’s visit last week. But who was the guy on his knees strumming the guitar? From Religion News Service: Growing up Roman Catholic in Newfoundland, Matt Maher never imagined that his childhood interest in music would lead to a career as a Grammy-nominated, chart-topping Christian rocker — let alone a crossover artist featured on Christian radio and in evangelical worship. Growing up Roman Catholic in Newfoundland, Matt Maher never imagined that his... Read more
Photo: Keila Torres Ocasio This will certainly be of interest to Bridgeport’s new bishop. Details: It was like those cartoon moments when a light bulb appears to symbolize the spark of a new idea. A staffer at Congregation Rodeph Sholom, accepting the synagogue’s correspondence from a mail carrier, asked the man if he wanted water. But on that scorching hot day the carrier, a Muslim, said no. The 30-day period of Ramadan had begun, and he was fasting. The staffer... Read more
A priest reader dropped me the following note: I know you often like to report deacon ordinations. Today, Bishop Charles Thompson ordained 11 men for the Diocese of Evansville, Indiana. They are good and holy men. Peace! A visit to the diocese’s web page revealed the Twitter feed for the newspaper, The Message, and these great new pictures of the freshly ordained deacons and their happy bishop. Below, a great shot of the cathedral, with some 700 people in attendance... Read more
Well, looking around the pews on any given Sunday, I get the impression that’s what some people seem to think. I wrote about that a couple years ago. Now a blog dubbed The Catholic Gentleman has taken up the cause. The author offers some advice: While I think every man should dress up for mass, I’m not about to prescribe exactly what you should wear. It’s not my place to recommend a three piece suit, a certain color of pants, or... Read more
The Deacon's Bench
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