The Deacon's Bench
What were you doing six years ago today? Happy Anniversary to my brother deacons from Brooklyn: ad multos annos! Read more
What were you doing six years ago today? Happy Anniversary to my brother deacons from Brooklyn: ad multos annos! Read more
Specifically, he was talking about meddling and gossip. From his homily Saturday: The Christian must overcome the temptation to “interfere in the lives of others,” was the exhortation of Pope Francis at Mass this morning at the Casa Santa Marta. The Pope also stressed that talk and envy do so much harm to the Christian community. “What is it to you?” Pope Francis begin his homily referring to a question Jesus posed to Peter when he had meddled in the... Read more
Pope Francis has sparked a mini publishing boom. And recently I looked at three new books about him: While people may have different opinions about Pope Francis, we can all agree on this: he has been very good for the publishing industry. In the short time since his election and inauguration, publishers have rushed to put out Pope Francis books. And why not? He’s a source of endless fascination: the first pope from the Americas, the first who’s a Jesuit,... Read more
Priests in one archdiocese are reporting more people celebrating the sacrament: The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops voted in November to make confession a priority nationwide for this pastLent. At the time, Roman Catholic leaders in the Archdiocese of Hartford were already preparing a Lenten campaign of their own. The archdiocese this year publicized its call to confession on 12 radio stations and on billboards, social media and a website, light4you.info. Promotional materials were sent to its churches in Hartford, New Haven and... Read more
Details: During a House Ways and Means Committee hearing today, Rep. Aaron Schock, R-Ill., grilled outgoing IRS commissioner Steven Miller about the IRS targeting a pro-life group in Iowa. “Their question, specifically asked from the IRS to the Coalition for Life of Iowa: ‘Please detail the content of the members of your organization’s prayers,’” Schock declared. “Would that be an inappropriate question to a 501 c3 applicant?” asked Schock. “The content of one’s prayers?” “It pains me to say I... Read more
You may remember the inspiring story of a Jesuit priest in Los Angeles, who sent to the pope some letters from juvenile offenders. Well, the pope wrote back. The priest who started the ball rolling, Fr. Mike Kennedy, SJ, tells what happened: May 4 was a regular day until I started opening my mail. I noticed an envelope with the Vatican insignia printed on its back. I opened it and there was the papal seal embossed and in small... Read more
Some days back, I wrote about the Fitzgerald grave, which rests just outside the church where I was married 27 years ago. The Washington Post recently revisited the churchyard, and offers more about the fabled author’s final resting place: Things have changed for Scott and Zelda. “We usually see a handful of people visiting the cemetery in a given week,” said Rev. Monsignor Robert Amey, who has been with St. Mary’s since 2009. “That number has tripled in the last week.”... Read more
A sweet moment from earlier in the week, via Rome Reports. Watch video below. Read more
From WLS in Chicago: Roman Catholic priests who are sex abusers are being paid to handle prayer requests from unsuspecting families. For centuries, the Catholic faithful have arranged masses for sick relatives, deceased loved ones or in the memory of friends. They’re called “intentions” and usually Catholics offer a small donation. The I-Team has discovered some intentions are being farmed out to priests who are sex offenders; men banned from regular ministry- now paid to pray- and some of the... Read more
How long until we see something like this in church? Details: We can’t count the number of times we’ve wanted to enact vengeance on some inconsiderate audience member whose cell phone goes off during a performance. But, like most people, we just bottle that fury up deep down inside and take it out on the break room vending machine later. Not Kevin Williamson. Last night the National Review writer was in attendance at the marvelous new musical Natasha, Pierre, and the Great Comet of 1812 when... Read more
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