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The Deacon's Bench

The souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead; and their passing away was thought an affliction and their going forth from us, utter destruction. But they are in peace. For if before men, indeed, they…

Those were the desperate prayers of the Iraqis held hostage during mass on Sunday — a crisis that ended in a bloodbath: Around 5:20 p.m., as the Christian worshipers stood and recited “Upon this rock I will build my church,” the gunfire started on the street outside. Father Thar advised everyone to stay seated and…

Ouch. It happened in Connecticut, at a men’s conference that attracted hundreds of the faithful: The bright, sunny Saturday, Oct. 23, was a perfect day for men to tackle important projects: rake leaves, clean rain gutters, install storm windows, deepen their faith. Deepen their faith? Yes, that’s what more than 800 men did by attending…

“When I invite you to become saints, I am asking you not to be content with second best. I am asking you not to pursue one limited goal and ignore all the others. Having money makes it possible to be generous and to do good in the world, but on its own, it is not…

It will be interesting to see how far this discussion goes. From the Chicago Sun-Times: The Roman Catholic Church is pretty clear on who may join the priesthood: men only. And the way church leaders see it, there’s no room for debate, even though many adherents to the faith would like to see women in…

The pope had some wise things to say to young people from Catholic Action during a question and answer session Saturday: After a question from a young woman of Catholic Action, Benedict XVI responded, “It is very important, I would say fundamental, to learn to love, truly to love, to learn the art of real…

A dramatic standoff in an Iraqi Catholic church has come to a violent end. Details: At least seven Iraqi Christian worshipers and seven Iraqi security forces were killed Sunday night after commandos stormed a church in Baghdad where a band of suicide bombers had been holding parishioners hostage, Iraqi and U.S. military officials said. As…

Maybe, according to this report: Fifty years after the pill, another birth control revolution may be on the horizon: free contraception for women in the U.S., thanks to the new health care law. That could start a shift toward more reliable — and expensive — forms of birth control that are gaining acceptance in other…

That’s the title of a new documentary, about the world’s oldest holocaust survivor. The trailer is below. Here is grace, dignity, courage and hope, summed up so beautifully in her simple creed: “Music is God.”

For the last day of the month: what may arguably be Barry Manilow’s best song (or, at least, my own personal favorite), set to a gorgeous lyric by the legendary Johnny Mercer. The Wikipedia entry on this song says: In his last year, as he was dying from brain cancer, Mercer became extremely fond of…
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