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The Deacon's Bench

Anyone curious to catch up on the World Youth Day festivities should wander over to EWTN, which seems to have the definitive site for this event, complete with blogs, video, news items, pictures — you name it. Meantime, there’s this great video, from the closing of the WYD in 2005, featuring the theme song for…

I’m a little late posting this, but it’s well worth your time and attention: take a look at what Elizabeth Scalia, The Anchoress, has to say about abortion. I suspect the arguments over it have never before been presented with such clarity and, in fact, poetry. Because Scalia raises the debate to the level of…

As Australians gather for World Youth Day, a young Catholic lawyer Down Under has taken on a new role, as apologist for the faith. Take a look: I am a young Catholic and I would like to apologise for my faith. By apology I do not mean an expression of regret. Rather, I am referring…

It’s not uncommon to find men who turn to the priesthood as a second career, maybe in their 30’s or 40’s. But this is the first I’ve heard of a man doing it at 26, after a successful career in professional soccer. From USA Today: When he was playing professional soccer in Chile, Chase Hilgenbrinck…

A blogging friend sent this bit of information my way: details for Tony Snow’s funeral on Thursday. This comes from the website for the Basilica Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington: Mass of Christian Burial for Tony Snow Thursday, 17 July 2008 10:00 am – Funeral Mass – Great Upper Church Open to the…

It was great to see this article in the New York Times: a profile of Catholic radio in New York City, with a special focus on a budding enterprise known as the Catholic Channel. At a time when New Media (including this here little blog) seems to have eclipsed the Old, it’s heartening to see…

My wife’s parents, Gerry and Brenda Meyer, celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary last weekend. They renewed their vows at a special mass on Saturday. This is my homily for that occasion. Last week, Maureen Dowd, the columnist for the New York Times, wrote about all the celebrity divorces going on. People like Christie Brinkley and…

I’m wrapping up a long weekend in Maryland, where my wife and I have been celebrating my in-laws’ 50th wedding anniversary; yesterday, there was a small mass for the family, with about 20 kinfolk — children, grandchildren, extended family — in attendance. Your Humble Blogger was deacon — preaching the homily and renewing their vows…

Some happy news report from our neighbors to the north, as the Archdiocese of Edmonton just ordained its first class of deacons: It was with joy and awe that the Edmonton Archdiocese welcomed its first class of permanent deacons July 4. In a moving celebration at St. Joseph Basilica, Edmonton Archbishop Richard Smith ordained 11…

Sally Quinn, famous non-Catholic communicant, has taken pen in hand to explain herself, after all the controversy surrounding her reception of the sacrament at Tim Russert’s funeral. She seems chastened by the experience: In a thoughtful and gently remonstrative piece in America magazine, the national Catholic Weekly, James Martin, S.J. wrote: “So Miss Quinn is…
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