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The Deacon's Bench

I thought it might be interesting to just post a few pictures from today’s mass at Yankee Stadium, to give you a “Deacon’s Bench” glimpse of the day. My wife and I left Forest Hills, in Queens, about 9 a.m. and — this is unreal — we were at the stadium and walking through the…

One of the better shots I took at Yankee Stadium, if I do say so myself: the Holy Father waving goodbye after the final blessing and preparing to start recessing into the dugout. For the curious: it’s a Pentax K100 digital SLR with 18-200 Tamron zoom. ISO 400. Shutter 1/750. Aperture: f 9.5.

John Allen over at NCR confirms what I suspected after I spied Rudy Giuliani in the communion line at St. Patrick’s Cathedral: At least three times during Pope Benedict XVI’s visit to the United States, a prominent pro-choice Catholic politician has received communion during a papal Mass. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Massachusetts Senator John…

Here it is: proof that Your Humble Blogger was indeed at Yankee Stadium today for the big papal finale. The fellow on the left is yours truly, from approximately where we sat for the mass. I’ll post more after my fingers thaw. You’ll note my hands are in my pockets. There’s a good reason for…

Peggy Noonan has taken pen in hand to write about the pope’s visit — and captured this moment in time as only she can: You knew he had arrived by the cheer that welled up from the street. It was electric. Suddenly inside the cathedral, where 3,000 people were waiting, it turned quiet and everyone…

We’ve heard much about the Latino influence on the American Catholic Church — and how the tide of immigrants is replenishing the faith. But not all of those who come to this country Catholic remain in the Church. And the New York Times is taking a long and interesting look at this phenomenon — and…

So let us lift our gaze upward! And with great humility and confidence, let us ask the Spirit to enable us each day to grow in the holiness that will make us living stones in the temple which he is even now raising up in the midst of our world. If we are to be…

Watching the mass at St. Patrick’s Cathedral this morning on EWTN, I got a glimpse of Rudolph Giuliani. In line. For communion. Maybe he just got a blessing. I dunno. He also popped up at the end of the mass with his wife, greeting the Holy Father as he left the sanctuary.

Anyone curious about how young people are responding to Pope Benedict just hop over to Inside Catholic, where there’s a terrific piece by Elizabeth Scalia and John-Patrick Mauro on that very subject. They look at the reaction to the pontiff at Catholic University: For students who had known only one pope their whole lives, the…

A reader sent me some news several days ago: a new group of deacons was ordained earlier this month in the Diocese of Worcester (Massachusetts). The local Catholic paper had the news: Bishop McManus will ordain seven men into the permanent diaconate tomorrow morning at the Cathedral of St. Paul. Scott R. Reisinger and Frank…
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