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The Deacon's Bench

When I was studying homiletics, we were taught to keep our homilies to a succinct seven minutes. Or less. But in this week’s America magazine blog The Good Word, we meet a priest who had a different idea, from blog meister Tim Reidy: How long should a good homily be? That question is often discussed.…

“Instead of choosing ‘great’ or impressive people in the eyes of the world, God uses the humble, the foolish, the weak and ‘those who count for nothing’ to accomplish his purposes. It is when we least expect it that the tiniest among us can humble the powerful.” — Cardinal Justin Rigali of Philadelphia, at last…

That issue, of course, is abortion. And the Catholic News Agency today filed this report of a remarkable debate on the issue that just took place in Colorado: A Catholic-sponsored debate about the ethics of abortion packed hundreds into an auditorium on the University of Colorado campus in Boulder, CO this past Friday night. The…

In the annals of opinion journalism, I don’t think I’ve encountered anything quite as idiotic as this: Rep. Daniel Lipinski (D-Ill.) has offered a resolution that will be taken up the by the House this week (H.Res. 916) honoring Catholic schools. The resolution, which is co-sponsored by 43 other lawmakers, congratulates America’s Catholic schools for…

Now for something completely different: “She’d been strangled with a rosary-not a run-of-the-mill rosary like you might get at a Catholic bookstore where Hail Marys are two for a quarter and indulgences are included on the back flap of the May issue of “Nuns and Roses” magazine, but a fancy heirloom rosary with pearls, rubies,…

Pope Benedict (who else?) greets the overflow crowd gathered to support him at Sunday’s Angelus. You can read the story behind the picture right here. A big h/t to Rocco at Whispers.

Is there something in the water? Or is it the Holy Spirit? Hollywood has just unleashed a spate of movies about unintended and unexpected pregnancies — and in every case, the mother chooses life. USA TODAY picks up on the trend and talks to some directors and critics about this mini-phenom: Today, the impending, though…

Anyone of a certain age who’s been through Catholic school remembers the stern nuns, the hard desks, the sting of a ruler on your knuckles or the click of large rosary beads as Sister walked by. Don’t you? Well, a few things have changed. And a high school student in Montana, Jordan Marquis, just got…

The Vatican is trying to correct the impression in some quarters that the pope is eager to turn back the clock to the days before Vatican II. Catholic News Service reports: Pope Benedict XVI has no intention of launching a liturgical “return to the past” but would like to recover some important elements that have…

This item from Florida is as surprising as it is rare: the story of a priest who truly gave of himself for a former parishioner. From Florida Catholic: Chances are, if you’ve ever had to hold your breath for more than a few seconds, you can imagine what it is like to fight for your…
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