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The Deacon's Bench

A dog receives a blessing at the Vatican today. You can read the story behind it right here.

Over at Inside Catholic, they’re offering this beautiful and heartfelt tribute to something so many of us have trouble with today: commitment. The ability stick to something — a marriage, a career, a vocation, a faith — is something that seems to be disappearing. Too many of us want the Easy Out. But this elegant…

Just in time for the anniversary of Roe v. Wade, some surprising but very encouraging news on the abortion front today, from the Chicago Tribune: The abortion rate in the United States has fallen to its lowest level since 1974, the first full year after the U.S. Supreme Court legalized the procedure nationwide, new data…

Shortly before the holidays, I became smitten with the Christian quartet Point of Grace, whose music I stumbled on almost by accident while driving around Maryland over Thanksgiving. I was punching buttons on the radio, trying to find some decent holiday music, and landed on a station playing their song “Not That Far From Bethlehem.”…

As many of you may have noticed, MCPF Stephen Colbert is finally back on the air. Once again, all is right with the world. And he’s been getting some nice buzz in Washington from, of all places, the Smithsonian: From the AP: Stephen Colbert was denied when he tried to run for president this year…

The sage John Allen last week posted this chin-scratcher, and it’s worth a read: his picks for the 10 most neglected Vatican-related stories of 2007. From NCR: Every society has its shorthand ways of signaling what it considers important. At the level of pop culture, Americans know something registers when David Letterman or Jon Stewart…

In a recent address, a leading American archbishop has offered a word or two of wisdom to those who seek to preach The Word. From CNS: Preaching effectively in U.S. multicultural communities hinges upon believing passionately in God’s word and his universal plan of salvation, Atlanta’s archbishop told U.S. seminarians studying in Rome. “If the…

I was delighted and humbled to see one of my pieces tagged at Busted Halo as part of their “Best of 2007.” The piece in question grew out of the homily I delivered at my Mass of Thanksgiving, on May 20th, 2007. I sent it along to BH’s editor Bill McGarvey and said, “You think…

Louisiana got a new governor Monday: an immigrant from India, and a convert to Catholicism. Here’s one report: Another page has turned in the post-Katrina history of Louisiana. Bobby Jindal, the 36-year-old son of Indian immigrants, was sworn in as the state’s governor today. A two-term Republican congressman, he takes over from Democrat Kathleen Blanco,…

A British paper has what may be the best “get” of this still-young year: an interview with the man who helped bring Tony Blair into the Catholic Church: Father Michael Seed may be, according to his great friend Ann Widdecombe, whom he received into the Catholic Church, “the missionary to celebrities”, but his office is…
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