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The Deacon's Bench

A pal sent this my way this morning: it’s a wonderful story about the last graduate of a Texas high school that closed its doors in 2006. Grab a box of Kleenex and watch.

One of the modern era’s great speechwriters has given an assessment of Mitt Romney’s “religion speech” yesterday: His text was warmly cool. It covered a lot of ground briskly, in less than 25 minutes. His approach was calm, logical, with an emphasis on clarity. It wasn’t blowhardy, and it wasn’t fancy. The only groaner was,…

His name was Charles Sheldon – and he is one of the most influential preachers in American history. Don’t be surprised if you haven’t heard of him. Until I started looking into this, I hadn’t heard of him either. In 1896, Sheldon published a novel called In His Steps, about a small Kansas town that…

Since today is the feast of the legendary saint who is, in fact, Santa Claus, I thought you’d like to see how he is represented at the Cathedral of Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. The tapestries that hang there are stunners, beautiful and realistic, and St. Nick is no exception. Below is…

Some thoughtful people are beginning to argue that it is — and it’s not hard to see their point, when you scan the list of popular movies and books. Author Phillip Jenkins has even argued it is “the last acceptable prejudice.” And now, Melanie McDonagh takes to the pages of the New Statesman in Britain…

‘Tis the season for light. And both Jews and Christians have made the lighting of candles this time of year a celebration of God’s continued love for the world He created. In Wisconsin this week, there was a stirring reminder of that, as Jews and Catholics gathered for their first interfaith Hanukkah service: Two days…

While the media watches and wonders what Mitt Romney will have to say tomorrow in his “religion speech”, at least one person is taking the time and trouble to remind us that there are significant political and theological differences between Romney and the man to whom he is being closely compared, John Kennedy: In 1960,…

You can’t surf cable TV anymore without finding a show about “house flipping” — turning over some piece of property for tidy profit. Now a version of this seems to be playing out in Boston, where the former cardinal’s residence (seen on the left) and some other property is changing hands, according to this item…

Last Sunday, the choir at my parish offered us a little Handel for Advent: “And the Glory of the Lord,” sung during the offertory. It was a wonderful rendition, beautifully performed — and, I think, a joyous foretaste of Christmas. Here’s a version I found online, from the Choir of King’s College. Enjoy.

Here’s something you don’t see every day: a blog post from a television news anchor that is simply a Catholic prayer. It comes from my CBS colleague, Hannah Storm, who is about to depart as co-anchor of CBS’s The Early Show: Hi everybody! Thanks so much for all your well wishes and supportive comments. I…
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