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The Deacon's Bench

My cyber-pal The Anchoress sent me this bewildering story about an Episcopalian priest who decided she wanted to become a Muslim. And The Anchoress then proceeds to do a little head-scratching (under her whimple, of course) and wonder why, in the name of God, this woman felt compelled to switch teams when she could find…

It’s called the Cathedral of Christ The Light, and it’s planned for Oakland, California. Price tag: a whopping $190 million. That’s $10 million more than Our Lady of the Angels in Los Angeles. And about $60 million more than originally budgeted. I’ll leave it to the architecture critics to decide if it’s a bargain. And…

The Vatican’s ambassador to Poland (seen on the left) had some sharp words for Poland’s priests, telling them in effect to stop inserting politics into their homilies: “I wish liturgical services in Poland would not turn into public rallies and just dispose people to be more human and more Catholic,” said Archbishop Jozef Kowalczyk, the…

To the delight of about half the human race, Paul Potts won that TV competition in Britain over the weekend. He now gets to sing for the Queen. Who, undoubtedly, has already watched his original performance again and again on YouTube (if not via The Deacon’s Bench.) Break out your hankies. You can catch his…

Thanks to fair Amy, I found this link to the New York Observer’s piece on the former mayor of New York — the most famous (or infamous) Catholic now running for President. Those of us who lived through 9/11 here in New York will never forget what Rudy did for this city. And many who…

That seems to be the theme of Evan Almighty, the sequel to Bruce Almighty. And I suspect it’s a question many of us have wondered about — certainly those of us who have felt called, however improbably, to a religious vocation. The trailer looks hilarious (you can see it below) and I’m now bracing myself…

Just stumbled across this terrific meditation on God as Father, written by Marcellino D’Ambrosio. While it has nothing to do with today’s readings for the Eleventh Sunday in Ordinary Time, it could serve as an inspiring Father’s Day homily — or, at least, heartfelt food for thought. Take a gander: Most of the great religions…

A classic episode of The Simpsons told the story of Bart and Homer taking instruction to become Catholic. Liam Neeson, as I recall, was the voice of the priest who taught them. And Homer cheated on the final exam by writing “transubstantiation” on his arm. But thanks to the modern miracle that is YouTube, we…

Well now, who’da thunk? This little story ran a couple weeks ago and didn’t get much national attention. The subject is “pulpit plagiarism”: when preachers borrow, lift or even buy a sermon and pass it off as their own. It popped up in my Google news summary, and I’m sure it will leave some people…

I’ve come across some remarkable and moving stories about how men chose to become deacons — or, rather, how God chose them. It’s the ordination season, after all, and it makes good copy. Take, for example, this little gem from Charleston, South Carolina, about a new deacon named Paul Mahefky: “There were guys who said…
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