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The Deacon's Bench

Benedict with his bling. Details here.

And he’s not as young as you may think: The Hong Kong diocese has ordained its youngest ever permanent deacon at the age of 45. Stephen Kwok Ping-fai was one of a group of four ordained at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception on July 24. Bishop John Tong Hon presided over the ordination Mass…

Many know him only as the University of Illinois professor who was sacked for explaining Catholic teaching on homosexual behavior. But the backstory is very compelling — and his life up to that point anything but ordinary: The University of Illinois scholar who lost his job over his exposition of Catholic teachings has walked a…

Not really a surprising bit of news — but a very nice one nonetheless: Deacon Jack Sullivan, from the Archdiocese of Boston Massachusetts, is to proclaim the Gospel at the Cardinal Newman’s Beaitifcation Mass to be celebrated by Pope Benedict, at Cofton Park Birmingham, on Sunday 19 September. Rev Sullivan was miraculously cured from a…

A BBC blogger is raising the possibility, after noting a couple other names: If not Chris Patten or Ann Widdecombe, then perhaps Paul Murphy, the former Secretary of State for Northern Ireland — a devout Catholic and a papal knight — will be approached. And if they wish to stick with a Northern Irish theme,…

Seems a candidate brought a statue of Mary to a political debate, and created an unholy mess: Four mayoral hopefuls took the stage at the Providence Career & Technical Academy auditorium on Wednesday in a debate centered on the minority community, following a more than one-hour delay in which Democratic mayoral candidate Christopher F. Young…

Yep. Happens all the time. I’m pushing my cart through the aisles of the grocery store in my Queens neighborhood, and people just break into song. Sure.  Why not?  I love New York.

A big fat h/t to The Concord Pastor, who posted this on his blog today. This remains one of my favorite pieces of music. In fact, one of the sopranos in our parish choir was going to sing it at my Mass of Thanksgiving, but she had to leave town for a family wedding that…

“This is another calling for me. I don’t think you can change a community unless you love it first. Jesus gave a command to love one another. I take that seriously. He also said, ‘This is how people will know you are my disciples, that you love one another’ and love your community. Mother Teresa…

Here’s a heartening vocation story that should serve as a reminder to us all that every life can bear witness: When Father Michael Silloway was a young man, the epitome of the Catholic faith was his grandfather, a permanent deacon in the Diocese of Buffalo, N.Y. His grandfather’s life of service to the Church planted…
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