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The Deacon's Bench

When I was in formation, I spent many weeks lugging around a massive volume “Reading the Old Testament” by Fr. Lawrence Boadt. (My shoulder still hasn’t recovered.) A couple years later, I actually got to meet Fr. Boadt at the offices of Paulist Press in New Jersey, and I told him he loomed so large…

At long last, after nearly a year, television’s best drama returns Sunday night. I’ll be watching. And listening. The writing crackles and hums, whistles and sings.  And the casting?  Pitch perfect.

I stumbled on this today, from my former CBS colleague Andrew Cohen (he still likes to call me “Rabbi”), and it’s too good to even try to describe. Just read it: The great love of my life marries today and I am not the groom. I had my chance, a few years ago, but did…

“In many ways, we are told to be separated…you are religious or you are practical. But why can’t we be one person? The seen and the unseen — we manifest both. Most indigenous shamans don’t give up their day job. They understand they need to be grounded in the material world. It’s not about working…

Outside Jerusalem, you can visit an unusual church that could be one of the most important – and most overlooked – in the world. It’s a little off the beaten path. Unlike most churches in the Holy Land, this one doesn’t pay tribute to a saint, or honor a miraculous event. This one pays tribute…

A local paper in Maryland has thrown the spotlight on a couple of newly ordained deacons in the Archdiocese of Washington. A snip: David Divins, of Jesus the Divine Word parish in Huntingtown, did not always know he had a future as a deacon. In his 20s, he said, God was not an important part…

How often do you see priests without collars? (Can you even tell?) Why should they wear them?  I stumbled on this compelling explanation. (Full disclosure: It was written by two priests. I know one of them, Fr. Gerald Murray, who’s been on a guest on “Currents” a time or two). Take a look, and share…

This news broke Thursday afternoon: The board of trustees of a Staten Island Catholic Church have rejected the controversial sale of a church building to a Muslim group looking to open a mosque. The collapse of the deal – which would have transferred the vacant convent of St. Margaret Mary Church to the Muslim American…

That’s the hook behind a new book by Cambridge-educated journalist Hephzibah Anderson. The author of “Chastened: The Unexpected Story of My Year Without Sex” chatted about it recently with TIME magazine: Looking back, what was the most surprising part of the year? I was certainly surprised by how sensual the world seemed. We tend to…

Sad news, from the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette: The Rev. Patrick Rager, 50, a Catholic priest widely regarded as a living saint for ministering to others as a fatal disease slowly paralyzed him, died Tuesday at home in West Homestead. “He really is a yet-to-be-canonized saint,” said Bishop David Zubik of Pittsburgh, who has archived papers for…
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