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The Deacon's Bench

It happened in May, just a few weeks before the World Cup began. CNA has details: The Argentinean daily La Nacion featured a story this week on the Dutch soccer player Wesley Sneijder, who scored the winning goal against Brazil in the World Cup quarter finals last week. The article revealed his conversion and baptism,…

Last week, I posted this potent and wrenching video by a former CBS colleague Barry Petersen, recounting his wife’s steady decline into Alzheimer’s. It’s since popped up elsewhere around the blogosphere, and is generating some thoughtful response, including over at The Anchoress. Now Elizabeth Scalia has just started a new gig over at Patheos, and…

…there was Jay Gatsby. With AMC running a “Mad Men” marathon these days–leading up to the series fourth season premiere on July 25–I thought it was a good time to revisit this classic tale of power, passion, secrecy and pink shirts. This 1974 movie version of “The Great Gatsby” (written by Francis Ford Coppola, of…

It happened in India: Suspected Islamic militants have chopped off a Catholic professor’s hand in Kerala for allegedly insulting Islam in an exam question paper. Professor T.J. Joseph was attacked on July 4 in while returning home from Sunday mass with his mother and sister, a Catholic nun. Kochi inspector-general of police, B. Sandya, told…

“I grow old… I shall wear the bottoms of my trousers rolled…” — TS Eliot, “Lovesong of J.Alfred Prufrock” Yeah, I hear you, Alfred. The other day, I decided to try out a new barber shop.  A nice young Greek fellow named Nick did a fine job.  When he finished, since there’s a “seniors” discount,…

Down the hall and into the bathroom? Huh? Read this, from OSV’s Mary DeTurris Poust, and shake your head in disbelief: This weekend at Mass we were sitting in the front pew, as we usually do. During Communion, my husband, Dennis, and I saw two little girls receive communion in the hand but not put…

In a show of solidarity, religious leaders in one southern city are speaking with one voice on the subject of immigration: The Rev. John W. Bowie knows it is hard to sell the people in his neighborhood on the idea that they should support changing immigration laws to give illegal immigrants a path to citizenship.…

And you’re also, in effect, the publisher. Behold, the revolution of the new media enters a new phase, thanks to Yahoo. And it’s reported today in the old media, the New York Times: For as long as hot lead has been used to make metal type, the model for generating news has been top-down: editors…

One more patriotic tribute for this holiday weekend. Please rise and salute.

How does a preacher prepare for the Sunday homily? A local paper in Oregon took up that question this weekend and asked preachers of various denominations — and got an interesting array of answers: Quaker pastor Stan Thornburg of North Valley Friends Church writes out his sermon in its entirety, but he rarely reads it.…
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