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The Deacon's Bench

Some months back, I posted on the capital campaign underway at the Trappist Monastery of the Holy Spirit down in Georgia. Now this development has made the local news. Take a look: Father Methodius Telnack has lived on the grounds of the Monastery of the Holy Spirit in Conyers for 61 years. When he first…

Bored? Try this on for size. Weird Al’s inspired — dare I say, ingenious? — re-invention of an old Bob Dylan video, done entirely in palindrome.  (Clearly, I have too much time on my hands…) And, for comparison, the original, below.

“The Stoning of St. Stephen” by James Michaels As I was looking over the readings for this weekend, I thought they sounded very familiar, and then it dawned on me: these were the same readings at my Mass of Thanksgiving, celebrated three years ago just after I was ordained. As I approach the anniversary of…

The circumstances were extraordinary — and the decision, I’m sure, was not easy to make. But the result has sparked a growing controversy in Arizona, where even the bishop has now intervened. From the Arizona Republic: A Catholic nun and longtime administrator of St. Joseph’s Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix was reassigned in the…

A friend sent me along this item from Creative Minority Report, which notes a commentary by Katie Couric, marking the anniversary of The Pill. As CMR notes: In these times of high unemployment and dangerous deficits one issue has become so awful and dangerous to America that CBS news anchor Katie Couric has called for…

From Ohio comes this story of a convicted killer’s final moments — which included praying the rosary with a bishop: [Michael] Beuke spent an emotional 24 hours at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility where Ohio’s death house is located ahead of his execution. Prisons spokeswoman Julie Walburn said he cried frequently, played music on a…

This item, out of Baltimore, has to be one of the more unusual vocation stories of this ordination season: This year, about 440 men will be ordained into the priesthood, including 62-year-old Deacon Greg Rapisarda. Deacon Rapisarda currently conducts Mass with his son, Father John Rapisarda. Two years ago, Deacon Rapisarda said he had to…

“All things are possible in the world where poor Jewish carpenters rise from the dead!” — My friend the God Googler, Mike Hayes, in an e-mail to me. I needed to hear that today.  Thanks, MIke.

I didn’t know she was Catholic, did you? Her funeral will happen tomorrow, according to this report: Celebrities, family and friends will gather Friday for Lena Horne’s funeral at a Roman Catholic church in Manhattan. The great singer and actress died Sunday at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. She was 92. Her funeral is scheduled for 10 a.m.…

Pope Benedict blesses a baby as he arrives to celebrate mass in Fatima, May 13, 2010. Photo from CNS/Reuters
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