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The Deacon's Bench

A lot of us know the story. It was the autumn of 1621. In Plymouth, Massachusetts, after a rich harvest, the men, women and children who had survived the first year in the New World gathered for a feast to offer thanks. One of the pilgrims wrote at the time: “By the goodness of God,…

Here’s something to be thankful for tomorrow: the Trappists at Genesee, celebrating their 50th year in upstate New York. (Those of us who loved Henri Nouwen’s “Genesee Diary” will find this brief video especially captivating.) Enjoy.

The perp involved in a crime that took place more than half a century ago has evidently had a change of heart: The mystery of a portable radio stolen 54 years ago from a Clarke College teacher’s lounge may never be solved, but the anonymous thief has tried to make amends. Clarke College President Sister…

This is just a hoot. Enjoy. H/T to Fran , who put it up on her Facebook page. I’m still smiling. 

This is a holiday tradition I love. At my in-laws, someone (usually the youngest at the table) always reads George Washington’s Thanksgiving Proclamation at the dinner table. To put us all in the mood, here it is: Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His…

What’s really wrong with living together? I stumbled on this provocative take on the subject over at New Advent. The author, a sociologist, ticks off a few of the problems some of the co-habitating poor encounter, and then concludes that what we have here is nothing less than a critical concern involving social justice: When…

That is how America’s Michael Sean Winters begins his critique of the Chris Matthews-Bishop Tobin smackdown. And Winters goes on to make some good points about how badly the Church deals with the media: Sunday before last, the priest at my church here in Washington apologized to the congregation for the dreadful public relations job…

“Don’t worry about the crying child. All of that crying just means that the Catholic Church has a future. If you go into a church that does not have a crying baby, that church is in trouble. It has no future. So, let us thank God for crying babies.”  — A priest, to his congregation,…

Or so it seems, as he goes yelling after Rhode Island Bishop Thomas Tobin over L’affair Kennedy. My two cents: Tobin should have known what he was in for. When you’re a Catholic bishop and a producer from MSNBC calls your office and asks if you’d like to be on “Hardball” with Chris Matthews, this…

The news that Pope John Paul evidently engaged in self-mortification — whipping himself as a form of penance — has sparked some curiosity about this ancient practice. The BBC has some background: Flagellation is the beating or whipping of the skin, most often on the back, and often drawing blood, as a bodily penance to…
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