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The Deacon's Bench

Today’s gospel begins with just four brief words. “On leaving the synagogue…” It sounds so simple. It’s almost a passing reference. You could hear those words go by and not give them a second thought. But with those four brief words, St. Mark does something radical and unexpected. He points the way to another kind…

The grim economic news has led a growing number of churches to become engaged in a special kind of ministry: helping those out of work. From the Atlanta Journal-Constitution: The unemployed in metro Atlanta are turning to churches for help in record numbers. Many are not showing up Sunday mornings, but rather on weekdays for…

A number of prominent politicians popped up at the National Prayer Breakfast yesterday in Washington, and offered some of their thoughts on prayer and belief: President Barack Obama and former British Prime Minister Tony Blair struck similar themes in remarks to the National Prayer Breakfast Feb. 5, telling of their own faith roots and noting…

More parish closings and consolidations may be on the way — this time, in South Dakota: Thirty-five eastern South Dakota Catholic parishes could lose their regular Masses by 2012 under a plan led by Bishop Paul Swain of the Catholic Diocese of Sioux Falls. Whether the churches, which are mostly in smaller towns, will eventually…

My first thought when I read this was: “What were they thinking?” My second was: “How many times has this happened before, and we don’t hear about it…?” Take a look: Eighteen and pregnant, Sycloria Williams went to an abortion clinic outside Miami and paid $1,200 for Dr. Pierre Jean-Jacque Renelique to terminate her 23-week…

“What is the opposite of the ‘big lie’? Trust. When questioned by an English journalist about the future of the Religious Order that he co-founded, Father Benedict Groeschel gave a simple reply, “We have no plans, except to be led by God.” None of us knows what the future holds, but hopefully we can embrace…

The rampant speculation about who will succeed Cardinal Edward Egan as Archbishop of New York has now reached a fever pitch — and the pages of the New York Times: Catholics in Rome and the United States who track movements in the hierarchy say the Vatican is close to announcing who will claim what may…

A reader who is a deacon candidate sent this along to me, and it seems worth some attention. If anyone is wondering how the SSPX feels about deacons and celibacy, take a look: In the fall of 1995, the French bishops met at Lourdes in order to confer together over the pastoral problem created by…

Amy Welborn has updated her post about her husband’s tragic death yesterday: Many thanks for all of the prayers and notes. It is overwhelming. Many have asked what they can do of a material or concrete nature. All I can say is to simply buy his books. Not from me, because I am in no…

If you haven’t been in a while, the good folks at Busted Halo are offering this friendly primer. With Lent around the corner, it couldn’t come at a better time. H/T to the sinner in the video, God Googler, Mike Hayes.
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