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The Deacon's Bench

Here’s a little something from Mr. Peabody’s WABAC Machine. Barack Obama before he had mastered the art of walking on water and giving sight to the blind. Peach cobbler, anyone?

The head of the USCCB, Cardinal Francis George of Chicago, has just sent a letter to the soon-to-be-president: Dear Mr. President-elect: I recently wrote to assure you of the prayers of the Catholic bishops of the United States for your service to our nation, and to outline issues of special concern to us as we…

A reader (and deacon candidate) found the following quote over at Happy Catholic, and thought it appropriate for our discussion about deacons and the poor: Don’t ask what the world needs. Ask what makes you come alive, and go do it. Because what the world needs is people who have come alive. — Howard Thurman

Our Byzantine brothers and sisters gathered recently in snowy Pennsylvania to continue a winter tradition: On a frigid, snowy Sunday afternoon, congregants and clergy from five local Byzantine churches celebrated their faith atop Veterans Memorial Bridge, singing a prayer as a priest cast a cross of ice onto the frozen Susquehanna River below. Police closed…

This got a lot of attention when the news broke several days back. I suspect few actually heard the prayer when it was delivered. Reading it, it reminds me of the Dangerous Prayer of Blessing that was prayed over Henri Nouwen. Here’s the text: O God of our many understandings, we pray that you will……

The New York Times has created some interesting interactive material for their inaugural coverage, including this spiffy glimpse at what the presidents said in their inaugural speeches, structured as “word clouds.” They’ve also got this interesting look ahead to what we might expect from Obama’s own speech.

…which was a big topic of discussion following this post, the deacons of the Diocese of Brooklyn received a letter this weekend from Bishop DiMarzio. It begins with this quote from the National Directory for the Formation, Ministry and Life of Permanent Deacons in the United States: The deacon’s ministry, as Pope John Paul II…

Another icon from my youth has passed away: Bob May, who donned The Robot’s suit in the hit 1960s television show “Lost in Space,” has died. He was 69. May died Sunday of congestive heart failure at a hospital in Lancaster, said his daughter, Deborah May. He was a veteran actor and stuntman who had…

I can’t think of a more joyous way to remember Martin Luther King, Jr. today than with this little clip, courtesy Concord Pastor, performed by the legendary Blind Boys of Alabama.

My “goddaughter” in Florida sent this to me, and it’s fascinating: a cathedral carved from salt. Take a look.
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