Inspiration Faith & Prayer Health & Wellness Entertainment Love & Family
Newsletters Special Offers

The Deacon's Bench

It was fired by the Catholic League, responding to this billboard put up outside of Manhattan by a group of atheists. Details, from the New York Times: The Catholic League for Religious and Civil Rights has responded to a Christmas-debunking billboard sponsored by American Atheists just outside the New Jersey entrance of the tunnel by…

Well, according to this item, yes. (Is anyone surprised?) From the New York Times: There you are, peacefully reading an article or watching a video on the Internet. You finish, find it thought-provoking, and scroll down to the comments section to see what other people thought. And there, lurking among dozens of well-intentioned opinions, is…

O glorious St. Andrew, you were the first to recognize and follow the Lamb of God. With your friend, St. John, you remained with Jesus for that first day, for your entire life, and now throughout eternity. As you led your brother, St. Peter, to Christ and many others after him, draw us also to…

From the folks behind the Advent Conspiracy, another powerful and provocative challenge to the world.

I preached on this topic last Sunday, and it seems I wasn’t the only one having this idea.  From the Salt Lake Tribune: Utah’s Catholic bishop is putting the brakes on Christmas. In his first pastoral letter to Utah’s 300,000 Catholics since becoming their shepherd in 2007, Bishop John C. Wester asks that members hold…

From Rhode Island comes this compelling vocation story of a guy who worked in a drug store, but who decided he was called to dispense another kind of medicine: Among the prayers that the Rev. Marcel Taillon offers during his celebration of Mass this day before Thanksgiving is one common during Catholic services for more…

In what has become an annual near-Thanksgiving event, thousands convened in a southern California stadium to pray for, celebrate, and remember the martyrs who were canonized by Pope John Paul. Details: The ceremony at Cal State Long Beach’s Pyramid mixed Catholic rites with Vietnamese-inspired dance, music and theater to recount the story of 117 martyrs…

From the poetic pen of the Concord Pastor comes this beautiful prayer for this first Monday of Advent. I can’t think of a better way to begin a new year, and a new week:  With Advent begins a new year of grace, Lord, the grace that is yours to share and give… In this new…

Well, how is YOUR Advent going so far? I woke up Thanksgiving morning with a sore throat, which quickly turned into a cough, and I’ve been sniffling and wheezing ever since. (And for this, I got a flu shot?) I’m better, but taking a sick day to avoid infecting anyone in the office. I expect…

Another icon leaves us. But thank God for YouTube. Who can ever forget this?
archives most recent
search this blog
More from Beliefnet and our partners
Close Ad