On Sunday, April 14th, 1912, Fr. Thomas Byles celebrated Mass aboard the Titanic, just four days into its historic maiden voyage. It was “Low Sunday,” the first Sunday after Easter, and the priest was heading to New York to officiate at the
During the liturgical celebration of Epiphany, you might hear a deacon (or a priest) sing the Epiphany chant, which proclaims the dates of the Church’s movable feast days — such as Ash Wednesday, Easter, Pentecost and others. “It’s a reminder of the
Deacon Greg Kandra, creator of “The Deacon’s Bench” blog, writes that while setting New Year’s resolutions is a good thing, in the coming year, look to Paragraph 2478 in the Catechism to truly transform your life: “To avoid rash judgment, everyone should
In a new In Focus, Deacon Greg Kandra writes about evangelization and how as Christians we are all evangelists. He writes: “The fact is, you don’t have to be St. Paul, Pope Francis, Venerable Fulton Sheen or Bishop Robert Barron to be
Last week during his Wednesday general audience, Pope Francis was interrupted by a man shouting, “This is not the Church of God!” and waving his medical mask. The man was taken away by police. During his remarks, Pope Francis said: “I would
Happy New Year! However you welcome 2022, Deacon Greg Kandra invites you to “recognize that there are 365 days ahead of you, with bright empty pages in your calendar waiting to be filled. This is a moment of possibility. You’ve started another
We need a break. Better yet, how about a sabbatical? In his latest for Our Sunday Visitor, Deacon Greg Kandra explains that while a sabbatical is not uncommon for those in ministry and academica, it is available for everyone. He writes: “Here’s
As 2020 wraps up and the new year begins, what are we going to do about it? Perhaps more to the point: What are we Catholics going to do with 2021? How can we take the experience of this past year and
Deacon Greg Kandra offers some guideposts in dealing with the news in 2020. In this age of the 24-hour news cycle, we are buried under an avalanche of information. Kandra offers some tips that can lend some stability to an unstable world.
For years, it was one of the most persistent questions I heard: “When are you going to write a book?” I heard it from friends, colleagues, priests and editors. I even got some emails from publishers who wanted to talk to me,