New Cardinals?

There has been much talk over the last year or so about new Cardinals being appointed to the Church; when, where, who, etc. Today I read with interest an article on one of my favorite blogs Whispers in the Loggia. Reprinted here is a portion of that article:

Come the first days of July, B16 will literally head for the hills, remaining in residence at the papal retreat at Castel Gandolfo until late September. And on his return, one key decision the pontiff will face is the creation of new cardinals and the date of a consistory to elevate new members of the college which advises him in life and, upon his death, will elect his successor.

As of today, the voting complement of the "Pope's Senate" numbers 108 -- twelve short of its maximum 120; the figure's next drop will come on 7 July as Washington's Cardinal Theodore McCarrick reaches the ineligibility age of 80, with at least another six seats falling open by mid-November.

Given the scenario, a mini-frenzy was had in early March as prominent reports in the Italian press circulated that a consistory to fill the 19 foreseen slots would be held over Christ the King weekend, 20-21 November. However, recent chatter in Rome has cast some doubt over the late fall date, with some indications reporting that -- in an economical move -- the pontiff might just hold off for another six months or so, until mid-2011, by which point another half-dozen electors will have aged out of a hypothetical conclave.

Either way, between the present and the end of 2012, another whole quarter of the voting College -- some 30 cardinals -- will superannuate; add in the dozen who've turned 80 since the 2007 consistory, and the figure exceeds a third of the eventual papal electorate.

Along these lines, it's been noted here before but, given the significance, bears repeating: among the recent or upcoming retirees are a full half of the 12 American electors -- a figure without precedent in such a short time-frame.

As history goes, the period ahead offers Benedict an unparalleled free hand at reshaping the Stateside church's topmost rank... and with this pontificate's picks averaging in their early 60s on receiving the red hat, smart money can easily foresee the coming crop of cardinals holding the helm for a generation, or even more.

This fall should prove very exciting!!! Stay tuned...

The Pope's New Pastoral Staff

This article s courtesy of Whispers in the Loggia, on of my favorite blogs, written by Rocco Palmo.

While everyone's hopefully enjoying the long Thanksgiving weekend, the Pope is about to make his first turn with an early Christmas present.

For tomorrow night's first Vespers of the First Sunday of Advent -- the start of the new liturgical year -- B16 will debut a new pastorale ("pastoral staff") made especially for him, replacing the ferula of Bl Pius IX, which the pontiff has used since Palm Sunday 2008.

First announced in today's L'Osservatore Romano, the New Liturgical Movement breaks the story in English:
As Msgr. Guido Marini, the Papal Master of Ceremonies, tells tomorrow's edition of the [Vatican daily]: "Similar in shape to the ferula of Pius IX so far in use this can be considered to all intents and purposes the pastoral staff of Benedict XVI."...

[T]he new staff is donated to the Pontiff by the Circolo San Pietro, a Roman association founded in 1869 in support of the papacy. It is slightly smaller and lighter than the ferula of Bl. Pius IX.

On the front side of the new ferula is depicted in the centre the Lamb of God, and on the four points of the cross, the symbols of the four Evangelists. The arms of the cross are decorated in a net-like pattern which evokes the fisherman whose successor Pope Benedict is. On the backside there is in the centre the Chi-Rho, the monogram of Christ, and on the four points of the cross, four Fathers of Occident and Orient, Augustine and Ambrose, Athanasius and John Chrysostom, the same who also carry Bernini's cathedra. On the top of the shaft is the coat of arms of Pope Benedict XVI.
Likewise earlier today, the UK's Catholic Herald announced that, as expected -- but not, until now, confirmed -- Benedict will break with his pontificate's well-established custom to personally beatify Cardinal John Henry Newman on his visit to Britain next fall.

The papal vespers to kick off the "New Year" will run at 5pm Rome time, 11am Eastern, tomorrow, with EWTN running the livestream.

PHOTO: L'Osservatore Romano

A Historic Moment

Just a few moments ago, the USCCB, in an historic event, FINALLY passed ALL of the translation adaptations for all parts of the REVISED MISSAL of the ordinary form of the Mass. For those who have been following, this is indeed an opportunity for much rejoicing. Let us give thanks to God for the wonderful work of many people who have worked so diligently and faithfully for the good of the Church.

Veteran's Day

Today is Veteran’s Day. Please remember to take the time to thank the veterans you know and pray for all veterans. Remember also their families who also have sacrificed. Military widows should be the top priority as their sacrifice is the greatest. Were it not for these sacrifices, we would not enjoy the freedoms we have today.

Veterans Day is a day to remember the individual soldiers who fought in our wars. It doesn’t matter whether they wanted to be there or not, whether people agree with the reason for the war or not. They were there, they were fighting for our country, and they should be remembered for it.

By honoring these men and women, we honor not only their valiance, but also the values for which they fought. They sacrificed to uphold the values upon which our country was founded and which we hold on high. They fought to guarantee us our rights to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Time and again, they have fought forces that threatened our society and way of life.

Without their efforts, we would have lost our freedom. The freedoms we have in our country are unparalleled in most other nations, and we should be proud of them and therefore proud of those who put their lives on the line to protect those freedoms for us.

Today provides not only a chance to thank the veterans and their families but also a time of reflection and thanksgiving for what we have. How many of our freedoms do we take for granted? How often do we actually pause and give thanks to God for living in a country that allows freedom of religion, speech, assembly, etc.?

Today, take the time. Reflect and thank all those who provide us our freedom. Thank the veterans and spend time on your knees thanking God.

To all my Brothers and Sisters in Arms: THANK YOU!

“Greater love hath no man than this, that he lay down his life for his friends.” (Jn 15:13)

All Souls Day and Indulgences

Pray for the souls of priests.

First, remember that you can gain indulgences on All Souls and the days following.

Second, 5 November is a first Thursday. You can gain a plenary indulgence during this year for Priests.

Third, would it not be a good idea in this Year for Priests, during the week after All Souls, for this 1st Thursday, to pray in a special way for the souls of deceased priests?

May I recommend that you bring this up with your parish priests, who might make pulpit announcements this Sunday?

My thanks to Fr. Z for the idea.

Reunification

After many centuries of seperation, there is great joy and anticipation in the the Church today. Today great strides were made to bring our Anglican brothers home after their seperation from Rome in 1534 during the reign of King Henry VIII. Of course this comes from many years of hard work and there is much work yet to be done; nevertheless, this is truly a momentous occasion. I give you, below, the report directly from the Holy See Press Office.

VATICAN CITY, 20 OCT 2009 (VIS) -Today’s announcement of the Apostolic Constitution is a response by Pope Benedict XVI to a number of requests over the past few years to the Holy See from groups of Anglicans who wish to enter into full visible communion with the Roman Catholic Church, and are willing to declare that they share a common Catholic faith and accept the Petrine ministry as willed by Christ for his Church.


Pope Benedict XVI has approved,

A Guest Speaker

One of the strengths we have, and should promote, as Catholics is a sense of community. As brothers and sisters in Christ we support and help each other as we strive for our common goal of eternal life in the beatific vision. We are our brother’s keeper. To this end, one of my fellow Catholic bloggers has started a wonderful program. You may visit his site at http://www.fallibleblogma.com/. He is calling it the “Support a Catholic Speaker Month and Favorite Catholic Speaker 2009 Results” program. Here is what he says about it:

I thought it would be really cool if we could do a joint promotion effort of a lot of the great Catholic speakers out there and the many Catholic blogs. Introducing…Support a Catholic Speaker Month.

The full article can be found here HERE. I thought this was a wonderful idea and wanted to participate. To this end I wrote Matt and was lucky enough to be assigned Fr. John Corapi as a guest speaker. I will from time to time feature an article, interview, or other item by Fr. Corapi in lieu of my own ponderings. Fr. Corapi’s webpage can be found at http://www.fathercorapi.com/ . My next blog will profile Fr. Corapi. As many of you know, he is a wonderful homilist and one of my favorite speakers.

I am very excited about this project. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be adding a permanent page to this blog where you can find links to other catholic blogs. I highly encourage you to visit these blogs and speakers. They are a wonderful resource.

To go directly to my post about Fr. Corapi

Click Here

To go to the main page of my blog for the most recent posting

Click Here

Ember Days

As we have just concluded the celebration of Ember Days and I have had several questions regarding Ember Days, I thought I would post an article about these wonderful penitential days of the Church. I hope that you will find the article helpful and informative.

The Glow of the Ember Days

By Michael P. Foley

The Four Seasons

The Ember days, which fall on a Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday of the same week, occur in conjunction with the four natural seasons of the year. Autumn brings the September Embertide, also called the Michaelmas Embertide because of their proximity to the Feast of St. Michael on September 29. Winter, on the other hand,