Friday, December 23, 2005

The Fund Drive Continues...

Speaking of working with one's hands, head and heart....

There's been a slight uptick in response to my (continuing) dire straits, but we've still got a ways to go. So if you've been shy 'til now but get something -- anything -- out of all this work, commentary and news feed and want it to keep getting better, more comprehensive and wish for the author's sanity, please click the donation bar at right and drop whatever you're able into the guitar case. All thanks in advance, and to those who have helped fill my stocking, God love you -- and consider yourselves plenarily indulged.

Translating the papal remarks (posted below), which I had just seen, was a real thrill and treat, and hopefully stuff like that is emblematic of why I love doing all this so much and why I need all the help I can get so I have the freedom and ability to do this in real time. If I had to take on other commitments to pay the bills, I wouldn't be able to work within that kind of immediate time frame which helps the work and its promptness -- and there's no worse fate for a beat writer to be behind a story as opposed to riding its wave.

Call me a surferboy, if you will.

John Allen (hardest-working man in the biz) is taking next week off, but I'm not. The Loggia will be open and buzzing as the last week of the civil year is traditionally a busy time in Rome, the masses of pilgrims wend their way through town, and appointments still keep coming at a pretty consistent clip -- last year, the Octave of Christmas saw the appointment of Bishop Carlson to Saginaw, Archbishop Gomez's rise to San Antonio and the division of Texas into two provinces which created the archdiocese of Galveston-Houston. So we'll probably be seeing something of some kind vis a vis the States next week.

Think about it: There was even something this morning. And the Levada-haters aren't happy about it at all -- because, yet again, they were wrong and B16 has made San Francisco dance with happiness.... Apparently, a Catholic bishop with the mandate of papal appointment just isn't enough anymore for some people. Sad though it is, don't say you're surprised.

One last thing: in accord with my tradition with friends, I will be posting two Christmas cards for everyone -- writing 2,000 Christmas cards for the daily readership would put me out of commission for a month. There'll be appearing a secular greeting and a religious-themed one. You should get a kick out of both.

In the meantime, however, Jimmy Mac sent this animated card along the other day and I absolutely went wild over it -- with my favorite version of a cherished Christmas classic with a really smile-inducing visual. Enjoy it, and for those who'll be spending this Christmas on the road and catching up with things here after your return, may every blessing of safety, peace, joy and every good thing you seek mark this Christmas for you and all your loved ones. And know that you'll all be in my thoughts and prayers during the great liturgies which mark the arrival of the Prince of Peace in our midst.

Buon Natale!

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