For 12th Day, News, Quotables and Links

First off, whatever formulation your episcopal conference uses for the date, a blessed and Buon'Epifania to one and all.

As previously noted, your pages are rolling out a new feature -- a response to everything that comes across the wire (stories, your questions, brief notes, etc.) but doesn't make it into or can't fill a full post; put simply, a way to get as much out there as possible so we can all get the best possible snapshot of the scene.

A name for this is still being kicked around -- "Question Time," "Lightning Round," "The Memo" -- feel free to suggest a better one. Either way, it'll be making its debut later this afternoon in the box below in real time, and will be available on-demand after the fact.

For anyone not familiar with the platform, just click the play button in the middle of the box once it appears as the session launches, and you should be good to go. As some folks confused these boxes with video feeds during the bishops' meeting, however, it's worth reiterating that they're all text, lots of text... text that takes a lot of prep-time to produce, so please take advantage of it.

Feel free to send whatever questions/stories/buzz you've got through the PM, church -- see you in a bit....



...and for the meantime, a musical goodie for the holyday:

God Rest Ye Merry Gentlemen/We...

SVILUPPO (5.10pm): Even for all the first-run kinks and jitters, the first edition of what readers have dubbed either "Stage Whispers" or "Extra Loggia" seemed to go pretty well, and a ton of thanks again to everyone who joined in.

Given the volume of stuff the livebox allows to be covered in a way the standard post format doesn't, you can expect at least one of these weekly going forward -- maybe even more often, if you find it useful... either way, the only way I can know what you're thinking is through your feedback, so remember that the "suggestion box" is always open and waiting.

That said, with another familiar byline (see above) now wiped off the beat and the challenge of keeping afloat ever pressing, remember, too, that these pages only keep on by means of your support. So to everyone whose generosity's done everything to keep the bills paid, the lights on and the feed still coming your way, all the thanks in the world... and with the next round of school-loans, phone tabs, etc. beginning to hit the desk, please keep it up.

Lastly, though, as both things Canadian and the newest blogging bishop down here came up in the feed, we'd be remiss to not note new media's most prolific high-hat of all: Archbishop Terry Prendergast SJ of Ottawa, who's been plugging away daily (and extensively so) at his "Journey of a Bishop" for the better part of the last year.

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