And Now... Plenary Prep

So, folks... November?

Already?

Wow... and, well, what a month it's shaping up to be:

• Ten Days until -- headlined by Tuesday morning's Making of the President -- another Fall Classic gets underway in Baltimore...

• The following weekend's Main Event as, with the elevation of 24 new cardinals, Scarlet Fever peaks in Rome (...as you can see above, in keeping with tradition, Gammarelli's all decked out -- and after a 40-year abeyance, the mantelletta has surreptitiously returned)...
  

• Following the most surprising, rapturously-received appointment these shores have seen in memory, what promises to be a raucous San Antonio installation -- already dubbed "Gustavopalooza" -- on Tuesday, the 23rd...

• Then, the following day's release of B16's much-awaited third book-length interview with Peter Seewald -- Il Papa's first since becoming his election -- in which the German journalist probes Joseph Ratzinger's mind on questions ranging from sex-abuse to Islam, ordaining women to resigning the papacy.

...and as it's all just a lot to think about, whew.

As the trot to Turkey Day goes, gang, the confluence of events adds up to an even bigger haul than usual... and as ever, all that's just what we know is at hand, let alone whatever else happens to come down the pike (...not to mention everything else that makes things crazy behind the scenes).

All that said, so your narrator doesn't crash and burn in the midst of the sprint, full posting will be slowing down in the run-up to November Meeting -- where, The Big Vote aside, this year's formal business might run (blessedly) thin... but what happens after 5 is looking to be even more interesting than usual (thus keeping this one busy well into the night).

In the meanwhile, especially with B16 off to Spain this weekend for a trip set to climax with (after almost 130 years of construction) the consecration of Barcelona's iconic "expiatory temple" dedicated to the Sagrada Familia (Missal), your Page Three will keep hummin' along with updates; as even the "down" days here on A1 entail a solid couple hours of plowing through things, sharing whatever pops up in real time considerably eases the madness of catching-up on getting back into the swing of it all.

Of course, you can find the "Bishops' Briefing" along the right sidebar here, or the feed's native page -- either way, as some have asked, there's no need to sign up for anything; just click away and have a blast.

* * *

And lastly, a word of abundant (albeit, as ever, just as insufficient) thanks to the folks who, now and always, keep all this coming your way: the donors whose generosity to the "guitar case" keeps the bills paid, the computer and phone from getting turned off, next week's travel from bankrupting the house... and, ergo, as much time and energy as one frenzied soul can muster focused on getting the job done as comprehensively as possible.

Along those lines, lest anyone's missed it before....

On a housekeeping note, though a first briefing went to the early round of helping hands on Red Dawn Eve, as the early word was quickly superseded by the announcement itself (with, for good measure, some maddening technical glitches along the way), a second note will be cranked out over the coming days -- this time, a sneak-peek at these pages' Plenary Preview, alongside whatever else comes up.

As some folks have written in to ask for a snail-mail address to aid things along, with all thanks in advance, you can route those to PO Box 63890, Philadelphia PA 19147-7890; checks are best made out to the narrator as there remains no such thing as "Whispers, Inc."

If you're looking to use the paper-friendly option, though, please send an e.mail address to add to the Briefing Pool... along those lines, the asks on file are already logged in.

And lastly, this weekend, the twin long-suffering hero-saints who've done more than any of us to keep this work afloat -- namely, your narrator's Mom and Dad -- mark their 30th Anniversary of Marriage. So, temporalities aside, if anyone who's gotten anything out of these pages over the years could please keep their good health and continued happiness in your prayers, it'd mean the most of all... as ever, their example defies words.

And now, time to celebrate, clean the room, handle some rather belated thank-yous... and, above all, God willing, breathe.

God love you lot forever -- Happy Friday, blessings on your weekend and Autumn....

See you in the Premier See, under the Big Top.

-30-