Before anything else, thanks again to everyone for the many prayers and kindnesses amid the tumult behind the scenes – thank God, Dad and things are far better than they were, but there’s still a good bit of cleanup and watch-keeping in process.

Back to all this, as was said early last week, it was a grace to have the space to return to the desk "given the moment now on tap... of which [the Chile summit] is just one critical piece."

Given what’s transpired on several fronts since, well, now you see it.

Hopefully there’s not too much rust showing in the gears – either way, frequent as it is for anything that comes up on this beat to be overdramatized in some quarters, it's honestly hard to recall a more significant and impactful cycle than the input overload which unfolded in rapid order through the weekend just past.

And, yep, there’s more where that came from – not to mention the fresh threads of the road to a Consistory, the ongoing fallout over Chile, etc. But in the meantime, as none of this is possible without being able to pay the bills that bring the product to you, as ever, these pages can only keep plugging along by means of your support....

As ever, all thanks and then some – these last days have had some memorable war stories... but it's worth ensuring that the electric and data connections stay up first.

Ergo, back to the mine?

-30-