Archbishop Joseph E. Kurtz has posted his latest blog from Rome on the Archdiocese of Louisville’s website (and available below). He discusses yesterday’s outdoor Mass with the Holy Father and thanks two people who have offered thanks and prayers in comment boxes on The Record’s website.
Yesterday morning was a glorious day. At an outdoor Mass, Pope Benedict XVI celebrated the 50th anniversary of the opening session of the Second Vatican Council and acknowledged, with gratitude, the 20th anniversary of the promulgation of the Catechism of the Catholic Church. The occasion also was marked by the presence of the Orthodox patriarch of Constantinople.
I could not help but recall October 1962 when I began my junior year of high school. We are still mining the great gift of the Second Vatican Council and enjoying the fruit of those gifts. As a high school student, I should have followed more closely the proceedings of this 21st Ecumenical Council. I am still making up for lost time!
In the afternoon, the Synod delegates met for a session. It is both enriching, and at times a little tiring, to listen to each of the delegates present a five-minute intervention. I continue to reflect on major themes as they emerge and will be writing more about them in subsequent journal entries.
From the United States, I received an email from Archabbot Bonaventure Knaebel at Saint Meinrad. Thank you, Archabbot Bonaventure, for correcting an earlier entry of mine. Indeed, St. John of Avila and St. Hildegard, already saints, are now doctors of the church. St. John of Avila was a diocesan priest very close to St. Teresa of Avila. Thank you for your careful review of my journal.
On The Record site, I also heard from Dr. Beverly McAuliffe on behalf of the faculty, staff, and students at Holy Family School, who sent prayers, and from Silvia Rugina, who sent thanks.
Please continue to pray for all of the Synod delegates and for me as the Synod on the New Evangelization unfolds.
P.S. – I was saddened at my Cincinnati Reds dropping three in a row to lose the series with the Giants!
