We have a new bishop

• I recently read  The Book of Feasts and Seasons and I hated it. I wanted to like it because the author, John C. Wright is Catholic, a very erudite man and he caught a lot of flak when he converted. The book is a collection of short stories each inspired by different holidays. It is beautifully written and he means well but it struck me as blasphemous on occasion. The best story in the book is about a mad scientist who is mourning his dead wife. He jumps into his time machine and goes back to Bethlehem in time to see a mass crucifixion, get roughed up by a suspicious Roman soldier, talk to a Passover lamb and finally run into St. Joseph who calmly realizes that this stranger is just another person who needs to see the Baby Jesus.  When he meets the Holy Family he ends up explaining to Mary what the sign of the cross will eventually mean the the future followers of her Son. Again, this story meant well but if we still had an Index of Forbidden Books it would probably be listed there for the twisting of the gospels alone.

• So, the Loverde era in the Arlington diocese is coming to an end. I never cared much for Bishop Loverde but I was concerned that after his retirement we would get someone really terrible. According to Rorate Caeli, while Bishop Michael Burbidge may not be Prince Charming, he's no cave troll either and that is a relief.
  
  
•  In your charity could you pray for the repose of the soul of Fr. Daniel Mudd? He was once a parochial vicar at my childhood parish and we all loved him.
  
  
  
• Blessed Zenon Kovalyk, tortured and crucified in a Soviet prison camp, pray for us.