Roman rumblings

For months little has happened in the Vatican, and I have thought: "Good! It is the calm before the storm." Some are growing impatient, but I am still confident. We should not imagine that Benedetto is twiddling his thumbs all day, or slouched in front of the television. No, he is hard at work, having been a hard worker all his life. So what is he doing? Preparing his addresses? They will occupy little of his time; his heart speaks from its very abundant abundance. No, Benedetto is working on his master-plan, you can be sure. We are to expect a total reform of the Roman Curia, and some interesting appointments to key positions. In an earlier post I wondered about the significance of Archbishop Malcolm Don's appointment; I now know that it is an excellent one, and promises much for the reform of the deform. On the subject of the liturgy, the first vespers for the feast of the Theotokos were very interesting indeed. The talk after the last vespers (first of first Sunday of Advent) was that Benedetto was very annoyed with the innovative format, with all its silly explanations and psalm prayers, and directed that next time it should be a straightforward Latin vespers. Which is precisely what we got. Pity about the truncated Te Deum, and the interminable (te-dium!) wailing of the Sistine choir, but a very significant return to tradition occurred. How glum Marini looked! I do believe there are many signs of hope for 2006. But it is also clear that many within the Curia are opposed to reform, and that Benedetto is quite a solitary figure. Let us pray very hard for him, and offer many sacrifices, that this year will be a blessed one for the Church of God.