Well everyone, the last couple of days have been, to say the least, quite interesting for this seminarian who tries to keep all of you informed on the important news affecting the Catholic Church in the United States. My only hope for this site is that it can reach someone and develop in them a deep love for the Church, a love that, for me, grows more intensely every day.

Yesterday, with my Bishop appointed as the Archbishop of Miami, I have not even truly begun to think about the implications this has for my own Diocese of Orlando. We will be vacant beginning June 1, 2010 and we could be vacant for some time. With the diocese in the midst of a $150 million capital campaign project to fund the outcome of the first ever diocesan synod that was called by Bishop Wenski back in 2004-2005, my prayer is that the Holy Father will send us a new ordinary as soon as possible.

I have also not even begun to think of the implications the appointment of the Most Rev. Thomas G. Wenski as the new Metropolitan Archbishop of Miami has for the Province of Miami (Catholic Church of Florida). Archbishop-elect will have a good fifteen to sixteen years at the helm here in Florida. With his qualifications and his enduring work for the poor and less-fortunate, Wenski has now been given a platform to bring a message to the whole of the United States. Let me tell you, that message needs to be heard now more than ever.

Please keep Archbishop-Designate Wenski, Archbishop Favalora, the future Bishop of Orlando (whoever that may be), the people of the Archdiocese of Miami, and the people of the Diocese of Orlando (clergy, consecrated religious, and laity) in your prayers over the next few weeks.

Time for a little breather. Final exams are next week and I haven’t started studying for them yet and, well, academics reign supreme over the next few days. Do not expect to see a post until the beginning of May, folks.

Thank you for reading! Peace to all of you!

PHOTO: cartoonworks.net

Sorry for the absence over the past couple of weeks. I took the opportunity over the Christmas Recess to really rest, relax and gear up for the new academic semester that began bright and early Monday morning. We woke up to a very chilly 41 degrees , which is down right freezing cold by Florida standards. Before I get into the experiences of the upcoming semester, I wanted to wish all of you a very happy and blessed New Year. But, this is not just a new year, it is also the start of a new decade. So Happy New Decade as well!!

This semester is going to be a little different from the Fall semester, mainly because we do not have any major events planned, except our bi-annual Vocations Awareness Weekend in March–I am already expecting to have another well attended weekend. I always look forward to hosting the countless young men who come to the seminary to discern God’s will for their lives for that brief period of two days. I never took the opportunity to come on one of the weekends even though I had been invited numerous times by people in my parish. So, if there is a young man out there from the Diocese of Orlando who is thinking about serving the church as a priest, please seriously consider contacting Fr. Miguel at the Vocations Office about coming down March 12-14, 2010.