Resurrectionem

I want to be a cardinal.

Perhaps this is the only answer that will make sense, if you ask me why I am so engrossed about the Princes of the Church.

This desire is not unknown to many of my associates, co-workers, friends, family and even the priests I have come to know in my work as a journalist and in my service as a Lector or Minister of the Word.

In fact, for the past twenty years, I have been living the life of a cardinal.

'Your Eminence' is how some friends and at least 2 priests call me, despite not being a member of the clergy or of  the Sacred College of Cardinals.

In grade school, my first public foray as a cardinal was when I played the role of a bishop, in a skit about the Sacrament of Baptism that we had to act out for religion class. Draped in a white linen sheet and a red skull cap, a remnant of my father's uniform as an altar server in his youth, I performed the rite... on a doll.  Our teacher, Mr. Joseph Morales, critiqued us, and his words will forever remain in my memory:  'The bishop was good, he was convincing.'

In high school, my episcopal career flourished. I made the campus my archdiocese. I was the  cardinal protector of a make-believe religious order headed by a classmate.  In college, I made 'pastoral visits' complete with miter & crozier to student org events and came in "abito corale" (yes, I have one, complete with red biretta and zucchetto) for my parish org's Christmas costume party.  I had snooty 'official photographs' taken of me in full gear, photos worthy of being hung in palaces and cathedrals (and my titular church in Rome, of course!)

I also have a coat-of-arms with the episcopal motto  "Non possomus, non loqui," a contraction of the passage from Acts 4:20 ("It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.”), primarily chosen because of my work as a journalist. My zucchetto or skull cap size is 8 and I wear a crucifix ring on my right ring finger.

Of course, the cardinalatial trappings are all a JOKE.  

A former parish priest, who once saw me dressed in full ecclesiastical garb, said I very much look  the part.  More importantly, he said I was not committing any sin or violating any law. (I hope he is right!)

If anything, my fondness for all things scarlet is an insight into how passionate I am about the Cardinals of the Holy Roman Church, not because of their fancy vestments or the honorifics attached to the office, but because of the role they play in relation to the papacy and in the pastoral governance of the Universal Church.

In 2008, I officially blogged about my interest in the papacy, the cardinals, Eastern Christianity and basic Catholic teaching, among other things. But perhaps because (1) of my work as a field reporter then, (2) of the demon of sloth, or (3) the focus of my blog was all over the place, things fell apart.

I stopped blogging.

Yes, it was a sad day for me and for those who may have been interested in my work...or those who may have been instructed or evangelized because of it.

But here I am, attempting to blog...again.

Three things convinced me to re-try blogging: (1) I am a big fan of a great Catholic blog,  Whispers in the Loggia by Rocco Palmo, which I would like to emulate; (2) I can very much identify with the characteristics of a Catholic blogger being described in this article about   Catholic blogging ; and (3) most importantly, I feel drawn to the Holy Father's renewed call for   New Evangelization.

With God’s help, I am optimistic that I will be able to carry out this mission.

But of course, there is a slight challenge that I must first hurdle. Catholic blogs, as we know, are a dime-a-dozen in terms of content and sadly, boring.  Some readers get turned off, too, by bloggers who are more preachy than informative, and who tend to rub into readers' faces that "I know something that you obviously don't."

In choosing the cardinals as the central theme of my new blog, I hope not to become a copycat of countless other blogs already discussing the subject.

But just how will I do that?

The simple principle that will guide me is this: I will draw everything from my personal experience to make it my own.

In the succeeding entries, you will find out just how my entries, without need for a copyright, will become uniquely my own. (But realistically speaking, I will have to inject or quote news about the Sacred College of Cardinals every now and then, as the need arises.)

Pray with and for me, then, that I may be able to do my best.

With feeble and insufficient human hands, I hope to do my share...'in the vineyard of the Lord.'

Peace be with you!

(Dedicated to His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his 85th birthday and the 7th year of his pontificate)