Roman Catholic Cardinal Sean O'Malley (successor to Cardinal Law in the troubled archdiocese of Boston) had his first opportunity to address a large gathering of Boston-area priests on Tuesday. Of particular note were his comments on the effects of American culture and the importance of strong preaching in supporting the spiritual life of American Catholics:

O'Malley said too many priests do not make preaching a priority, or believe in the power of preaching. And yet, he said, opinion research suggests that "the strongest predictor of Catholic behavior and identification [is] the quality of the Sunday sermon," not issues such as "sex, birth control, abortion, or the ordination of women."

It's good to be reminded it's not the Sacraments OR the Word, it's the Sacraments AND the Word.

Thoughts?

(Thanks to Amy Wellborn for the link.)

What Lee does for Halloween.

The Tigers slam last year's Cy Young award winner for a 7-0 pasting of (team name mercifully omitted) on Opening Day.

[Contented sigh.]

One of my many alma maters (almas mater?), and the one to which I'm the most attached, is the University of Michigan Business School. The editorial staff of the student newspaper, clearly distracted by upcoming final exams, delayed publishing the April Fool edition until this week. However it included this playful niblet about the SOS (Significant Others & Spouses) Club whose members are those long-suffering men and women known to many as as "trailing spouses" who make the thankless trek to the cold wilderness of Michigan in support of their MBA-student partners. I found it amusing. Maybe you will, too.

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SOS ANNOUNCES NEW MOTTO: "ALL OF THE DEBT, NONE OF THE LEARNING."

Stressing that they, too, have to pay back obscenely large student loans without the benefits of salaries, the SOS club this week changed their official motto from "All of the fun, none of the homework," to the more realistic "All of the debt, none of the learning." Most of the club responded with approval of the increased realism.

Some SOS members added that MBA students, also, don't learn anything.

"It's a positive change," said SOS2 Joss Forster, "it's a reminder to any incoming SOS that they may well have to bide their time in a learning-free job for two years while they put their SOS through school, but they're also likely to be saddled with debt for their trouble. And as for dropping 'fun' from the motto? Well, let's just say that's not the word I would use to describe hanging around a bunch of overweight, balding, 30-something business students. Guys, there are other things in life than getting to Goldman office hours. Geez."

Today is the first "Spring Forward" in a long time when I haven't felt slapped by the loss of sleep. For the last two nights, I've gone to bed relatively early and gotten up only when I was actually done sleeping -- rare enough and very enjoyable. Perhaps I've become a bit more used to making these one-hour changes since my recent practice of going to-and-fro between Eastern and Central time every couple of weeks. Just wait until the Phoenix trip next week when I'll be whipsawed twice between Eastern and Pacific zones -- that will remind me that I'm just not a kid anymore.

It was a beautiful day here today. The flowering trees have been out for over a week, some daffodils are even wilting and getting replaced by tulips. This is almost a full month earlier than I'm used to seeing Spring, and I relish it. This afternoon, I took a drive across the Mississippi River and up the Illinois shoreline. I meandered through some historical towns and spent a few moments indulging my imagination in front of a beautiful vacant lot for sale that overlooks the river with a steep slope and lots of trees, and which is going for a ridiculously cheap price, too. (Yes, God, I remember the 10th commandment; I wasn't really coveting, honest. Well, maybe sort of.) It was a beautiful and restful afternoon.

This evening I believe I'll go see The Passion again. It seems like a good way to start Holy Week. I'm so happy that I'll be finishing it in Ann Arbor with friends and family and where I know these important days will be well and thoroughly celebrated.