"On the Twelfth Day of Christmas..."

With the celebration of Christmas and New Year slowly subsiding, we have been treated to a surprising gift and blessing from the Holy Father.  If you have not been made aware already, Archbishop Thomas Collins was named as one of several to be elevated to the College of Cardinals by Pope Benedict XVI.  Cardinal-Designate Collins will be the 16th Canadian Cardinal and the 4th for the Archdiocese of Toronto.  The official ceremony, called a consistory, will take place next month in Rome whereby he will receive his "red hat."
For more information, check out the special archdiocesan web page located here.

In other news, Fr. Edwin has landed safely in India and as promised, will be blogging throughout his vacation.  Below you will find his first post from half-way around the world:

Greetings to all from Bombay! I arrived here on Jan 5th at 4 am. My sister Carol and her husband were at the airport and I was happy to take off my sweater etc because the weather is 30 C. So enjoying the break from the cold

My flight from Toronto was good. I flew Etihad, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates. The crew on board were excellent and I enjoyed the flight. I watched a movie, said my prayers, behaved and slept. I had one stopover in Abu Dhabi. While there you hear the Muslim prayers being recited. Interesting how Muslims have no problems about witnessing to their faith. I guess we Christians are too shy or too diplomatic.

My sister Carol is busy pampering me and it has only been a few hours. But then people at St. Barnabas pamper me too! Spoiled brat that I am.

Thank you all for your prayers and may God bless you

Fr. Edwin