Saturdays; Ecumenism

If there is one regard in which South Bend is better than home, it is the farmers' market. (I suspect that this is the only regard in which South Bend is better than home.) I will here vociferously recommend their café (which, logically, serves local fare), as well as the pastries made by some nice Polish ladies. (The pączki are good, but the poduszki are better, I think.)

Saturdays are fast becoming my favorite day of the week. My routine is as follows: I awake, listen to Car Talk, and attempt to conquer swathes of France. Around noon I wend my merry way over to the farmers' market, a pleasant two-mile walk across the river, and soak in the ambience there. After a lazy afternoon, I listen (that is, I am currently listening) to Mr Keillor on that radio show of his. I shall be early to bed to rise early for Mass tomorrow.

Speaking of Masses, or, at least, of religioussy things, perhaps you've heard of that whole Roman Catholic maneuver to assume disaffected Anglicans into the Church? It's an interesting strategy. (I do wonder what's uniting R.C.s and conservative Anglicans, though: it is a commitment to shared values or merely shared distastes?) Of course, it's causing some friction, as the Vatican was rather uncommunicative about this to the Archbishop of Canterbury. He and da Pope met today. Quoth the BBC, "The meeting between Pope Benedict and the Archbishop of Canterbury Rowan Williams had been billed as something of a showdown." This leads me to wonder who would win in a fight. Dr Williams is younger, yes, and probably more limber, but Benedict looks meaner. Over at America Magazine, the Jesuits are speculating that we're entering a new era in reconciliation between different Christian churches. I remain cautiously pessimistic.