‘Twas an eventful weekend.

Benedict XVI gave his first mass today. I hope people give him more of a chance than they have been. The media loves to remind us of a few facts about the new Pope:

1. He’s old!
2. He’s really old, and possibly feeble and/or sick!
3. Even he has said he won’t be pope for long.
4. He was in Hitler’s Youth Army (which was a long time ago, so, you know– he’s old!)
5. He’s conservative and set in his ways, which, consequently, is another trait of old people!

At mass today, Father Antonio reminded us that there’s no need to fear Benedict XVI. He will lead as best he can for as long as he can. And whether you agree or disagree with his decisions (and really, wait until he does something before you make up your mind one way or the other), remember that he is leading from his conscience and his convictions. I think the world will warm up to him quickly. I pray that he works to restore some of the respect to the church that has been lost through scandal, and that he works to modernize certain aspects of the church while maintaining the foundation of the faith. That’s a lot to do for anyone.

Here’s what’s coming on monkeywright.com (hopefully by the end of the week). Some thoughts on Pope John Paul II. A new look for the site. I can’t decide whether to go all modern and cool, or keep the current look with a few tweaks. The book section will (finally!) be revamped with some new excerpts added. And, God willing, someone will give me some easy corkboard code to get my message board working again.

There’s a few big changes coming up here in Los Angeles… and I’ll tell you all about them soon enough when the time is right…