Here’s the agenda for the November meeting:

The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) will hold its fall meeting at the Baltimore Marriott Waterfront hotel, November 13-16, 2006. The agenda will include: approval of a reorganization plan for their national conference; approval of a revision of the Lectionary for Mass for selected days in the season of Advent, and a directory for music and the liturgy for use in the dioceses of the United States; approval of two documents from their Doctrine Committee- a proposed statement on receiving the sacrament of the Eucharist worthily, and proposed guidelines for ministry to persons with a homosexual inclination; and a document from the Pro-Life Committee offering pastoral guidance on the Church’s teaching concerning contraception, linked with a culture of life. The bishops will also elect a new Conference Secretary and several committee chairmen.

Archbishop Chaput at the Harrisburg Red Mass:

When people claim they’re Catholic but do nothing in the public square to advance the Christian understanding of each human person’s dignity, they’re deceiving themselves and other people — but they’re not fooling God,” the archbishop said, naming areas of concern to Catholics, such as embryonic stem-cell research, abortion, assisted suicide, marriage, immigration, poverty and the disabled.

“We need to drill it into our heads that defending the sanctity of the human person and serving the common good can’t be separated,” he said. “Stuffing our Catholic faith in a closet when we enter the public square or join a public debate isn’t good manners, and it isn’t political courtesy. It’s cowardice. And we’ll be judged for that cowardice by the God who created us.”

“It’s always easier to talk about social justice or political reform when the target of the reform is ‘out there,’ rather than in here,” he continued. 

“The world does need to change, and in your vocation as public leaders, God is calling you to pursue that task with justice and charity; with a love for the common good and a reverence for human life,” he said. “The world needs committed Catholic laypeople like yourselves to lead with humility, courage and love. 

“But what it [the world] needs more than anything else is holiness – holy men and women who love Jesus Christ and God’s Word more than they love their own careers and agendas,” he challenged

This weekend, Bishop Olmsted of Phoenix will release a booklet called "Catholics in the Public Square." It should be well worth a read. The word regularly comes up from Phoenix that Bishop Olmsted is a humble, Christ-like witness in his diocese, arriving from Wichita in his old car with a couple of boxes of books to his name, regularly doing sidewalk praying and counseling outside of the Planned Parenthood clinic…and more. I know they are very grateful for their bishop down there in Phoenix.

(Plus…we’re also huge fans of Bishop Olmsted around here for restoring the proper order of the Sacraments of Initiation in his diocese.)