The 113th United States Congress was sworn into office today.
Our prayers ought to be with them,
O God, who arrange all things in wondrous order and govern in marvelous ways, look with favor on the assembled, for whom we now pray, and mercifully pour out upon them the spirit of your wisdom, that they may decide everything for the well-being and peace of all and may never turn aside from your will.
By the numbers: 13 new senators, 84 new congress people. This freshman class has a Kennedy, a reindeer farmer and animal vet; 2 physicists in Congress. The longest in office, 38 years, is Senator Patrick Leahy of Vermont.
Catholics are concerned for the common good, the good working of the public order.