Rainbow over the Eternal City!

"When the bow is in the clouds I shall see it and call to mind the eternal covenant between God and every living creature on earth, that is, all living things." (Gn 9:16)

And so, after class this evening, this is the rainbow that greeted us as we returned to our rooms. It also marks a drastic change in the temperature! A front has blown through and the temperature has dropped from close to 80 down to around 50. Fall has definitely arrived in Rome! Good thing I'm headed to the south of Spain on Thursday.

"Credo in...sanctorum communionem"

"I believe in the...communion of saints." Today Pope Benedict XVI canonized five new saints! About the "communion of saints, the Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches: Exactly as Christian communion among our fellow pilgrims brings us closer to Christ, so our communion with the saints joins us to Christ, from whom as from its fountain and head issues all grace, and the life of the People of God itself (#957).

And so, today we ask St. Zygmunt Felinski, St. Francis Coll y Guitart, St. Joseph Damien de Veuster, St. Raphael Baron, and St. Mary of the Cross (Jeanne) Jugan to better join us to Christ!

All holy men and women, pray for us!

"Mentality of Sterility"

Came across this most interesting and thought-provoking article. What a prophet Pope Paul VI was in Humanae Vitae!

"When the Moon Hits Your Eye...!"

Remember Dean Martin? OK...now I'm really dating myself...but on the terrace tonight I couldn't help humming to myself "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore." Yes, Rome has a harvest moon, too...and what a really beautiful site tonight as we get ready for the ordination of about 25 PNAC deacons tomorrow at the Altar of the Chair in St. Peter's Basilica. His Excellency, the Most Reverend Robert J. Carlson, Archbishop of St. Louis, MO will be the ordaining prelate. We've been invited to concelebrate the Mass.

So, I don't know if the moon really hits your eye like a big pizza pie (when experiencing "amore") but it certainly portends a great harvest of new, young priests for our church in America. A few more workers for the vineyard of the Lord!

Catacombs of Priscilla

This morning we toured the Catacombs of Priscilla and then celebrated Holy Mass (in the chapel in the above photo). It is always amazing to walk through the catacombs, the burial places of so many first century Christians. It turns out that seven popes and many cardinals and bishops were also buried here. What's truly wonderful about the catacombs of Priscilla is the first and second century artwork (we were not allowed to take pictures), so most definitely add the catacombs of Priscilla to your next Roman itinerary!

Padre Nostro

Ever wonder what the "Our Father" is in Italian? Well, I didn't think so! But here it is anyway:

Padre nostro, che sei nei cieli, sia santificato il tuo nome, venga il tuo regno, sia fatta la tua volonta come in cielo cosi in terra. Dacci oggi il nostro pane quotidiano, e rimetti a noi i nostri debiti come noi li rimettiamo ai nostri debitori, e non ci indurre in tentazione, ma liberaci dal male. Amen.

And how about the "Hail Mary"?

Ave, o Maria, piena di grazia, il Signore e con te. Tu sei benedetta fra le donne e benedetto e il frutto del tuo seno, Gesu. Santa Maria, Madre di Dio, prega per noi peccatori, adesso e nell' ora della nostra morte. Amen.

And finally:

Gloria al Padre e al Figlio e allo Spirito Santo. Come era nel principio, e ora e sempre nei secoli dei secoli. Amen.

There...your free Italian lesson for the day! Buon giorno!

Huh???

I had the most interesting experience in Lourdes! No, unfortunately I experienced no physical healing; but upon reflection I am truly amazed. You see...I was with about 150 Italian pilgrims, so the entire pilgrimage was in Italian...of which I barely understand a word or two. All the directions, all the prayers, all the Masses...everything was in Italian. Yes, I was with another English-speaking priest and we did find one couple from New York on the pilgrimage with us, too, but other than that...everything was in a language I really didn't understand. To top it all off, we were in France so we were surrounded by French speakers, signs in French, etc. Again, I barely know a word or two of French! So, in effect, I spent three days hearing a lot of talking and reading a lot of signs but not able to understand a word of it. I said, more than once on the pilgrimage, "Huh?"

Well, as it turns out, it was an amazing experience. Words did not get in the way of the experience! In fact, I slowly discovered that not understanding a word of what was usually being said made me really sensitive to the actual experience of what was going on...to enter into the experiences more deeply, one might say. For example, I had the great honor of concelebrating Holy Mass at the Grotto in Lourdes. The main celebrant was an Italian bishop. The entire Mass was in Italian...the readings, the prayers, the bishop's homily...everything. Yet, right behind me was the spring of water that the Blessed Mother had caused to spring from the rocks. I could hear it flowing throughout the whole Mass. I found myself reflecting on the "life-giving" water that flowed from our Lord's most Sacred Heart as He hung upon the cross...the very same action we were "re-experiencing" in the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. I'm pretty certain that had I been trying to "listen" to all the words, I would never have "listened" so deeply to the experience. It was pretty amazing!

This same thing happened time and again. As we participated in the Eucharistic Procession at the Shrine...again everything was in Italian. Since I couldn't concentrate on the meaning of the words, I could better appreciate the experience. I could better "enter into" the Real Presence of our Lord and the looks on peoples' faces as they gazed upon the monstrance was worth more than a thousand words! Again, during the candlelight Rosary Procession that same evening, I understood very few of the words (the prayers were offered in what must have been 20 or 30 languages...oh how I felt at home when I heard "Zdravas Maria"!!!) but could better appreciate what we were doing.

As most of you know, I have a love for the traditional Latin Mass. How often I hear, "But, Father, we don't understand Latin." Don't get me wrong, words and their meaning are very important...BUT, I think more and more that they really tend to get in the way almost more than they help. Consider how most of our deepest and most meaningful experiences in life find no words that can adequately describe them. It's not the words that matter, it's the experience. I think of this often when I think of the Apostles and our Lord. How little they really understood of what He said (how often we don't really understand!). But, their experience of the Lord is what sent them into the world to proclaim the Good News! I certainly would never advocate that everything we do should be accompanied by words we don't understand...but there are times when our words do not work too well. More and more, I'm feeling that this is so true of Holy Mass where we stand at the foot of the Cross and "experience" our Lord's ineffable Love for us.

Lourdes was truly an amazing experience...for many reasons. But, surely a big part of it was what I "experienced," not what I understood...for ultimately, who can really understand the depth and breadth of such Love? Maybe we need to be much less concerned about the meaning of the words and much more concerned with the meaning of the WORD, our Lord Jesus Christ.