Passing the torch

Hey guys,

We’ve missed quite a few feast days this past month and I sincerely apologize for it.  I do have an explanation though: my backpack was stolen, money, laptop, debit card and all.  Theft is one part of the pilgrim experience I’m glad you don’t have to encur! I do appreciate your coming back to my blog though even after a month of inactivity.

I was especially disappointed not to share Saints Philip and James’ feast day with you all on May 3rd.  That one was right here in Rome. Their relics are in my favorite church, the Church of the Twelve Apostles.  It’s beautiful and it’s always quiet when I go there–a real rarity in the city.  I am a touch bias though in this preference because Saint James the Lesser is a patron of mine.  

We also missed the feast of St. Rita, whose tomb is in Cascia, Italy (May 22).  She might be the most approachable saints there is. She was a wife and mother before she was widowed and took religious vows, and in both vocations her devotion to Jesus was extreme.  A good friend of mine and I prayed a novena to Saint Rita and even that short set of words told much about her unique relationship with God. For whatever supplications you have, a novena to Saint Rita is a good one to know.  

We also missed Saint Joan of Arc’s feast day on May 30th, and missing that one  disappoints me too.  I hadn’t actually determined where in France we were going to need to venture in order to honor her, but after the theft I was in no position to buy a plane ticket to France. 

I do encourage you to get to know Saint Joan though.  Mark Twain claims his best novel is the story he wrote about her, and while it is a novel, the masterpiece will make a soft spot in your heart for Saint Joan.  I recommend it.

We just missed the feast day of Saint Justine Martyr on June 1st.  (If you didn’t get a chance to employ his intercession, it’s never too late!)  and coming up are more celebrations that I regret that I won’t be able to upload photos and share with you.  The feast of Saints Peter and Paul (June 29) is one that especially saddens me not to be able to share with you. Both their tombs are here in Rome where they were each martyred, and these two basilicas–Saint Peter’s Basilica and Saint Paul Outside the Walls–each have deep-running histories.  They are marvels to see.

If my photos have been an inadequate experience of the pilgrimage–and believe me, they are–I hope they’re  encouragement for you to plan a date and a savings strategy to make your own trip to Rome.  Pick all your favorite saints and craft a pilgrimage that’s particularly yours!

I’ve been really blessed to see various saints impact my family members in different ways when they’ve made trips out to see me.  My sister loved Saint Cecilia’s tomb the best. I took her to Saint Peter’s Basilica (the larges basilica in the world!) and all kinds of other places.  Then we just happened across Saint Cecilia’s tomb–it was my first time there too–and she just loved it.  My favorite part about having visitors is seeing them react to something they just love.  

My dad’s favorite spot was this Benedictine monastery on Aventine Hill, and my mother loved a marian apparition site downtown.  My oldest brother though, his visits have been the best. He loved everything. He even loved walking around with me in between each place we went.  Those were golden moments too, because they allowed us to chat about whatever crossed our minds as we walked.  

My other brother and his wife are planning to visit in the near future, and they’re an adventurous pair.  I can’t wait to see what strikes them!

God has really blessed me, and the joys of this pilgrimage have been one, big offering of gratitude back to God.  

I hope you all have enjoyed these months in pilgrimage.  It’s been a sheer joy for me to share it with you! And I am sincerely sorry that we won’t make it the entirety of the year to finish the journey.  Truth is, I probably could buy a new computer within my budget, but that’s still not a prudent purchase to make in my situation. So, I’m passing the tourch on to you!  Keep going!  Keep getting to know the saints and enjoy the places of the world where we can cross paths with the lives they lived. 

Lastly, if you want to keep in touch with me, I’ll still be here.  I’ve got a lot of crazy things to say, and whenever I get access to a computer (which I’m sure will happen often enough) I’ll share them with you.  

So pilgrims, save travels to you!  Take the peace of Christ and the zeal of Saint Paul and continue on your way fighting the good fight, knowing that the real destination you endeavor toward is heaven.  

April 25 – St. Mark

Site 23: Venice, Italy

Today as we celebrate this Gospel writer, I can’t help but enjoy Saint Mark’s closeness to Jesus’ mission.

At different times, Mark accompanied both Saints Peter and Paul to assist their ministry, and Mark’s retelling of Jesus’ life in his Gospel demonstrates the depth to which he involved himself with the other followers to assume discipleship spread Christ’s faith.

Timothy calls for Mark to join Luke and him for his help in their ministry when others have left the mission behind, (1Tim 4:11) while Saint Peter recounts that after his rescue from prison by means of an angel, Peter goes to the “house of Mary, the mother of John, whose other name was Mark, where many were gathered together and were praying.” (Acts 12:12).  Today’s first reading gives us a glimpse at Mark’s life alongside Peter on the Christian mission as well.  I share it with you below, but you can also find it here: 1Peter 5:5-14.  

This great saint is another one that Italy is fortunate enough to honor on its soil.  I share with you today, my trip to Venice where Saint Mark’s relics lie in the basilica dedicated to him.

1Peter 5:5-14:

Beloved:  Clothe yourselves with humility in your dealings with one another, for: God opposes the proud but bestows favor on the humble.

So humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that he may exalt you in due time.  Cast all your worries upon him because he cares for you.  Be sober and vigilant.  Your opponent the Devil is prowling around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.  Resist him, steadfast in faith, knowing that your brothers and sisters throughout the world undergo the same sufferings.  The God of all grace who called you to his eternal glory through Christ Jesus will himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you after you have suffered a little.  To him be dominion forever.  Amen.

I write you this briefly through Silvanus, whom I consider a faithful brother, exhorting you and testifying that this is the true grace of God.  Remain firm in it.  The chosen one at Babylon sends you greeting, as does Mark, my son.  Greet one another with a loving kiss.  Peace to all of you who are in Christ.  

St. Mark, pray for us!

Easter Sunday

Happy Easter everyone! I write you all from home with my family hoping you all are celebrating in good company today too. I hope you feel how immensely loved you are by God and I hope the joy of it spreads His love to everyone in your life.

“The word which was proclaimed throughout all Judea, beginning from Galilee after the baptism which John preached:
how God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power; how he went about doing good and healing all that were oppressed by the devil, for God was with him.
And we are witnesses to all that he did both in the country of the Jews and in Jerusalem. They put him to death by hanging him on a tree;
but God raised him on the third day and made him manifest;
not to all the people but to us who were chosen by God as witnesses, who ate and drank with him after he rose from the dead.
And he commanded us to preach to the people, and to testify that he is the one ordained by God to be judge of the living and the dead.
To him all the prophets bear witness that every one who believes in him receives forgiveness of sins through his name.” -Acts 10:34-43

I also find it beautiful today to honor the priesthood that Christ instituted as He began His act of saving the world. All you priests have a special role in the world that carries out Christ’s plan for all His people to receive the redemption He procured for us. May God bless you in your ministry always.

To live in the midst of the world
without wishing its pleasures;
To be a member of each family,
yet belonging to none;
To share all suffering;
to penetrate all secrets;
To heal all wounds;
to go from men to God
and offer Him their prayers;
To return from God to men
to bring pardon and hope;
To have a heart of fire for Charity,
and a heart of bronze for Chastity
To teach and to pardon,
console and bless always.
My God, what a life;
and it is yours,
O priest of Jesus Christ.

 —Lacordaire

Holy Thursday, the passover meal

Site 23: Jerusalem, Israel

To commemorate today, I share with you photos from the Holy Land.  The photo above was taken from the Mount of Olives across the valley from where Jesus was condemned and carried the cross to His death.  Quite an expanse of the city appears in that photo above.  The gold dome that stands out most prevalently is the mosque built over the rock on which Abraham almost sacrificed Isaac.  Carry your eyes about three fingers’ width to the left and you’ll see a little black dome of the holy sepulcher.  That hill, where you see the dome of the holy sepulcher, is Golgotha. It is thought that the mosque (gold dome) is where the disciples stood and watched Jesus die, as from there they would have clearly been able to see the crosses stand on Golgotha.

Holy Sepulcher

1 COR 11:23-26

Brothers and sisters:
I received from the Lord what I also handed on to you,

Catholic Church just outside the upper room

that the Lord Jesus, on the night he was handed over,
took bread, and, after he had given thanks,
broke it and said, “This is my body that is for you.
Do this in remembrance of me.”
In the same way also the cup, after supper, saying,
“This cup is the new covenant in my blood.
Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me.”
For as often as you eat this bread and drink the cup,
you proclaim the death of the Lord until he comes.

Mount of Olives

JN 13:1-15

Before the feast of Passover, Jesus knew that his hour had come
to pass from this world to the Father.
He loved his own in the world and he loved them to the end.
The devil had already induced Judas, son of Simon the Iscariot, to hand him over.
So, during supper,
fully aware that the Father had put everything into his power
and that he had come from God and was returning to God,
he rose from supper and took off his outer garments.
He took a towel and tied it around his waist.
Then he poured water into a basin
and began to wash the disciples’ feet
and dry them with the towel around his waist.
He came to Simon Peter, who said to him,
“Master, are you going to wash my feet?”
Jesus answered and said to him,
“What I am doing, you do not understand now,
but you will understand later.”
Peter said to him, “You will never wash my feet.”
Jesus answered him,
“Unless I wash you, you will have no inheritance with me.”
Simon Peter said to him,
“Master, then not only my feet, but my hands and head as well.”
Jesus said to him,
“Whoever has bathed has no need except to have his feet washed,
for he is clean all over;
so you are clean, but not all.”
For he knew who would betray him;
for this reason, he said, “Not all of you are clean.”

So when he had washed their feet
and put his garments back on and reclined at table again,
he said to them, “Do you realize what I have done for you?
You call me ‘teacher’ and ‘master,’ and rightly so, for indeed I am.
If I, therefore, the master and teacher, have washed your feet,
you ought to wash one another’s feet.
I have given you a model to follow,
so that as I have done for you, you should also do.”

link to the readings: USCCB

March 19 – St. Joseph

Site 22: Nazareth, Israel

Nazareth

Today we celebrate the solemnity of St. Joseph–truly, one of the greatest saints because his was the unique call from God to father Jesus.

I am not in Israel today honestly, but I do have photos I can share with you from my trip there a year ago.  Here is a website actually that gives some details about the church.

This is the church in Nazareth believed to be built over the site of St. Joseph’s carpentry workshop

The original Greek of the Gospel of Matthew, which recounts the story of Joseph receiving God’s call to assume fatherhood of Jesus, demonstrates that when Joseph was preparing to “divorce Mary quietly” he did it fully knowing that the child she bore was Christ.  The text transmits that Joseph was leaving the situation out of fear, not feeling worthy to fill the fatherly role being asked of him, whereas in English it sounds as though Joseph is leaving because Mary is pregnant by someone else and Joseph is simply trying not to shame her.

In reality, Joseph fully understands the situation, and it is the angel who must assure him, “Joseph, son of David!” that he is the one God asks to fill this unique

heading down to the crypt

role in His divine plan.  With the utmost fidelity and humility, Joseph obeys the Lord and lives a life a great piety raising Jesus.

Mat 1:16, 18-21

Jacob was the father of Joseph, the husband of Mary.
Of her was born Jesus who is called the Christ.

Now this is how the birth of Jesus Christ came about.
When his mother Mary was betrothed to Joseph,
but before they lived together,
she was found with child through the Holy Spirit.
Joseph her husband, since he was a righteous man,
yet unwilling to expose her to shame,
decided to divorce her quietly.
Such was his intention when, behold,
the angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream and said,
“Joseph, son of David,
do not be afraid to take Mary your wife into your home.
For it is through the Holy Spirit
that this child has been conceived in her.
She will bear a son and you are to name him Jesus,
because he will save his people from their sins.”
When Joseph awoke,
he did as the angel of the Lord had commanded him
and took his wife into his home.

St. Joseph, pray for us!