Author: Capital Catholic Happenings

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Walking in the Footsteps:San Giorgio

Guest blogger Chris Seith and photographer, Fr. Justin Huber guide us through San Giorgio:

Today, the English-speaking pilgrims walked to San Giorgio for the second day of Lent.  For those of us at the Pontifical North American College, we began our trek at 6:15 in the morning, walking alongside the Tiber River as the sun rose.  The location towards which we were headed has been used by Christians since the late fifth century.  Originally, the location was used as a center for social services and was later turned into a church in the ninth century.  The Saint it commemorates was a popular martyr during the Diocletian Persecution, the bloodiest persecution of the early Church lasting from the late third century until the year 311.  This Saint inspired many soldiers to remain courageous while they struggled to follow Christ.  He is also an inspiring Saint for the seminarians at the Pontifical North American College who hope to lay down their lives for Christ as Saint George did.  The church is connected to another inspiring figure as well.  San Giorgio was the titular church of the newly beatified John Henry Cardinal Newman.

The readings for today connect us in a particular way to the witness of the martyrs.  In Deuteronomy, Moses tells us, “I have set before you life and death, the blessing and the curse.  Choose life, then…”  With these words, Moses reminds the Israelites of the great gift of life which God has given them.  No doubt this seemed strange for a people wandering through the desert with no relief in sight.  Much like many in our time, the Israelites doubted the beauty of life amidst their many sufferings.  Yet in the Gospel, Jesus offers clarity by telling us that “whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.”  Our Lord offers a new perspective on life and invites us today to reconsider the grace of our Baptism.  Through this Sacrament, we have become sons and daughters of God.  God sees us as having died with Christ and risen with Him.  Therefore, when we embrace our daily crosses out of love for God, we live the reality of our Baptism by sharing in the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.  Suffering, then, is not a hindrance to living life abundantly but is rather the very means by which we do so.  When we unite ourselves to Him who is Love, life reclaims its original magnificence and beauty no matter what situation we find ourselves in.

Learn more at Church:  http://www.pnac.org/station-churches/week-of-ash-wed/thursday-after-ash-wednesday-san-giorgio/

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Walking in the footsteps of the saints and martyrs of Rome

 

With the help of our seminarians and priests studying in Rome, we will be able to participate in one of the most ancient Lenten practices of the Roman Church. Dating back to the late second or early third century, the Bishop of Rome would celebrate Mass in parishes around the city. By the fifth century, there was a fixed calendar in place for the dates of those liturgies.

Today, it has become the practice of the North American College to “host” the English speaking stational churches liturgies. Each day Mass is also celebrated in German and Italian and for many years the Pope has celebrated the Ash Wednesday liturgy at the first of the stational churches. We begin our pilgrimage with a reflection by Patrick Lewis and photos by Fr. Justin Huber.

Santa Sabina

Today the Church begins Lent, the season of prayer, penance, and almsgiving that prepares Catholics for the coming of Easter. For seminarians and priests at the Pontifical North American College in Rome, Ash Wednesday begins the pilgrimages to the station churches in Rome.

Seminarians and priests gathered early in the morning at the Pontifical North American College to make their trek out to Santa Sabina. The sacristans, masters of ceremonies, choir, lectors, and acolytes arrived at the quiet church early to ensure that everything was set up and the Mass was prepared to be celebrated with due reverence. I joined a small group of seminarians and a priest and headed out toward Santa Sabina around 5:45AM. Walking along the Tiber in the cold, brisk darkness of the morning, we prayed the rosary and quietly made our way to the church. As I headed up the cobbled-stoned street that goes up the Aventine Hill, the sun began to rise.

The entire community from the Pontifical North American College and Casa Santa Maria gathered for Mass at Santa Sabina, the first of the station churches. Many other English speakers joined the College for the Mass. Students who are studying abroad in Rome and other people from around the city joined us for Mass. The 6:45AM Mass was somber, as the community entered into this holy penitential season.

Santa Sabina has been a place of worship since early in the second century. St. Sabina, a Roman matron from the second century, lived at or near the sight of this church. According to tradition, Sabina was a widow who was converted to the faith by her slave, Seraphia. The current church was built in the fifth century. The church was remodeled many times. The priests and servers sit in a choir section walled off with a marble rail. Pillars line the massive structure. Tombs from throughout the history of the Church line the walls and floors. Saints and martyrs since the time of the early Church have prayed at this holy sanctuary.

Santa Sabina is a particularly powerful church in which to begin the Lenten season not only because it is the traditional Ash Wednesday church, but because of the treasures that are found there. For example, one of the doors to the entrance has a panel with a carved wooden image that is one of the oldest crucifixion scenes in existence. Also, a small casket underneath the high altar contains the relics of various martyrs, including Santa Sabina herself. The image of Christ crucified and the presence of the martyrs are a fitting reminder that we should offer ourselves completely to God, inviting him into our lives and withholding nothing from him this Lent.

For “New Men” who are experiencing their first Lent in Rome, the Mass at Santa Sabina was a powerful introduction to the richness of the Lenten tradition in Rome. For those of us who have studied in Rome for a few years, Ash Wednesday and the church of Santa Sabina will be forever linked in our memories. After the Mass, we left Santa Sabina with ash on our foreheads, to go out and recommit ourselves to the Lord this Lenten season.

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Lessons Learned at a Chocolate Factory

This weekend, I had the pleasure of celebrating my Uncle Walter’s 55th Birthday.  For many people, birthdays are a big deal.  This is especially true for my uncle!  For well over a decade, he has battled polycystic kidney disease and through the help of dialysis, his kidneys remain minimally functioning at low 4%.  It’s also increasingly more apparent that the disease is taking a toll on his frail body.  The other part of his story – he will never be considered for a kidney transplant because he is mentally disabled.  So this weekend, we decided to celebrate his birthday in style, with a visit to Hershey, PA and a tour of the chocolate factory.

Society often tells us that persons with disabilities are burdensome or are simply not worth it.  Many argue that persons with disabilities do not have much to offer society – and somehow believe that our worth as a person is somehow linked to what we can contribute or give back.  Unfortunately, society more often than not, fails to recognize the inherent dignity of the sick and disabled.  And perhaps even more alarming, society fails to recognize all the ways persons with disabilities enrich and bless our lives.  As a result, we see the growing trend of prenatal diagnosis and selective abortions of those babies likely to be born with disabilities.  A common explanation – the disruption to families caused by the birth of a child with a disability.  Yes, it’s true.  Living with persons with disabilities is often challenging, and honestly sometimes even frustrating.  But without a doubt, I would never ever trade those challenges for the many lessons I’ve learned and blessings I’ve received.

My uncle has taught me that all life is sacred, that God has willed each of us into being, and we all have a place in His family.  He’s taught me how to be patient. He’s taught me how to trust with an innocent child-like faith…although I’m still trying to learn that lesson. And this weekend, walking through the chocolate factory, his presence reminded me about the freedom found in the simplicity of things.  As we slowly walked through the tour, many other families would pass us by, displaying in their faces a somewhat hurried rush.   Looking ahead to what was next.  Nope, not my uncle.  He slowed us down – and what a gift that was!  It gave my family the opportunity to soak everything in and enjoy the time to the fullest!  It gave us an opportunity to cherish even the littlest of things. Or maybe even more simply put, he helped us open our eyes to the many gifts God had put before us.

On the drive back to DC, I found myself thanking God for yet another great lesson.  Sure my uncle may not be able to “give back” to society.  But without even knowing it, Walter teaches me some of life’s great lessons.

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Time for a renovation?

Six months ago we had a flood at our home which caused extensive damage to our first floor. As the walls were being removed, we discovered mold, some that was caused by the flood and some that had been there for quite some time, growing and spreading. The discovery of mold led to the removal of ceilings and sub floors. Until recently, our first and second floors were exposed down to floor and ceiling beams!

As I begin to prepare for the season of Lent, I find that our home renovation is a nice working image for the spiritual potential of Lent. Like how a fresh coat of paint can completely change the feel of a room, adding some more time for personal prayer or joining in a service project might be enough to enrich your spiritual life.  On the other hand, the season of Lent is really about a much larger renovation project. Lent invites us with the tools of prayer, fasting and almsgiving to strip the old paint off, to pull up the floors and look for the sin that is like mold. What is the sin, that like mold is growing unseen within us but spreading out through our thoughts and actions. Through the disciplines of Lent we are called to strip away the walls that may be allowing that sin to spread.

This Lent the archdiocese has some tools to offer for the renovation project. If you are thinking about praying more with Scripture, consider buying the newly revised New American Bible which is the fruit of almost 20 years of new Scholarship on the books of the Old Testament. Again this year, on Wednesday evenings in the Archdiocese of Washington and Diocese of Arlington churches will be open for prayer and confession.

We can make our fasting a tool for feeding the hungry by participation in Operation Rice Bowl. I know that the presence of the rice bowl on my table is a reminder of the fast I have chosen and it makes it easy to put the money I save by giving up my daily Starbucks fix right in the bowl.

Our Environmental Concerns committee is offering a Lent Calendar that invites us to reflect on the stewardship dimension of our discipleshipfrom an environmental perspective through prayer and a “carbon fast.”  All of these are tools to aid us in deepening our relationship with the Lord and leaving go of bad habits that grow into sin and take on good habits that grow into virtues.

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Preparing to receive grace

While doing my doctoral studies in Rome, I would go to daily Mass at Sant’Agostino, a parish where the Augustinian community and local parishioners could not have been more welcoming or more patient as I struggled to learn the mass in Italian. Early on in my stay, I happened upon what would be one of what seemed like a thousand novenas we would pray a year! My fellow parishioners prayed novenas in preparation for big feasts like St. Joseph and their favorite feasts, like St. Rita. It gave me a new appreciation for and understanding of the novena tradition. Novenas are nine days of public or private devotion to obtain a special grace (Catholic Encyclopedia).

 I began to find novenas really helpful in meditating on the particular grace of a feast or liturgical season. Because the world does not live by the liturgical calendar, I find novenas a way to prepare me to more fully enter into God’s time and to live by the liturgical calendar even as I carry a Google calendar in my pocket.

 Today, we are nine days away from the beginning of Lent and why not decide to pray a novena to prepare to receive the special graces the Lord showers upon us during Lent. In his 2011 Message for Lent, Pope Benedict writes “through the personal encounter with our Redeemer and through fasting, almsgiving and prayer, the journey of conversion towards Easter leads us to rediscover our Baptism. This Lent, let us renew our acceptance of the Grace that God bestowed upon us at that moment, so that it may illuminate and guide all of our actions. What the Sacrament signifies and realizes, we are called to experience every day by following Christ in an ever more generous and authentic manner.”

 This Lent, we have an opportunity to reflect on the meaning of our Baptism, to discover in what ways I live and act out of my Baptismal identity and in what ways I may need to strengthen this identity. You can prepare for this forty-day journey in prayer with a novena and in reflection as we think about how you will practice the disciplines of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. Here is one I found at Catholic traditions.com.

FATHER, all-powerful and ever-living God,
During the Holy Season of Lent
You call us to a closer union with Yourself.
Help me to prepare to celebrate
The Paschal Mystery
With mind and heart renewed.
Give me a spirit of loving reverence
For You, our Father,
And of willing service to my neighbor.
As I recall the great events
That gave us new life in Christ,
Bring the image of Your Son
To perfection within my soul.

This great season of grace is Your gift
To Your family to renew us in spirit.
Give me strength to purify my heart,
To control my desires,
And so to serve You in freedom,
Teach me how to live
In this passing world with my heart set
On the world that will never end.

I ask for the grace
To master my sinfulness
And conquer my pride.
I want to show to those in need
Your goodness to me by being kind to all.

Through my observance of Lent,
Help me to correct my faults
And raise my mind to You,
And thus grow in holiness
That I may deserve
The reward of everlasting life.

In Your mercy grant me this special favor [name a special intention]

The days of the life-giving Death
And glorious Resurrection of Jesus Christ,
Your Son, are approaching.
This is the hour
When He triumphed over Satan’s pride,
The time when we celebrate
The great event of our Redemption.
The Suffering and Death of Your Son
Brought life to the whole world,
Moving our hearts to praise Your glory.

The power of the Cross reveals
Your judgment on this world
And the kingship of Christ crucified.
Father, through His love for us
And through His Sufferings, Death and Resurrection,
May I gain eternal life with You in heaven

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Witness and Testimony

At Baptism, every Catholic is anointed with oil to share in the priestly, prophetic and kingly mission of Jesus. As priestly people we are called to offer back to God the gift of our lives in love and service; as prophets we are called to give witness to the faith—at  home—on the job—and in the world and as stewards(kingly) we are called to be about the work of building the kingdom of God. These charisms were in full gear on Monday night as more than 400 Catholics from around the state of Maryland and seven bishops from the Archdiocese of Washington and the Archdiocese of Baltimore gathered in Annapolis to lobby for bills coming before the Maryland House and Senate that we think are critical for our communities and our church.

I am not talking about 400 professional lobbyists, which would not be an unusual gathering in the Washington metro region! I am talking about Catholics who by day, are business people, at-home moms, lawyers, active duty military, educators and retirees who come together, on a Federal holiday to gather by district, study the issues, prepare talking points and meet with legislators and their staffs for discussion and dialogue.

400 constituents gets the attention of any group of politicians but even more than the number is that for 27 years Catholics have come to Annapolis to speak to issues that not only affect us directly, (BOAST Tax credits that gives businesses a tax credit for their support of K-12 education or the Textbook program that makes books and computer hardware and software available to nonpublic schools ) but as noted by legislators, often we are speaking up in support of those who have no voice and bills that don’t affect the “Catholic lobbyists” directly. This gets people’s respect and attention and so our state senators’ and state house members’ doors are open to us on this night.

I could not have been more proud to be a Catholic as I watched my fellow Catholics give concise, articulate and passionate position statements. In some cases the senator or delegate or staffer would state strongly their opposition to our position and our lobbyists came back with tough questions and more detail. In one meeting a Catholic from Carroll County shared the seven principles of Catholic Social teaching to explain why we wanted to address such a wide cross-section of bills. In another case, two of the bills were new to house members. They had not seen anything about them yet, so we had a chance to frame the bill for them.

If you follow Maryland politics, you know that there is a bill to redefine marriage and we raised strong opposition to that.  This is not a surprise. Many however were surprised that we are supporting a bill that calls for the licensing and inspecting of abortion clinics. Maryland clinics are not licensed or inspected by the state and women have died or have been injured as a result. While in no way supporting abortion, we do always and everywhere want to promote and protect the life and dignity of women. Abortion clinics do neither. We are also opposing a bill that wants to cut program that serve those most in need.

It is not too late for you to participate. If you are a resident of Maryland, take some time this week to read over the bills on which we are taking a stand and contact your delegates to voice your support or opposition.

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The Sign of the Cross

Greetings from Argentina!  A small group of seminarians, religious and young adults have “gone south” on mission.  We started our journey on Monday, December 27th and are now living and working in the City of Charity in San Rafael, Argentina.  We have seen extreme poverty; sat beside men, women and children with severe mental and physical disabilities; and watched a young single mother – age 14 care for her infant son.  Admist all of the pain and suffering we have also witnessed great joy.  There is much to reflect and write on, but today Im choosing to reflect on the power and the sign of the cross.

While in the Miami airport, each missionary was given a wooden mission cross.  We´re wearing them as a sign of Gods great love and mercy, and as a reminder that we are called to go forth as a living testimony of that intense love.  During these past few days, I have found myself pondering the reality of the cross – drawing strength from the cross and trying to make sense of the pain and suffering.  Through this reflection, I have  become aware of a new transformation taking place in my heart.  Im amazed at what Jesus does in our lives when we open ourselves and offer ourselves completely to Him.  I´ve learned that the more we enter into that great friendship with Jesus, the more we desire to know Him.  And the more we know Him, the more we desire to reflect His love.  Today, I thankful to the people of Argentina for reminding me about the love found in the cross. Our Savior suffered and died out of love for us.  We know that the story does not end there.  He suffered so that we may be redeemed and someday share in His glorious resurrection.  Let our lives – all we are and all we do, become a living sign of the cross.

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Cold Nights + Christ’s Calling = New Initiative

Last night while driving over the 14th Street bridge and making my way home, I noticed that the temperature read 23 degrees.  I had plans to bundle up and head for a run with a friend.  But as I sat in traffic and watched the temperature fluctuate between 23 and 26 degrees I began to think otherwise.  There I was, sitting in my warm car, with great music on in the background, and choosing between “bundling up” and running outside, or making my way to the gym.  At the very same time, many of our city’s poor were wondering if they would find a bed for the evening – a place to rest and escape the blustering winds for at least the night hours.

Unfortunately, the need for warmth and security offered by shelters is great.  On an average night, over 1,300 beds are provided through a Catholic Charities program throughout the archdiocese.  Some of the people who seek the warmth of the shelters have been homeless for years, while others have simply fallen on hard times and need an opportunity to get back on their feet.  Some suffer with serious mental illnesses and others struggle with addictive behaviors.   Some are men and others are women.  The one thing that remains the same –  Jesus is present in each person.  Not only is He present in our city’s poor, but Jesus calls out to us and begs us to rediscover His presence in those struggling to survive on our city’s streets.

Since our nights are getting colder and the need for beds is growing, Catholic Charities is responding by opening additional emergency shelters.  Warm Hands, Friendly Faces is a new volunteer initiative that has been created to help provide these beds and extend the light of Christ to the homeless as they come in form the cold. Volunteers are currently being recruited to assist Catholic Charities staff members with tasks around the shelters and be a warm presence for its visitors.

Is God calling you to be a friendly face and extend your hands to our city’s poor?  If God is inviting you to this volunteer ministry, consider responding.  This might be an opportunity to meet Him in a new way.  As Blessed Teresa taught us, “In the poor, we meet Jesus—not a reminder of Jesus, not a symbol of Jesus, but Jesus himself, face-to-face, hungering for our love, thirsting for our kindness, waiting to be clothed by our compassion.”

E-mail [email protected] for more information.