Author: Capital Catholic Happenings

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Walking in the Footsteps: In honor of Catechumens

The Patriarchal Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls is the largest church in Rome after Saint Peter’s Basilica and is sometimes referred to as the “Ostian Basilica” because of its location along the Ostian Way. The Apostle Paul was brought to Rome as a prisoner and martyred between the years 64 and 67 during the persecution of Nero. Aquae Salviae, today’s Tre Fontana, about two miles from the basilica, is the traditional site of Paul’s martyrdom. Since he was a Roman citizen, his execution was probably by beheading rather than public torture. The body was claimed by the Roman matron Lucina, who buried it in her family tomb near a vineyard on the road to Ostia. An oratory was soon erected over it.

This basilica was the traditional site of the First Scrutiny of the Catechumenate. This is the reason why a major basilica was erected by Gregory the Great as a station church in mid-week. The tomb of the Apostles, called so specially by Christ, reminds one of the Lenten theme of conversion.

Today,  let us take some time to pray for the more than 1,100 men, women and children(catechumens and elect) coming into the church in the Archdiocese of Washington at Easter.

Adapted from the Pontifical North American College Guide to the Station Churches

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Walking in the Footsteps: Learning to Trust

That Which Remains

Today’s Church, San Lorenzo in Damaso (St. Lawrence in Damaso) once recalls the memory of St. Lawrence, the great deacon-martyr or Rome whom we celebrated earlier this Lent.  Pope Damasus I (366-384) built one of the original twenty-five parishes of Rome nearby, not long after Emperor Constantine had legalized Christianity in 313.  The Basilica then went through various phases: in 1484 it was demolished to make room for a new Palace, which later became the papal chancellery but included a newly designed Renaissance church within.  The present basilica is the result of this Renaissance church, renovated after damages from the Napoleonic occupation of Rome at the turn of the 18th century and a fire in 1939.  Of note are the remains of Pope St. Damasus, and Sts. Eutychius, John Calybites, and Hippolytus, as well as a beautiful Byzantine icon of Our Lady and a miraculous crucifix before which St. Bridget of Sweden often prayed.

The Word as an Instrument

In today’s Gospel (Jn 5:1-16) Jesus heals a crippled man.  “‘Do you want to be well?’  The sick man answered him, ‘Sir, I have no one to put me into the pool when the water is stirred up; while I am on my way, someone else gets down there before me.’ Jesus said to him, ‘Rise, take up your mat, and walk.’ Immediately the man became well, took up his mat, and walked.”  There’s something abrupt about this

miracle: the passage does not explicitly highlight the importance of faith in Jesus, or some great act of confidence on the crippled man’s part.  Instead, the man only implicitly answers “yes” to Jesus’ question, and it is Jesus’ command, “rise,” that heals the man.  The focus is on the power of Jesus’ word, and might remind us that listening to his word daily can be a powerful instrument of healing in our lives.

If Jesus’ word contains such power it must be taken seriously, and therefore we cannot dismiss Jesus’ somewhat off-putting command to the man later in the Gospel: “Look, you are well; do not sin any more, so that nothing worse may happen to you.”  What a paradox—just this past Sunday we heard Jesus say a man was born blind not because of sin, but, “so that the works of God might be made visible through him.” (Jn 9:2)  Has Jesus changed his mind?  Does illness come from sin, or not?  Following the Gospels closely and reflecting within the context of the whole Bible, we can affirm both answers.  Sin can lead to suffering, as told by the story of Adam and Eve in the Book of Genesis, Psalm 107:17, and affirmed by St. Paul in his letter to the Corinthians (1 Cor 11:30).  But there is need to view suffering in the context of our relationship with the Father: although God does not want us to suffer, He may allow it, and always can bring forth a greater good.  It’s this truth that we will celebrate on Good Friday and Easter Sunday, when God allowed even his sinless Son to suffer, only to bring about our salvation; and it’s this truth that led St. Augustine to comment on Adam and Eve’s sin, “O happy fault that merited such and so great a Redeemer!”

Mother as Teacher

Whether our suffering is due to past sins that we’ve confessed, or is something we’ve received without personal fault, do we trust God can bring good out of either?  If not, there is a shortcut: let us begin by looking through the eyes of Mary, who trusted completely in the Father, but whose heart, as a loving mother, was “pierced” as she looked upon Her Son on the Cross.  Here, at the foot of the cross, Our Mother teaches us to trust in God especially when there is no human reason to do so.  Images of Mary remind us to trust as she did, but even better is to allow Mary to pray with and for us, especially with the time-and-saint-tested rosary.

Written by Tim Daniel

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Walking in the Footsteps: Trusting The Lord’s Word

Choosing Christ

Today, to begin the fourth week of our Lenten Station Church Pilgrimage, we journeyed to the church of Santi Quattro Coronati (Four Holy Crowns).  A few blocks from the Coliseum, this church building dates back to the days of Emperor Constantine and was first used as a church around the year 630.  It commemorates two groups of martyrs.  The first group, for whom the church was named, was four Christian soldiers who refused to sacrifice to pagan gods and so were killed during the Diocletian Persecution.  The second group was five stone masons who were killed for refusing to make a statue of a pagan god.  In giving their lives for love, these two groups of heroic martyrs remind us of Christ’s unwavering love for us, even to the point of His death on a cross. As Lent draws closer to Good Friday, we remember that it is not just the martyrs who remind the world of Christ’s faithful love.  We too must listen to how the Lord is calling us to show the world that God is a God of mercy and love. In this way we become witnesses to Jesus just as the martyrs were.

On the strength of  Jesus’ Word

In today’s Gospel, Jesus challenges us to have faith in Him.  A royal official approaches Jesus and begs that He heal his dying son.  Rather than performing an obvious miracle, Jesus simply tells the official, “You may go; your son will live.”  St. John tells us that “the man believed what Jesus said to him and left.”  How many of us would have had that reaction?  Would we have believed as easily as the official did?  Most of us would have asked Jesus for a sign to prove that the boy would actually be healed.  Jesus’ word would not have been enough.  Or how many of us, trying to live out the Christian life, really believe that Jesus can heal our sinful nature?  Every day we try to follow Christ, and yet we repeatedly fall.  Today, Jesus is calling us to remember the gift of faith we have been given in our baptism.  We do not need to approach God with doubt, wondering whether He will love us with all our faults.  We approach Him as children, confident in His unending love.  Following Christ is not a matter of picking ourselves up by the bootstraps.  Rather, it is a life of faith in Christ who freely gives us the grace to follow Him.  All He asks of us is to live out this gift of faith.  Today Jesus is calling us to believe in His goodness and be open to his healing power in our lives.

Written by Christopher Seith

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Following in the footsteps: Remembering a vow

If American expatriates in Rome have a “home”, it is Saturday’s station church, the church of Santa Susanna. This church is the American parish in Rome, entrusted to the Paulist Fathers in 1922 for their ministry to the American community in Rome. Today it is a thriving parish which serves Americans working at the embassy and other expats. The station church pilgrims received a warm welcome from the parish Saturday morning, and they even hosted us for coffee and croissants after Mass! (Doughnuts are hard to come by in Italy.)

The church has ancient roots, being built on the site of a Christian house used for worship starting in the fourth century. We are told that the house belonged to the family of St. Susanna, martyred in the persecutions of the late third century. Susanna’s adherence to the Christian faith came to light when she spurned an offer of marriage, having made a secret vow of virginity for the sake of the kingdom of God.

The story of Susanna reminds us how precious a gift the early Christian Church considered avowed virginity. Not only did such a vow contravene the Roman Empire’s interest in population increase, but it also was surprising in light of the many Old Testament references to a family as a blessing. (cf. Ps 128:3) But for the earliest Christians, the presence of virgins was a witness to their faith in Jesus the Messiah. Virgins not only served Christ (and him alone) as their living Lord, but they were also an eschatological sign of our life in heaven, where we “neither marry nor are given in marriage.” (Mt 22:30)  Let us pray that the charism of avowed virginity may flourish in our Church even today.

Written by Aaron Qureshi

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Following in the footsteps: Seeking first His Kingdom

Lenten Reminder

Today pilgrims made their way to the Basilica da San Lorenzo in Lucina.  This church lies nestled in a quiet piazza.  Just a few yards away one finds the busy Via del Corso lined with boutiques and shops.  Contrasting the quiet church piazza and the busy via offers a great Lenten reminder.  It calls to mind this season’s invitation to take some steps back from the interests of this world to reflect instead on God and to seek first His Kingdom.

In the Gospel we hear Christ tell the scribe, “you are not far from the Kingdom of God.”  Christ speaks these words just as much to each of us today as he did to the scribe in the Gospel.  We do well to remember that we believe the Kingdom exists both “already” and “not yet.”  While the fulfillment of the Kingdom will be marked with Christ’s return, we nevertheless believe that through his Incarnation, Passion, Death and Resurrection it has already been inaugurated.  Each one of us can here and now draw closer to the reality of that Kingdom.  For Catechumens and Candidates, they will do so at the Easter Vigil by being fully received into the Church.  For others, drawing nearer to the Kingdom this Lent may involve returning to the practice of the faith and/or seeking the sacrament of Reconciliation.  For most of us, I imagine that drawing near to the Kingdom lies in the small daily conversions which aim to bring us closer to God.  Often this is the fruit we desired from our Lenten practices.

Our Call to Rejoice

This Sunday the Church marks Laetare Sunday.  She invites us to “rejoice!” as we cross this threshold over the midpoint of Lent and, more importantly, come closer to the Resurrection, Christ’s victory over sin and death on our behalf, which serves as the true source of our joy.  This midpoint provides a wonderful opportunity to take stock of our Lenten practices.  For some of us this will be a cause for rejoicing and giving thanks as we take note at how God has used these practices to turn us more towards Himself.  For others of us it is still a cause for rejoicing!  Although we may have experienced difficulty up to this point with our practices, there is still time and God is generous!  Just recall the parable of the landowner (Mt 20:1-16).  He paid the laborers he called at the waning hours of the day the same amount as those who had been at work from the early morning.

Written by Francisco Aquirre

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Following in the footsteps: Is Jesus enough for me?

Our pilgrimage today takes us to the small church of Saints Cosmas and Damian, a basilica actually located in the Roman Forum, the ancient center of Rome. Parts of this church in fact come from buildings in use during the time of the Roman Empire. The present day church also boasts of a beautiful mosaic of Christ behind the altar in the apse, artwork that dates back to the 6th century. This basilica honors the two brothers, Cosmas and Damian, who were tortured and beheaded for their faith around the year 303 A.D. In fact, their names appear in Eucharistic Prayer I (the Roman Canon).

Today’s Responsorial Psalm reads, “If today you hear his voice, harden not your hearts”. The homily at Mass spoke of Lent being a time where we look into our hearts to see what it is we really desire. We have many wants and needs, but during Lent we must ask ourselves frankly: “Is Jesus Christ enough for me?” If we are not satisfied with him in this life, will we be satisfied with him in the next? This Lent Jesus Christ is calling us anew, calling us to trust that by seeking him first, everything else will be given to us. Let us not harden our hearts to his invitation.

Written by Fr. Anthony Lickteig

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Walking in the Footsteps: Illuminating the way

Wednesday after the Third Sunday of Lent brings us to San Sisto. This Church was built to mark the spot where on his way to martyrdom Pope Saint Sixtus II (257-258) met St. Lawrence. St. Sixtus’s courageous witness has earned him a place in the Roman Canon, Eucharistic prayer one.

Early records from 595 mention this church existing. In 1219 Pope Honorius III entrusted this church to the newly formed Dominican order, and St. Dominic himself lived here before he died in 1221.

Our reflection today focuses on the early Christian martyrs. One of emperor Nero’s favorite hobbies was to find new ways to torture Christians in Rome. One way was to set them on fire, making torches out of them to light the streets of Rome at night. What Nero did not realize is that the light from these torches would shine through the millennia, pierce through the centuries, and become a beacon for Christians throughout history. The reason we celebrate the early martyrs is because they had the faith Christ calls us to in the Gospel today. In the violent storm of their lives, they trusted in the Lord and publically proclaimed that their primary allegiance was to Christ over any earthly power. They trusted that not even death could separate them from the love of Christ. We pray that St. Sixtus will intercede for us so that God would grant us the same profound faith that he and the martyrs had. May the light that early martyrs produced continue to illuminate our path to sanctity.

Written by Fr. Charles M. Gallagher

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber

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Walking in the Footsteps: At all costs

Santa Pudenziana:  Resting Place for Martyrs

This old basilica takes its name from one of two sisters, Pudentiana and Praxedes, who lived in the time of the first Christian persecutions. They are said to have buried martyrs from the persecutions in a well, which is now on the left side of the Church. When Pope Paschal I began moving relics from the catacombs these two sister’s names appear together first in a list of holy virgins whose relics were being transferred.  This Church also holds, in a chapel at the head of the left aisle, a slice of St. Peter’s altar table. The rest of it can be found embedded into the Papal altar in the basilica of St. John Lateran.

At the front of the Church, in the apse, there is a mosaic of Christ and the apostles from the 4th Century in front of a Roman Panorama, although representing Churches in Jerusalem that had been built by Constantine. It is meant to represent the heavenly Jerusalem towards which we are all on pilgrimage.

The Path to Humility and Love

The priest this morning (Fr. Nicholas Schneider, Diocese of Bismarck ), preached  on what exactly the amounts were that the two servants owed. He mentioned that the fellow servant owed the other a “much smaller amount.” This smaller amount was actually 100 denari, the equivalent of 100 days’ wages. On the other hand the “huge” debt that the first servant was forgiven of by his master was 100 talents which could be up to 150,000 day’s wages. We are being told in the Gospel today, that whatever debts or offenses our neighbors may cause us are really that “much smaller amount” which is conceivably payable, when compared with that “huge” amount , because of our sins, that we owe to God, which in no way we could ever be able to pay back.  And yet, the Good Master has been so kind as to forgive us that debt. Viewed in this way, it would be good to follow St. John Chrysostom’s advice to make small of the ways in which our neighbors give us offense and to realize and really accuse ourselves before the Lord of the Greatness of our sins, no matter how small. Going before the Lord in this way, will lead us to a deeper humility, a more profound love of God, who always shows us his great mercy and asks us to share in it.

Written by Mario Majano

Photos by Fr. Justin Huber