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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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Follow in the Right Direction

An old joke asks: Why did Moses and the Israelites wander in the wilderness for 40 years? Because they didn’t ask for directions!

We’re on a journey too – not of 40 years, but 40 days of Lent – and proper direction is just as important for us. Consider today’s gospel: Jesus invites us to carry crosses. Those crosses are the suffering that enters every human life. Jesus stresses, however, that when we bear a cross, we’re to “follow him.” That’s our proper direction.

If we take off in a different direction, and follow a path different than our Lord’s, we’ll wind up exhausted, resentful, and alone. Chances are we won’t get very far, because our cross will become too heavy to bear.

But when we do follow Jesus, we’ll be given the courage we need to carry on, and a strength that can only come as God’s gift. We’ll have the consolation of seeing Jesus’ footsteps before us, or even planted right alongside ours. Because if there’s one thing his own cross can teach us, it’s that Jesus doesn’t want us to carry our crosses alone.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/031011.shtml

Photo Credit: hlkljgk via Creative Commons

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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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Don’t Look at Me

Public relations are very important in our culture, aren’t they? Great value is placed upon how we’re seen and perceived by others, and we’re very concerned about doing things that will get us noticed, appreciated, and admired. This is true even for matters of faith and religion.

That’s why Jesus’ words in the gospel today can be so challenging. He told us that we should be on our guard against performing religious acts for others to see. Our left hand must not know what our right hand is doing; we’re to pray in private behind closed doors; and our appearance shouldn’t reveal that we’re fasting.

Jesus knows that we often bring mixed motives to our religious undertakings. Some of our motivations- the ones inspired by God- are noble and good. Things like wanting to serve others, meet their needs, alleviate their suffering, grow closer to God, and do penance for our sins.

But sometimes we have other motives that aren’t as laudable. We may do religious things because we hope others will see us as holy or be grateful to us for the kind things we’ve done.

When we act in this way, we’re seeking to glorify ourselves- and there’s the catch. Because as Christians, all we do, in one way or another, should be done for the glory of God. As we journey through the 40 days of Lent, let’s always examine our motives, and ask the Lord to purify them, so that what we do is not driven by concern for public relations, but by a spirit of private praise.

Image courtesy of http://sharingmachine.com

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Do Good, Instead of Feeling Bad

During a big religious festival, a seventeenth century Portuguese shepherd and soldier, heard a homily which convinced him of his need to repent. For months afterwards he wandered the streets, beating his breasts and screaming for mercy, until he was thrown into an insane asylum.

Blessed John of Avila, who preached the homily, visited St. John of God and insisted that instead of punishing himself for his past, it was better to try and build a better future. The repentant man did exactly that, through loving service to the sick and poor as a friar. He know him today as St. John of God.

As we celebrate his memorial today, St. John of God’s story is good to reflect upon as we move toward Lent, a season of renewal and penance. Penance shouldn’t be about beating up ourselves for past sins. Instead, it should be about building up ourselves into saints. In short: Do good, instead of feeling bad.

Readings for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/030811.shtml

Photo credit: Sarah Korf via Creative Commons

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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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Being a Good Tenant

One long-suffering landlord tells of having to evict tenants who refused to pay their rent, in spite of repeated calls and personal visits. Before they left, however, the tenants trashed the house: The front door was shattered; the drains were clogged with paraffin; the electric system was intentionally shorted out; beer bottles were used to smash the windows; all the appliances were sold; the carpet was ruined with bleach; battery acid was poured on the floor tiles; and the walls were spray painted and hacked with a knife.

The parable Jesus told in today’s gospel includes a landlord horror story. These tenants, however, didn’t simply refuse to pay the rent. The beat and killed those whom the landlord sent to collect it- including the landlord’s son. These tenants weren’t just vandals and deadbeats. They were murderers!

Jesus told this parable as a challenge and a warning to certain religious leaders of his day: They were the tenants in the story; the landowner is God the Father; the son is Jesus himself; and the vineyard represents the people of God.

But in a sense, we can understand this parable as being a challenge to us too. Just as the religious leaders in question had been given stewardship of God’s people, we too have been given stewardship, or responsibility, for the things of God- people, property, talents, opportunities, and time. Indeed, all of creation is ultimately God’s, and nothing takes place in it unless he allows it to happen. As Christians, even our own lives are not our own. “A Christian is not his own master,” wrote St. Ignatius of Antioch, “since all his time belongs to God.” In all things, we are simply custodians.

You and I have been entrusted with great gifts, for which one day we must render an account. We have a generous and patient landlord; may we be faithful and responsible tenants.

Reading for today’s Mass: http://www.usccb.org/nab/030711.shtml

Photo Credit: Editor B via Creative Commons