Rome: how sweet thou art!

I was going to title this entry: "So after sleeping with 400 people I did not know....,"* but decided against it since such a name may cause scandal. Anyways, after almost 15 hours of travel I have safely returned to Rome for my third year of theology studies. It is actually quite a significant year, since I will be completing my first degree in theology and above all since it is just over a year (one year and 25 days to be exact) until I am ordained a deacon in Rome.

Interior of Santa Maria sopra Minerva, my favorite church for prayer in Rome.

Arriving on Thursday I did not pack right away, but had my priorities in order and paid my first visit to Saint Peter's to pray at the tomb of John Paul II and to attend Mass. Crossing seven time zones in 15 hours leads to a bit of jet lag, and sad to say my "active and attentive participation" at Mass conisisted at attempting to remain awake as best I could. The evening was spent out at a local trattoria, to enjoy the long missed pizza. There is nothing quite like pizza in Rome.

This morning (Saturday) I took a walk to re-aquaint myself with the old friend that the city of Rome has become. It is the eternal city, and I can say that not much has changed. I enjoyed the same cream taste of a cafe macchiato at one of my favorite coffee bars, and spent a significant time in prayer at my favorite church in the city: Santa Maria Sopra Minerva.

An old view of the interior of the Pantheon

On the walk back I also stopped at one of the most popular sites in the city, the Pantheon. It is almost 2,000 years old and it is quite amazing that it has survived for so long -- part of that survival has been that it was consecrated as a church to Saint Mary and all the Martyrs 1400 years ago. Some revisionists would say that the Christians "stole" the pantheon, but in reality, it was saved and glorified by its conversion into a church.

*In reference to sleeping on the plane of course! What else would you be thinking?

Triduum for Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Part III)

Some nationals of India attending the beatification of Mother Teresa

Last of the triduum of reflections for Mother Teresa

On this day twelve years ago Mother Teresa enter her Master's Joy when she died and was accepted into the loving hands of God in heaven. In more crude terms she expired.

In the first reflection we looked at the word inspire, meaning breathing in - in specifically breathing in the Holy Spirit. Expire than means breathing out - in specific breathing out the the Spirit we have received. Mother spent her whole life breathing out the Spirit that she received - she literally spent her whole life ex-(s)piring. She remembered the words of the Gospel:

To those who have, more will be given; and to those who have not, even what they
have will be taken away from us.

She received the Spirit of God, and she breathed it out back into the world, so she was given it all the more. If she had not breathed it out into the world, it would have been taken from her. But God saw that He made "a good investment" in Mother, and continued to invest His Spirit - continued to breath His Spirit into her heart.

We too receive this Spirit, not for our own sake, but so that we can be the eyes, hands, feet and HEART of Jesus in the world. So let us spend our life expiring for:

Only when a grain of wheat falls to the earth and dies does it bring forth new life.

Let us pray:

Mary, Mother of Jesus,
Give me your most beautiful heart,
As pure, as immaculate,
As full of love and of humility,
So that I can receive Jesus in the Bread of Life,
So that I can love Him as you have loved Him,
And so that I can serve Him as you have served Him
Under the figure of the poorest of the poor.
Amen.

Prayer composed by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Triduum for Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Part II)

Two saints: Blessed Mother of Teresa meeting Venerable Servant of God John Paul II

Continuing the Triduum of reflections on Mother Teresa of Calcutta

Soon after God called Mother Teresa to the “new path” of serving Him in the poorest of the poor, Mother made a vow: Never to deny God anything.

Let us reflect just for a second how amazing this is: It is total gift. It is totally a gift of love to Him who first loved us. It is also total Freedom. This may sound odd, after all by never denying God anything, do we not give up our Freedom? This is the amazing part. God is all powerful, He has the might to force and coerce us into doing His will. He does not though. He loves us too much to do that. He allows us to share in His Freedom. So when we give ourselves totally to Him, we share totally in His Freedom.

Mother Teresa found this to be true in her own life. She was now free for God, free to serve Him in a radical way that she could not before. We are called to this same Freedom – I am not saying we are called to do the same things that Mother did, but we are called never to deny God anything. We recall the words of Saint Francis de Sales, “God asks only one thing of us, and that is to be ourselves perfectly.” So when God ask something of us, He is asking us to be more who we are. This could be to be more of a husband or wife, more of a father or mother, more of a son or daughter. This is how we are called to follow the path that Mother took, but in the way that God calls us. This is the basis of what the Church calls the Universal Call to Holiness. We are all called to be saints.

Let us pray:

Mary, Mother of Jesus,
Give me your most beautiful heart,
As pure, as immaculate,
As full of love and of humility,
So that I can receive Jesus in the Bread of Life,
So that I can love Him as you have loved Him,
And so that I can serve Him as you have served Him
Under the figure of the poorest of the poor.
Amen.

Prayer composed by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta

Triduum for Mother Teresa of Calcutta (Part I)

Young Mother Teresa of Calcutta

In preparation for remembering Mother Teresa on her feast day I have prepared a short series of reflections on her life.

Before she founded the Missionaries of Charity, Teresa was a Sister of Loretto. She taught young Indian girls, and was quite content doing this. She was not looking to start a new religious order. She was not looking to be sent out on mission. This all changed when she was travelling to her annual retreat. On the way there she was inspired to care for God in His poorest of the poor.

We too are on a journey like Mother was. We too are quite content the way things are. Are we prepared to be lead by God into the direction that He wants to take us? This can be scary, since this direction very often be different than where we would like to go. Mother Teresa also experienced this same fear, but she was inspired. God also wants to inspire us. He loves us and wants to direct us to the deep happiness that we can only find in His heart.

When we look at the word inspire, we can see it literally means to breath into. When God inspired Mother Teresa, He literally breathed His Spirit, the Holy Spirit, into her heart. This is what gave Mother the strength to follow where God was leading her. God also breathes the Holy Spirit into our hearts.

Let us pray:

Mary, Mother of Jesus,
Give me your most beautiful heart,
As pure, as immaculate,
As full of love and of humility,
So that I can receive Jesus in the Bread of Life,
So that I can love Him as you have loved Him,
And so that I can serve Him as you have served Him
Under the figure of the poorest of the poor.
Amen.

Prayer composed by Blessed Teresa of Calcutta