Assisi

Today is my last day in Rome.  The first three months of the sabbatical are now finished.  In December I will be with my family in Minnesota.  In January and February I will head to Mexico to improve my Spanish language skills.  So I would like to end this  portion of the blog with a reflection of my week in Assisi.


Cross of San Damiano



 This is a very peaceful place.  After arrival, I walked down the hill to the church of San Damiano.  This church was in physical ruin when St. Francis went there to pray.  Sitting in front of the cross, he heard Jesus say to him, "Rebuild my church for it is in ruins."  St. Francis took this literally and began to rebuild this little church.  One of the things I never knew was that Francis took money from his father without permission to accomplish this task.  This is what led to the confrontation in front of the Bishop.  During this confrontation, Francis strips naked and gives everything to his father and declares he now has one father, the Father in heaven.

Later Francis gives this church to St. Clare and her followers.  Here I visited the place where Clare died, ate, and lived.  Since my birthday is August 11, it was a wonderful place to begin my retreat.  If you do not know, that is the day Clare died and is her feast day on the religious calendar.

The next day I we had Mass in the church of St. Chiara (St. Clare).  This where she is now buried. Later on they moved the covenant inside the city walls for defense.  Also, the chapel in which we offered Mass happened to be where the actually cross Francis prayed in front of and which spoke to him hangs.  I prayed here everyday.  I prayed for all I know who are sick and I prayed for all my woman Franciscan friends.

In the afternoon, I journeyed to the lower church by foot.  This is the church of St. Maria degli Angeli which surrounds the Portiuncula.  This is where Francis lived and died.  The church inside the church was also built by him, but was a gift from the Benedictines.  So, of course, I prayed for all my Benedictine friends, both men and women. 

Wednesday we had Mass at the church of Chiesa Nuova which is built over his family home and his father's business.  This is a very quaint church.  The Franciscan who is the sacristan is 94 years old.  That afternoon I wondered all over the city enjoying many churches.  Of course, I spent time in the Basilicia where the body of St. Francis rests.



Cave area



Thursday we had Mass at the cathedral of St. Ruffino.  This is a martyr before the time of St. Francis.  In this church is a beautiful display of original  paintings of John  Paul II beginning as a young pope and ending with then Cardinal Ratzinger (now Pope Benedict XVI) hold the cross for the Pope to kiss on Good Friday.  This a very moving display. 



Statue of St. Stephen



In the afternoon, I journeyed by taxi to the caves where Francis and brothers often spent there days in prayer and fasting.  It was raining, but it was here that I carried my prayer lists and remember everyone.  I loved this area.  I hope the Lord will allow me to return when it is not raining.  Still it was a meditative afternoon. I concluded the afternoon praying in a little church dedicated to St. Stephen the martyr, my name sake.  This church has not been remodeled in any significant way since the time of St. Francis.  It is a wonderful, quiet place for prayer.  That evening many of us attended a musical about the life of St. Clare.  It was fabulous!!!



Tomb of St. Francis of Assisi



The final morning we had Mass in front of the tomb of St. Francis.  What can I say?  The holiness of the place overwhelms me.  I dedicated this Mass to peace in the world including the hearts of each of us.  The spiritual insights were many.  Yet, the largest is God loves us and the little acts of love we return is great gift.  Joy is in simplicity!

Thank you for walking with me through my three months in Rome and the Holy Land.  Stay tuned for whatever is next!  Peace!!!!

Pope Benedict's Encyclicals

My Roman Look

Today was the last day of formal class for the Roman part of my sabbatical.  Our last class was on bio-ethics and I might write more about that later.  On Monday the class travels to Assisi for a week retreat.  You will have to wait to know more about that since I will not take my computer with me.

One of my goals of this sabbatical was to catch up on some spiritual and theological reading.  I managed to read all three encyclicals of Pope Benedict XVI.  I was delightfully surprised by them.  Now this is a matter of opinion, but I found the encyclicals of Pope John Paul II to be hard to read and very long.  JP II followed a very traditional formate:  first scripture, then church teaching, then new concepts.  Benedict takes you on an intellectual journey.  He begins with common questions people might have and tries to address them.  They are very readable and only the third one is rather long.  Also, the topics are inspiring.  My respect for him as our Pope as certainly increased.

The first encyclical is Deus Caritas Est or God is Love.  It is a very simple, but not simplistic, statement on the importance of love and how to understand God's love for us.  He focuses very much on the God of Love and also reminds us that as we love God, so too, are we to love our neighbor.  Here are just two quotes that I like. 

"Love of neighbor is thus shown to be possible in the way proclaimed by the bible, by Jesus.  It consists in the very fact that, in God and with God, I love even the person whom I do not like or even know." Paragraph #18

"Love of neighbor, grounded in the love of God, is first and foremost a responsiblity for each individual member of the faithful, but it is also a responsibility for the entire ecclesial community at every level: from the local community to the particular Church and to the Church universal in its entirety." Paragraph #20

Both of these paragraphs remind us that we are to love everyone and this love involves individuals, parishes, diocese and everyone.  No exceptions.  We even have to love those we do not like or who consider enemies.  We can do this because God loves us.  At times it might be hard to love ourself because we know how messed up we are, yet, God knows that too and still loves us.  So, we then, should do the same with others.  Love means trying to understand and help regardless if the other is "worthy" of it or not.

His second encyclical is Spe Salvi, "Saved in Hope".  This is the second virture following love.  It is a wonderful reflection on how hope, faith and love are connected.  It points out where we can place our true hope and helps us become more hopeful in our daily lives.  Again here are samples of this inspiring document:

"A first essential setting for learning hope is prayer.  When no one listens to me any more, God still listens to me.  When I can no longer talk to anyone or call upon anyone, I can always talk to God.  When there is no longer anyone to help me deal with a need or expectation that goes beyond the human capacity for hope, he can help me." (Paragraph #32)

"It is, however, hope--not yet fulfilment; hope that gives us the courage to place ourselves on the side of good even in seemingly hopeless situations, aware that, as far as the external course of history is concerned, the power of sin will continue to be a terrible presence." (Paragraph #36)

"The true measure of humanity is essentially determined in relationship to suffereing and to the sufferer.  This holds true both for the individual and for society. ... Yet society cannot accept its suffering members and support them in their trials unless individuals are capable of doing so themselves; moreover, the individual cannot accept another's suffering unless he personally is able to find meaning in suffering, a path of purification and growth in maturity, a journey of hope." (paragraph #38)

"No one is saved alone.  the lives of other continually spill over into mine: in what I think, say, do and achieve.  And conversely, my life spills over into that of others: for better and for worse. ... It is never too late to touch the heart of another, no is it ever in vain. ... As Christians we should never limit ourselves to asking: how can I save myself?  We should also ask: what can I do in order that others may be saved and that for them too the star of hope may rise?" (Paragraph #48)

These passages deal with prayer, community, suffering and unity.  Our Hope is in the Lord and the Lord fills us with His Spirit, thus we are strengthened and give hope to one another when we stay united on behalf of others suffering.  Not so hard to understand, but so difficult, at times, to accomplish.

The last encyclical of Pope Benedict, Caritas en Veritate, Charity in Truth was released June 29, 2009 at the conclucion of the year of Paul.  This letter is addressing the economic and social realities of today.  It is in honor of the annversary of Pope Paul VI's encyclical "Populorum Progressio" or on human development.  This one is very challenging to the current state of political and economic life in the United States and Europe.  Some of its content might surprise some Catholics and possibly even anger them.  Yet, the principles of this letter are very necessary for our world today.  At 118 pages in my copy, it is by far the longest of his letters.  The topics as listed in the table of contents are: Human Development in Our Time, Fraternity, Economic Development and Civil Society, The Development of People, Rights and Duties, The Environment, The cooperation of the Human Family and the Development of Peoples and Technology.  It has a lot of moral implications for society in the areas of business, economics, and politics.

Here are some statements that I appreciated, but it is better to read to whole document to gain the context of the challenge Pope Benedict is giving us.

"Love---caritas----is an extraordinary force which leads people to opt for couragious and generous engagement in the field of justice and peace." #1

"Love in truth---caritas in veritate---is a great challenge for the Church in a world that is becoming porgressively and pervasively globalized.  The risk for our time is that the de facto interdependence of people and nations is not matched by ethical interaction or consciences and minds that would give rise to truly human development."  #9

"Thus, every economic decision has moral consequence." #37

"Today's international capital market offers great freedom of action.  Yet there is also increasing awareness of the need for greater social responsiblity on the part of business. ... there is nevertheless a growing conviction that business management cannot concern itself only with the interests of the proprietors, but must also assume responsiblity for all the other stakeholders who contribute to the life of business: the workers, the clients, the suppliers of various elements of production, the community of reference." #40

"The economy needs ethics in order to function correctly--not any ethics whatsoever, but an ethics which is people-centered." #45

"The way humanity treats the environment influences the way it treats itself, and vice versa. ... Our duties towards the environment are linked to our duties towards the human person, considered in himself and in relation to others. " #51

"The development of people depends, above all, on a recongnition that the human race is a single family working together in true communion, not simply a group of subjects who happen to live side by side." #53

"Every migrant is a human person who, as such, possesses fundamental, inalienable rights that must be respected by everyone and in every circumstance. #62

"While reflecting on the theme of work, it is appropriate to recall how important it is that labor unions---which have always been encouraged and supported by the Church--should be open to the new perspectives that are emerging in the world of work." #64

"God gives us the strength to fight and suffer for love of the common good, because his is our All, our greatest hope." #78

I hope these statements wet your appetite to read more on these encyclicals.  My bias is certainly evident.  Yet, this too has been the fruit of my learning.  Afterall, I have been living right next door to the Pope for the last three months.

Visit to the Shrine of Padre Pio



Tomb of Blessed Pope  Pius IX



Today I visited the church of St. Lawrence, who was a deacon and one of the early martyrs of Rome.  Along with his relics are the relics of St. Stephen, the first martyr and my name sake.  Also Blessed Pope Pius IX rests there.





Look down to the clouds at Monte Sant'Angelo



Yet, last weekend, I was able to travel to the shrine of Padre Pio and the Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel.  It was a very deep and spiritual experience.  The Grotto of St. Michael the Archangel is located in a cave on top of a mountain.  There are several stories of apparition (visits of the angel) associated here.  Yet, the most significant is when Pope Gelasius 1 (492-496) went to consecrate the grotto, eagles flew above the bishops protecting them from the sun.  Then when they arrived there was a primitive altar already in place.  Some declare that the very footprints of the angel St. Michael were visible.  Whatever the truth behind such legends, the fact is that the grotto is the only place of worship not consecrated by human hands because it is believed the angel already blessed the site.



This cave was important to Padre Pio as well.  Padre Pio had a vision of the angel Michael who encouraged him to protect other from evil.  Others who visited before and after Padre Pio include Popes like Gelasius I, St. Leo IX, Urban II, Alexander III, Gregory X, Saint Celestine V, John XXIII when a cardinal and John Paul II.  Among the saints are Anselm, Bernard of Clairvaux, William of Vercelli, Francis of Assisi, Bridget of Sweden, Bonaventure of Pisa, Alphonsus Liguori, Gerard Medulla and, of course, Padre Pio.  So there is a very ancient tradition here.  I do not have pictures, since they were not allowed.  I offered Mass along with Fr. Santos in the cave chapel.



Tomb of Padre Pio





Later that day we traveled to the Shrine of Padre Pio of Pietrelcina.  Even after the visit, I do not profess great knowledge of his life.  Yet, as a young boy he desired to be a Capuchian Friar.  At age 24, as a friar, he received the stigmata.  Imagine living with the suffering of the loss of blood everyday from your hands and feet.  Yet, his holiness is not so much in this unique joining to Christ.  His holiness was in the way he prayed, offered Mass and heard confessions.  He would listen for hours every day.  Actually people had to receive tickets and wait in line for this holy saint to hear their confessions.  What adds to this is that he only died in 1968, so there are many living witnesses to his holiness.  It might be easy to doubt all the visions and other miraculous episodes of his life, but their are those who remember.  (The picture above shows people in line to touch the tomb of Padre Pio.  There is an openning for one to do so.  I did so twice!-Saturday and Sunday).





Personally, the whole time was a beautiful place to pray.  After visiting the churches, walking the way of the cross and spending time in front of the Blessed Sacrament, my companion and I left.  Fr. Santos informed me that we were there over three hours and that it was past lunch.  I could not believe that so much time passed and I was not at all hungry when I left.  There was no great revelations or insights as a result of this visit.  Yet, I prayed for many folks, including all of our students.  The most interesting thing for myself, is how often I was drawn to pray the Glenmary Home Mission prayer.  The lines that seemed to echo in my heart of this prayer were:  "founded your Church in the Blood of Sacrifice",  "Raise up holy and zealous apostles ... to souls thirsting for the truth" and "send shepherds to lead them into your one true fold."  I do not know if Padre Pio is inviting me or Glenmary into a deeper sacrifice for the home mission effort.  What I do know, it was easy to pray here and my prayer was directed to the Home Mission  Prayer of our founder, Fr. William Howard Bishop, over and over again.



After Offering Mass in the Shrine of Padre Pio



On Sunday Morning we returned to the shrine and were able to offer Mass in the original church where the confessional of Padre Pio is displayed behind glass and the altar where he offered daily Mass is also there.  It was a deep blessing for me. 

May the Lord continue to raise up saints in our own day and increase the practice of the sacrament of penance among all believers.  May the good Lord, through the intercession of Padre Pio, help all priest to hear confessions with the compassion of Christ bringing healing and forgiveness to all who seek it.



Praying in front of this cross, Padre Pio at age 24 recieved the stigmata



Holy Land Pictures



Inside the house of Peter's Primacy (You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church: MT 16:18)



Mosaic of Pope Paul VI who visited this site


 Sharing the Holy Land journey has been a delight.  I have over three hundred pictures, so I cannot possible share it all.  Here are some radom photos.  Some are inspirations of holiness and a few are a smattering of humor. Enjoy today's photoblog.



Enjoying my Peter's fish, head included!!





Inside the Church of Lazarus in the West Bank



Inside the Church of the Beatitudes



Fishing boat from the time of Christ found in the Sea of Galilee







Russion Orthodox church dedicated to Mary Magdalene



Just a little camel ride



Statue of the visitation of Mary to Elizabeth





Inside the Church built over the house of Zechariah



Elvis Cafe in Israel



Our last meal in the Holy Land connected to Graceland.



Jerusalem

Jerusalem, the Holy City, the city where Christ died and rose.



Fr. Phil inside the cave




 



The last four days of our Holy Land pilgrimage was in Jerusalem and the surrounding area.  The visit to Bethlehem which is under West Bank territory is always powerful.  This is one of the few early churches or shrines that the Muslims left alone.  It was not destroyed, praise God.  Here I prayed over the spot where Jesus was born.  Earlier we had visited the Shepherd's field where we were able to pray in a small cave dedicated to the Angel's visiting the shepherds while they kept watch.  This peace which I experienced here is still needed in the world, especially in the world of our tiny hearts. 



Fresco inside the small church







 Another day we walked the way of the cross.  This is unique in that we pass through the market place where everybody is shopping.  We are just part of the crowd even through we are following the Lord's journey to Calvary.  That is no different than our walk every day.  We march along in the business of life. Our friends, neighbors and associates are doing their thing right next to us.  In the midst of all this, Christ is carrying our burdens and bearing the weight of our sins. In the midst of it we are trying to follow the Lord. The final stations of the way of the cross end inside the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. Here one can pray over the rock on which he was crucified, see the chapel dedicated to St. Helena where she found the wood of the cross, or go inside the tomb from which He rose.  It is an incredible experience to be near so much of the last days of Christ.  I pray that more will understand the depth of His suffering and thus, know the depth of His love and mercy for us.



VII Station, Jesus falls a second time





Overlooking Jersulem, Jesus wept.



Among other sites we visited were the garden of Gethsemane, the hillside of where he cried over Jerusalem and upper room.  Yet, the site where I was most moved happened to be the church of St. Peter of Gallicantu.   Maybe it was because there were no big crowds or maybe it was because here Jesus spent the lonely night in chains and in jail while his closest friends were denying him.  During the Mass here one of the powerful events was to hear the roster (the cock) crow.  It was a conscience reminder of the weakness of our faith and Lord's power of forgiveness.



My fellow priest pilgrims in the church of St. Peter of Gallicantu





There is no way, this reflection covers all the sites, sounds and movements of the Spirit experienced.  Yet, maybe it will give you a glimpse.  My last blog on the Holy Land will include a series of pictures and very little text.  Maybe they will provide prayer and peace for you.