ROMA! Here we are :)
We arrived this afternoon after a 2.5 hour bus ride down from Assisi, which is where we spent most of the day today.
But first...
Since I am a top down thinker, and because I know my mama would want to know every detail...in detail, here is my day:
We woke up around 6:45am (still extrememly tired from the time difference and so many sleep-deprived hours of traveling) and got ready for the day. I should mention here that there was a badet in our bathroom, whoa, culture shock! The rooms had modern amenitites and we each had our own little bed, so that was very nice!
We ate breakfast at the hotel. They had an array of things to choose from; I chose regular old strawberry yogurt and some flakey cereal. The milk for the cereal was luke-warm....thankfully, someone else at my table warned me or I am not sure I could have eaten it after the first bite!
After packing up, we bussed down to the Church of St. Mary of the Angels, which was really only a few blocks away. This is where Porziuncola is located. The new church (not "new" but newer than the church which St. Francis built) surrounds the old church as well as St. Francis's bedroom and his small chapel. There was an attached museum featuring art of the Blessed Virgin and it had a large section on Our Lady of Guadalupe, which I, of course, especially loved! The church itself was fantastic inside and out (no photos allowed on the inside) but we were only there for about 1 hour 45 minutes, so we did not have much time to look around since part of that time was Mass. I also browsed the attached book store and picked up some goodies for my family members and my "kids" at St. Agnes & Sacred Heart.
We celebrated Mass at one of the side chapels which was built in the 16th century, I believe. The chapel was tiny and very modestly decorated; it was lovely, really. The Psalm for today was something like "Blessed be God, who fills me with life". And, as it should, this line brewed up inside my soul. Praise God for life! For mine, and the lives of all those I love.
The Holy Spirit blessed us with a beautiful homily on this Feast of St. Lawrence and in the Basilica of St. Francis. When the Lord asked St. Francis to "rebuild His church", his first reaction was to rebuild the physical church, which truly was in ruins...what Our Lord really wished for him to do was to rebuild those more difficult parts of the church. People who are unwilling to accept what is difficult. Teachings that have been rejected or forgotten. A culture that responds to human whims rather than the Will of God.
This command, which was as needed in the 12th century as it is today, to rebuild the Church is a mission to each and every Christian - a mission we cannot afford to reject.
During the homily, Fr. Mike propsed a question that struck me and has been on my thoughts off and on each day. Are we more influenced by the culture of the day or living our lives in such a way that the Church influences our culture.
We are living in a culture that rejects so many basic truths. One that, by and large, rejects the importance of faith and the reality of eternity. A culture so skewed that, many times, lies are sold as the truth and the truth said to be a lie...oy!
Think of your plain, old, everyday life...are you living in a Culture that declares the (capital "T") Truth?
How many times in day do you reject that truth to choose human brokenness? Maybe you aren't knee deep in big-deal sins, but my dear St. Therese said that prayer is a surge of the heart towards God or a gaze towards heaven. How many opportunities for grace and charity do we miss?!?
Our culture needs life, centered on God the Father and creator and Sanctified through the Precious Blood of Jesus. A life, filled with the love and sweetness of Our Lord's finest creation, the Blessed Virgin Mary (who's excited that the Assumption and Coronation are just days away?! This girl!), and lived with total abandon to the Author of all things. We, as Catholic Christians, stand united in an unshakalbe hope, rooted in the Eucharist. The Holy Father implores up to be a people of great hope...we have the awesome power of the Lord, how can we despair!
Thank you Lord for filling me with LIFE!
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