Race to the finish

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5:00 AM.  My alarm clock goes off.  "Ten more minutes," my body says. After a battle of Will vs. Body, I roll out of bed.  Thus begins my first Station Church pilgrimage.  After 5 weeks, my body aches all the more each morning.  Yet a boost of encouragement stimulates my drowsy limbs and drooping eyelids as I find myself accompanied by a small army of pilgrims.

As my companions and I arrive at the station church, I find myself stunned by a reality I've always known yet have never seen this up-close.  Since I was a child I heard many stories about how the apostles first spread the Gospel by preaching and starting small communities and of how many of the first Christians were martyrs for their recently received faith.  And now, I find myself visiting churches that are built on the actual locations where they were martyred, filled with art that tell the stories of their martyrdom.

Depiction of St. Lawrence's martyrdom (sentenced to death by the Roman , AD 258)

Not only has the faith of the Christians in Rome and the stories of heroic saints been beautifully preserved in the art and architecture of the churches, but the actual remains of many Roman saints have been reserved to be venerated in their tombs.

Tombs of Ss. Cecilia, Valerian, Tibertius,
and Popes Ss. Urban  I and Lucius I

Church where the tombs of
the apostles Ss. Philip and James  are venerated

And if the stories-in-art in the churches and the stone of the tombs were not enough to make me feel like I was entering into the lives of ancient Christians, as I walk to and from the various station churches, I encounter the remains of the ancient Roman empire which persecuted our fathers in the faith.

The Roman Forum

The Roman Forum

So what does all this matter to a Catholic back home in Phoenix?  Well, God willing, we won't have to suffer execution for the Faith.  But certainly we have received our Faith in the One, Holy, Catholic, and Apostolic Church thanks to the hundreds of saints who joyfully and bravely witnessed to it in time of persecutions.

So as Lent comes to an end, let us persevere in faith, let us "run so as to win" (1 Cor. 9: 24).

Lent...in pictures

One of the greatest traditions that the NAC has a pleasure to be a part of by virtue of being in Rome is the Station Churches.  This ancient tradition was revitalized in the 70's by the seminarians at the North American College and has been a important part of the lives of Americans, and all English speakers, in Rome ever since.

Everyday of the Lenten 40, we celebrate mass at a different Church in the city of Rome.  We go to some of the oldest and most important were in the city, where martyrs and saints are buried and where Christians have been celebrating the Holy Sacrifice for well over a 1,000 years!

A majority of the seminary participates (in varying degrees).  We leave early from the NAC and walk the street in silent prayer.  It is an amazing witness to be a part of;  it highlights for me the faith that made this city what it is today- a faith that is still alive and renewed.

Each one of us has our homes in prayer as we move from church to church, remembering our parishes at home and the faith there that makes them a true testimony in America.

Many bless to all of you this Lent!

Contemplating the Jump

And with one final step, I come to the edge.

This past Sunday, we celebrated another important step toward the priesthood.  I and 55 of my classmates were instituted as Acolytes.  Acolytes, who can be approximated to the subdeacons of old, are commissioned explicitly to aid the priests and deacons at the service of the altar.  In the ceremony we were handed a paten which holds the bread to be consecrated at mass, one of the scared vessel that hold the body of Christ, as a symbol of being entrusted to care for and serve the holy mysteries. 

While exteriorly it may seem that I have just become a glorified altar server, it takes on a much deeper significance in the place it has on the journey to the priesthood.  The path to becoming a priest is almost literally a movement closer to the altar.  Candidacy, the first step and how we started our blog, is the Church’s welcome and encouragement to take this process with more confidence and grace.  Then Fernando gave you his reflections on his installation as a Lector- the altar of the Word prepares us to approach the altar of Christ’s body and blood.  And now Acolyte. 

The next step is Deacon- the Sacrament of Holy Orders.  At that moment the promises of Chastity, Obedience, and Prayer are made, the commitment consummated.  And priesthood follows closely.

I am fond of the image of a child on a diving board.  I used it just recently in a practice homily I gave in one of our homiletic lessons.  It captures in a fascinating way the excitement and fear that we often get as we come to an edge, come to a final step.   My installation as an acolyte has brought this up anew.  Though my potential ordination to the diaconate is over a year and a half away, having reached the final ceremonial step before it, I find myself at a new edge and see all that is left is the jump.  And what a jump…

The jump is a giving up of control, giving myself completely over to Christ, and giving myself to the arms of the Church waiting to catch me.  Yet the idea of a jump, and the falling that comes after the jump is misleading.  All analogies brake down and this one does right here.  The jump does not bring about a fall, a being dragged down, bound and controlled by the precipitating consequences of one movement. 

No.  The jump brings about a surrender, surely; but the promise of Chastity, Obedience, and Prayer free.  The surrender is what breaks the bonds, bonds of selfishness and pride, that can hold me.  It is the jump that allows flight.

And the ascension of flight has no edge; no final step, save rest in the Father’s heart, in the arms of the Trinity.