The Amazing Gift of the Priesthood

So I saw this article on New Advent (my favorite Catholic News source) today, and I thought that I would share it with all of you.  While it is a sad story, it is incredibly beautiful.  Talk about the amazing gift of the priesthood and the need for good priests in the world.

http://www.catholicnewsagency.com/news/ohio-priest-dies-of-cancer-two-days-after-ordination/

How cool is is that he was able to receive this gift and end his life as a priest of Jesus Christ.   Please pray for the repose of the soul of Father Carroll and for more good and holy priests to serve the Catholic Church.

"How can I repay the Lord for His goodness to me?  The cup of salvation I will raise and call upon the Lord's name." Psalm 116

Home Sweet Home

While I still have just over a month left in Europe, I do admit that I am looking forward to getting back home.    Living in Rome has been an incredible experience and I am very grateful for the time I have had over here, but it is getting to that time that I am really missing some of the things of America.  I even know that I still have a lot more to see, both in Rome and during my two weeks here after the semester (I'll be headed to France and Ireland).  But I have been thinking about these things a lot, so I thought that I would come up with a list of the things from home that I miss the most over here.

5- White Sox Baseball While I do know that they have been playing rather poorly as of late, I cannot wait to get down to the Cell for a couple of games this summer.  Nothing says America like a couple hot dogs and watching baseball at the park.  Here in Rome, it is very hard to find places that show the games and with the time difference, you have to find afternoon games if you even want a shot of the pubs having it.  (That is, of course, assuming that they will show baseball over the beloved soccer match).  But I definitely miss White Sox baseball over here, not even considering how bad they are this season.  And even if the team is playing as bad as the Cubs, this only means that ticket prices will be lower on StubHub.

4 - Chicago Food I love Italian food.  Pizza and pasta.  I could eat it all day.  But the thing is that nothing compares to some good Chicago food.  Getting some Portillo's Hot Dogs, a nice and juicy cheeseburger, Lou Malnati's Deep Dish, or even a big American Breakfast are some of the things that I dream about over here.  I cannot wait to get back to America to get some of the tasty goodness that is Chicago food.  Am I denying the awesomeness of Italian food here?  Absolutely not.  It's spectacular.  But I just cannot wait to get back to America for some good American food.

3 - St. John Vianney Seminary/Diocese of Joliet - Being away from SJV for a whole semester has been rather challenging.  While I do live with 11 other SJV guys over here, it is sad knowing that I may not see some of the guys from back at the seminary ever again.  They are my brothers and it is strange knowing that they could be moving on to different things after this semester.  And I definitely miss being in the Diocese of Joliet.  I love the parishes, the priests, and the people, and I wish that I could be back with all of them.  Also, as I am sure I will mention in a couple weeks, I will thoroughly miss not being at the Joliet Ordinations this year.  It is my favorite Mass of the whole year, and I wish I could be there to see 5 awesome guys be ordained priests.  And most notably, I miss my Joliet brothers at SJV.  They are some of my best friends and it has been tough not being around them for this long.

2 - The languages of English and Spanish While I have picked up some very basic Italian, I am looking forward to the day that I can converse with strangers with ease and not have to think intensely just to order some food at a restaurant.  So while I speak English everyday and all my classes are in English, it will be nice to just walk around and here English spoken.  And in regards to Spanish, as you may or may not know, I am almost fluent in Spanish.  At least, I was, before coming to Italy.  My Spanish has nosedived and it really saddens me that I am not as good as I was when I left.  Now, when I try to think in Spanish, random Italian phrases come to mind and it is just killing me.  And any time I do hear Spanish here, it is Spanish Spanish, not Mexican Spanish.  And while it may be more beautiful, Mexican Spanish is what is in my heart.  And my skill with the language is a pure gift from God, especially considering the number of Hispanics that need priests in Joliet, so I will thoroughly enjoy getting to Spanish Mass back in Joliet this summer.

1 - Family and Friends - Of course, this has to be number 1.  And am I doing this just because I know that the people reading this probably fall into this category?  Absolutely not.  Not having a Facebook, I have no idea what they have been up to and it has been challenging.  So I am really looking forward to just spending some solid time with all of them when I get back.  While I love all the people here at Bernardi with me, I cannot wait to hang out with a lot of my friends and my family and catch up when we get back.

So this is my list of things I miss.  And I definitely miss these things.  But at the same time, I know that it is the Lord's will for me to be here for this long, so I know that He still has more in store for me.  This means that while it may be fun to sit around and day dream about home, I need to be present and open to the people around me and the movements of the Lord.  So please continue to pray for me and all of my hosuemates as we finish off our semester well.

Sts. Peter and Paul - Pray for us! 

House Trip to Capri and Friends in Rome

This weekend, our house was privileged to take a trip to the beautiful island of Capri.  Thanos, the program manager, takes the group every semester on a trip that suits the personality of the group as a whole.  And because we have such an awesome house, he went all out, taking us on "the biggest trip he has ever planned."  Friday morning, we were on the bus at 5:50, heading south to Naples so that we could catch the ferry to Capri.  Arriving in Naples, we made it on board moments before we pushed off heading towards Capri.  The island itself is absolutely gorgeous.  Full of beautiful cliffs and surrounded by incredibly blue water, the setting was marvelous.  The island, though, would not necessarily be my first vacation destination.  There were a ton of Americans there and it was rather tourist-y.  Also, it was strange not having anything of religious significance in a place that I was traveling to.  Being the seminarian I am, I tend to go to places that, while they may be beautiful, also have some religious significance.  Capri was a bit lacking in that regard.  Despite the fact that I probably would not have chosen to go there, we still had a great time.  When we first go to the island, we took a boat tour around the island.  The boat tour, which was the equivalent of a "Hollywood stars" tour in LA, was neat, but I lost interest with it like halfway around the island.  I just don't really care about which famous Italian designer lives where or where the most romantic spot on the island is.  After the tour, we ate lunch in town and had quite a bit of free time.  So during the free time, a large group of us took a ski-lift up to the top of the mountain and see the views, and let me tell you, it was amazing.  Riding up the mountain was very peaceful and I even saw some mountain goats.  While my battery died on the way up, the views were spectacular.  The day ended with a super tasty limoncello smoothie (Capri is famous for their limoncello), which I thoroughly enjoyed.  I had a very fun time in Capri and was glad I was able to head down there for the day.        

Capri

Ryan and Max on the ski-lift to the top of the mountain!

Now, I have here another typical Ryan picture, but I think that this one will require a bit more explanation.  Ryan is here on the boat ride with Dr. Rota, the St. Thomas professor that came over with us from Minnesota.  And let me tell you about Dr. Rota.  The first thing that needs to be said is that Dr. Rota is the man.  He is super smart, an awesome teacher, and is a great man to have in the house.  He also, is the proud new father of Elizabeth Irene Rota, who was born here in Rome like 8 days ago.  Ya, we have a baby in the house.  (The girls are super excited.)  But anyways, it is a blessing to have such a solid man both teaching us about the faith and just living an authentically joyful Christian life.  Having his whole family here has been a ton of fun and he has really helped make the semester as great as it has been.  And as I was pulling Ryan out of my backpack (he wasn't behaving, so I stuck him in there...), Dr. Rota asked me about Ryan and immediately volunteered to take the picture.  I was so excited.  So here is Ryan with the one and only, Dr. Rota.      

On Saturday and Sunday, two of my good friends from St. Francis, Steph Sheehan and Katie Slavin, were in Rome and I was able to spend quite a bit of time with them.  While it was a fiasco trying to find them at first without cell phones or a reliable internet connection, we eventually met up and I had a really good time.  Being able to share all of the things I have learned with them was just great.  Because it is one thing to tell someone a story about what it was like when Pope Francis was elected.  But it is another thing to stand in St. Peter's Square and be like "Ya, that's where the smoke came out and that's where I was when Francis was introduced to the world."  And too, with this blog, I feel like a lot of people know what I have been up to, but I have no idea what they have been doing.  So it was great to just be able to talk to them about their semesters and what they have been up to.  I think I showed them a good Roman time, seeing a good number of the big sights.  One of the highlights was going to my favorite gelato shop, The Old Bridge.  Located right across the street from the Vatican, it was here that I celebrated the Lord's Resurrection after the Easter Vigil, and this is where they hung out with Ryan.  Overall, I had a very good weekend with them and being able to share what I have been up was very cool.  It made me realize what an incredible gift it is to live in Rome and the the fact that I have been able to call it home for the past 3 months is just mind-blowing.  The Lord continues to be very good to me and I cannot thank Him enough.  

Sts. Peter and Paul - Pray for us!

What Up Ryan?

So I know that a lot of you have been wondering how our good friend Ryan has been doing.  And for those of you who may not know, I think I should probably re-explain what I am exactly doing with Mr. Adorjan here in Rome.  Last semester, Ryan brought one of my freshman year seminarian baseball cards to Charlotte  NC for a weekend so that I could "see" everything that he got to see.  And while I appreciated the trip, I thought that it would be so much better to bring an enlarged version of his baseball card to Rome and have him travel around with me this semester.  And it has been quite a bit of fun to have Ryan here for all of the excitement of Rome.  So I have some good pictures of what we have been doing here in the Italy to share with all of you.

In our first Ryan sighting, it looks like he has taken on the ancient Greek practice of wearing a toga.  Why he chose to do something Greek in Rome is really quite concerning, but alas, he seems to be enjoying himself.  Also, it appears that he has been working on one of his formation goals, and that is exercise.  I mean, look at  his "rock hard" abs.  (I apologize for all terrible puns).

Ryan also came along on our road trip, and here he is chilling with a gold statue of Padre Pio.  (Not to mention Max Behna, Viunce Fernandez, Justin Wiltse, and myself).  While he did scare off some of the locals, I think that he really enjoyed his time in San Giovanni Rotunda.  Rumor is that he even levitated, following the example of Pio, but we have no visual proof to back any of this up.       

Here is Ryan at the beach in Mattinata.  While he did appear terrified to enter the chilly water, his laminated head did a few drops of water on him.  Also, there was a sign warning of danger, showing a rather graphic image of a man falling on his head.  The area around it was rather rocky and one could possibly fall in, but the severity of the fall would be very hard to replicate.  Now Ryan, lacking most athletic capacities, did end up falling and was upside down for a while.  Too bad he didn't see the sign.  Mike did help him get right side up again.  

Lastly, we have a very shocking picture to show you.  Below, you will find Ryan and Justin in the middle of a cactus-like bush.  There were these cacti things growing all over, but they didn't really have thorns/pricks/whatever they are.  Lacking much knowledge in the field of botany, we just called them cacti for the entire trip.  And what is so shocking about this picture is that both Justin and Ryan are outside.  I just cannot believe that this historic event, where both of them were breathing the open air, was captured by my camera.  

So as the semester winds down, I am sure that Ryan will still have a few more adventures over here. 

ROAD TRIP!!!

This past weekend, we had a four day weekend because Thursday was the Italian equivalent of 4th of July so I took advantage of the 4 days and got out of Rome.  I ended up renting a car with 4 other guys and having an absolutely awesome weekend.  While everybody and their mother was terrified at the thought of driving through Italy, there were no issues at all and it was smooth sailing the whole time.  Being one of the tallest and probably the best at Italian in the group, I ended up as the navigator for the whole trip, which was fun.  When we made our way to the airport to pick up our car and they showed us which car was ours, we were pretty psyched.  That was because we had BRAND NEW Volkswagen Golf, which was just great.  It had 12 kilometers on the odometer and we were the first people to actually drive it.  So after leaving the airport, our first stop was Lanciano, home of the biggest Eucharistic miracle of all time, so let me tell you the story.  A priest from the 700s was having a very hard time believing that the Eucharist was actually the body and blood of Jesus Christ.  As Catholics, we believe that Jesus is there.  Like really there.  While it may look like bread, after the priest says "This is my body... This is my blood," it is Jesus Christ.  The very substance of the bread and wine, while looking like bread and wine, is changed into Jesus.  And the priest, doubting this, received an incredible grace that day some 1300 years ago.  When he said "This is my body," the host literally turned into human heart tissue.  Let me say that again.  The bread became a piece of heart tissue.  And the wine turned into human blood.  Like actual blood.  It was bread and wine.  Then it became heart tissue and blood.  There is no way to possibly scientifically explain that.  But it happened.  Oh, and you can still see it.  So that is what we did.  Being able to pray with the physical body of Christ was incredible.  It made me realize that I need to continue to grow in my own belief in the True Presence of Christ.  So being able to sit and pray there was just amazing.  Here is a picture of the flesh and blood that is over 1300 years old.  Lanciano was just incredible, but we couldn't stay long because we had to get to our hotel in Mattinata.

Heart Tissue on Top
Droplets of blood in bottom glass

Our drive to Mattinata was incredibly beautiful and when we finally got to our hotel, we could not believe our eyes.  Beautifully situated in a valley surrounded by mountains an overlooking the sea, it was probably the most beautiful view I have ever had from a room I stayed in.  It was just an incredible place and it was super cheap, so really, you could not get any better than where we stayed.  It was just marvelous.

View from my room 

Max Behna, Mike Steffes, Vince Fernandez, Justin Wiltse, and I

The next day, we went and visited 2 great pilgrimage sites, San Giovanni Rotunda and Monte San'Angelo.  San Giovanni Rotunda is the home of Padre Pio, the great 20th century saint who is one of the biggest miracle workers the Church has ever known.  While I wish I had time to share more about him, I think the 2 things I want to mention are Padre Pio's ability to bilocate and the gift of the stigmata.  First, bilocation.  Becasue of his sanctity, Padre Pio was known to appear in two places at once.  That's pretty incredible if I don't say so myself.  There are multiple stories of him appearing to people and then when they met him later, they realize that the little Italian Capuchin friar that they saw was actually him.  He used this gift to protect his town from US bombings in WWII and to visit priests in concentration camps during the war.  So while still being in this little Italian town, he would appear to pilots in planes or to priests in Nazi Germany.  The second gift, the stigmata, is just incredible.  Padre Pio, on his body, visibly bore the 5 wounds of Christ for over 50 years.  So his hands, feet and side were almost always bleeding because he was so conformed to Christ crucified, He gave Pio the grace to suffer with him.  So while this is a rare gift, it shows Pio's amazing sanctity and union with Christ.  In San Giovanni Rotunda, we were able to pray at his tomb, see a lot of his "stuff" and just experience the city that he made into the place it is today.  The area is absolutely amazing and I really enjoyed it there.  Going into the trip, I didn't know a whole lot about Padre Pio, but now he definitely has a special place in my heart.  I think that we are going to be good friends.  I have a lot to learn from him about how to be a good and holy priest.

Padre Pio's confessional!

Padre Pio's Mass supplies

After San Giovanni Rotunda, we went to Monte San'Angelo, home of the Cave of St. Michael.  St. Michael the Archangel appeared in this cave during the 400s, and ever since then, it has been a place of devotion for thousands of pilgrims.  So being there was very cool because St. Michael is an awesome saint.  He WANTS to help you defeat evil in life.  Every single image of him has him crushing Satan, and if you ask him, he will help protect you and your family.  Spiritual warfare is a real thing, but we know that as long as we stay close to God and ask for the intercession of the saints and angels, we have nothing to fear.  So it was cool being able to pray in a cave and ask for his intercession.

A Church!  In a cave!  With St. Michael!  

The last thing I want to say about the tip was how incredibly beautiful the land was.  The mountains, the valleys, the sea.  It was just amazing.  As we were driving on the narrow mountain roads with lots of curves and switchbacks, we were stopping to get out and take pictures all of the time.  And we were only able to experience such beauty because we had the car and could drive through the mountains on our own.  It was so cool.  Most people in Rome tend to stick with the West Coast of Italy, but going to the East Coast was such a treat and it was a really great break from the city.  Now, it is back to the grind of school, but we have some exciting things ahead, so I will keep you posted.  Again, thanks for reading and your support in prayer.  Know that I am praying for all of you.

Our car for the weekend with some of the beauty behind us!

Sts. Padre Pio and Michael - Pray for us!
    

Rest In Peace Fr. McDonald

Today, I heard news that my former pastor, Fr. McDonald, or Fr. Mac as he was known, passed away.  After over 50 years of priestly service, the Lord has called him home.  Fr. Mac was a great role model for me, especially during my time in seminary.  It was always a joy to go visit him in the nursing home and he always took great interest in me, which was definitely something that I appreciated.  Fr. Mac was a good and holy priest and I am grateful to God for putting him in my life.

Please pray for the repose of his soul and all the holy souls in purgatory.  They need our prayers because while they know they are going to get to Heaven, they still have to be purified of their sins.  So through our prayers, we can help bring people to Heaven, their ultimate goal.  We can play a role in their salvation.  What an incredible opportunity.  So let us all pray for the soul of Fr. McDonald and thank the Lord for all of the great things that He did for us through the priesthood of Fr. McDonald.

Prayer for the repose of the soul of a priest
 
O God, Thou didst raise Thy servant, Francis McDonald, to the sacred priesthood of Jesus Christ, according to the Order of Melchizedek  giving him the sublime power to offer the Eternal Sacrifice, to bring the Body and Blood of Thy Son Jesus Christ down upon the altar, and to absolve the sins of men in Thine own Holy Name. We beseech Thee to reward his faithfulness and to forget his faults, admitting him speedily into Thy Holy Presence, there to enjoy forever the recompense of his labors. This we ask through Jesus Christ Thy Son, our Lord. Amen.

Roma Game!

This Sunday, I went with 9 other people from my house to Stadio Olimpico to watch some Roma football.  I am a big football fan and I was very much looking forward to going to a game sometime during the semester.  And let me tell you, the experience was incredible.  It was truly a great taste of Roman life and I thoroughly enjoyed the afternoon.  Paying only 17 euro for tickets, we sat right behind the goal about 23 rows up.  And while the angle wasn't the best, we were right in the heart of the more tame cheering section.  The south side of the stadium is the crazy part, but we were on the north side, where the dedicated, passionate, but not violent, fans sit.  And it was great.  We got there about 10 minutes before the game and the fans were already cheering, clapping, and waving their flags.  There was so much passion from the fans, you could tell that football is more than just a sport in Italy.  But easily the highlight of the pregame ritual of singing the Roma song.  While I wish that I knew the song before going to the game, I have listened to this quite a few times since the game.  Every single person in that stadium knew it and it is one of the greatest football traditions out there.

When the game started, it was just awesome.  We were playing Pescara, which is the worst team in the league.  Because they suck so much, there were only like 20 Pescara fans there, but they had their own section pretty close to us.  And with them being close to us, I received an answer to a question I was kind of wondering about.  Is "the finger" a real thing here?  Or is that just America?  And let me tell you, it is alive and well in Italy.  Pescara shockingly scored first, so they whole stadium was a bit on edge.  But throughout the course of the game I noticed many differences between European sports fans and American sports fans.  First off, in the stadium, there is no PA noise or music during the game.  It is just the fans and the game, which I really enjoyed.  And because there is constant action, we were never bored.  There are no timeouts, commercial breaks, or anything.  Also, you don't boo in Italy, you whistle/hiss.  It's kinda strange, but hey, that's what they do.  Also, every single person in the stadium is invested in the game.  I was sitting by some kids and they were going nuts.  They were following everything, calling fouls for the ref, and knew every single player.  In the second half, Roma tied it at 1, so the whole second half, we were on the edge of our seats.  But the highlight of the 2nd half was when Michael Bradley went in.  He is the only American on the team, and the kids next to me definitely knew by this point that I was American.  It was hilarious.  And anytime he would do something, we would get excited.  As time was winding down, Roma kept on getting decent shots on goal, but nothing was going in.  So after 90 minutes, the game ended in a tie.  Which is basically the worst thing possible.  With a loss, you can be angry.  But with a tie, it's like "meh."  Considering Pescara had not beaten, or even tied, anyone for the last 14 games, it was a bad day to be Roma.  But overall, I had a great time.  I was so happy that I went to the game at this point in the semester because I understand Italian culture more now then when I got here in February.  And to put it simply, everything made sense.  Everything that I had experienced walking through the streets, talking to random Romans, eating in restaurants, it was all summarized here during the game.  It was just a great day and I thoroughly enjoyed my time.  This was definitely one of the non-religious highlights of the semester and it was awesome to be able to experience the beautiful game in Rome first hand. 

Singing the Roma Song

Curva Sud, home of the diehard fans.  Notice the smoke bombs....  And the flags never stopped waving

Pescara fans.  And they had triple the security up there later during the game

#4 - The American, Bradley!  When he kicked the ball, I'm pretty sure I heard the word "freedom"

        

Relics: What Up With That?

As I have mentioned many times, one of the coolest things about living in Rome is the many relics of saints that can be found all over the city.  Living in Rome, the saints become very real because you are walking the same streets, praying in the same churches, seeing the same art, and experiencing the same grandeur of Rome that they experienced centuries ago.  So knowing where apostles prayed, where saints celebrated Mass, where Popes walked, you can see that sanctity is possible.  We can live heroic lives of virtue.  We can pursue holiness with all that we have.  So by knowing the saints, we ourselves can model their lives and become holier men and women.  With this post, I hope to do two things: Show you some awesome relics and try to explain the theology behind them.  Because when you think about it, just having a saint's body or body parts out for people to see sounds pretty weird.  And for Americans, this concept is super foreign because of the relative "youth" of our country.  We haven't had the history with the Catholic Church that Europe has, so we don't have as many canonized saints, and therefore, nowhere near as relics.  So first, I will share with you some of my favorite relics that I could get decent pictures of, and then I will try to explain why we even have relics in the first place.

Our first saint we see is St. Robert Bellarmine, a great Jesuit Cardinal from the 1600s.  He was an important figure in the Counter-Reformation, combating the Protestants and solidifying the Catholic theology that the Protestants had problems with.  Did he change the theology?  Absolutely not.  The Church cannot change Her teachings.  But it can be better explained or applied to more specific circumstances.  And that is what St. Robert Bellarmine did.  He is buried in the Church of St. Ignatius along with St. Aloysius Gonzaga.  Here is his body, still dressed in the cardinal red.  His remains are in a bronze cast of his body, so don't be too freaked out by that.

The next relic I have a picture of is St. Charles Borromeo's heart.  That's right, his heart.  And the fact that it is still around and visible is miraculous in itself.  The rest of his body is up in Milan, so I haven't seen that.  But St. Charles Borromeo was also an important cardinal during the Counter-Reformation and was one of the most important cardinals who helped formulate the rubrics of what Catholic Churches should look like.  While most of those instructions have been thrown out in America for more "modern and welcoming" spaces, that is neither here nor there.  St. Charles Borromeo is the patron saint of seminarians, and I am a seminarian, so that is pretty neat.  But ya, the heart is in the middle of the glass sphere behind the bars, so if you click on the picture, you should be able to see it.  

Our next saint, or saints, are two apostles, James the Lesser and Phillip.  That's right, apostles.  And these are just two apostles that were easy for me to get to here in Rome.  There are quite a few around here.  So when you think of the apostles, what do you think about?  Personally, I think "Wow, these guys hung out with JESUS AND MARY!!!"  If that isn't cool, I am not sure what is.  These two men were among the Twelve that  saw Jesus perform His miracles.  They received the Eucharist at the Last Supper.  They received the gift of the Holy Spirit on Pentecost.  Our Church wasn't just made up by some dude in the 1600s, it is founded on real people.  And they gave it all, shedding their blood for Christ.  And these real people are buried about 5 minutes from where I go to school every day.  Here I am, just a few feet from their tombs.  How incredible is that?  

Now we are getting to some of my favorite relics in Rome.  Not that the others aren't cool, these are more personal or even more mind blowing.  Here, we have the arm of St. Francis Xavier.  Francis Xavier is the patron saint of the Diocese of Joliet, so obviously, I have a special devotion to him.  He was a Jesuit who was sent on mission to convert the people of Asia.  He was incredibly zealous and truly wanted to spread the Good News of Christ to a continent that had never heard of Jesus before.  And through prayer and dedication to his mission, he baptized around 100,000 people.  Baptizing a person, you need to pour water over the head of the person, and Whoa! look at that, we have the arm that he did that with.  The hand is incorrupt, which means that even though he has been dead for centuries, the flesh has not decayed.  Again, pretty neat.  Actually just today, we had Mass at this altar with Bishop Siegel and Fr. Matt Pratscher.  After Mass, I helped clean up and could have given Francis Xavier a high five.  I didn't, but I wanted to.......   

Now this is probably my favorite relic, the head of my favorite saint, St. John the Baptist.  And there is a bit of controversy with this one, because multiple churches around the world claim to have the head of John the Baptist.  But since I found this one, I believe that this is the true head of the Forerunner of the Messiah.  Take a moment and think about what John the Baptist did, and then realize that this skull did that.  So ya, it was from this skull that the first time ever were muttered the words "Behold the Lamb of God."  That's right, the words you hear every time you go to Mass can be traced to the mouth seen in this picture.  Kind of mind blowing.  And this skull helped baptize Jesus Christ   Ya, that's pretty neat.  Oh, and don't forget that John was beheaded for preaching repentance to King Herod, acting as the first martyr for Christ, giving himself completely to the mission the Lord gave him.  So this head was chopped off all for the greater glory of God.  And here it is, in Rome         

The last relic I have to show you is a foot.  And you're probably thinking "O, it's going to be the foot of Jesus or something? I mean, these just keep on getting better, so the next step up would be Jesus, or at least Mary."  But that assumption would be wrong because Jesus and Mary both have their bodies in Heaven because of the Ascension and the Assumption respectively.  But it is a person who knew Jesus and Mary.  That is because this is the foot of Mary Magdalene.  And you're like "OK, what's so cool about that ?"  If we look at the Gospels, we realize that Mary Magdalene was the first one to enter the empty tomb. So this was the very first foot to enter the tomb of the Risen Lord.  So just sit and ponder that one for a while.  This foot experienced the emptiness of the tomb.  This foot crossed the line from death into new life.  And again, it is here in Rome.  Don't ask me how, but here it is.  And it is just incredible.  It is in a silver mold, so that is not actually her foot visible, it is inside that.      

So we have these relics, so what?  Why should you care about these things?   Is this just the Church being creepy?  I hope not.  Hopefully I can explain the reasoning behind it, in a couple different ways.  The first is more philosophical, and the second is more theological.  First, philosophy.  As Catholics, we believe that we are both body and soul composites.  That means our identity, our very being, is made up of both our body and our soul, together as one.  And it is very dangerous to believe otherwise.  If you think that we are just bodies with no souls, then it follows that we are not rational beings. We cannot reason at any level higher than any animal out there, like a squirrel in your backyard.  And if you think that we are just souls trapped in our bad bodies, then any bodily pleasure would be sinful.  But our bodies are gifts from God, so why would He give us bodies if He knew that it would only lead us to sin?  So both of these options are absurd, meaning that we must be composites of both body and soul.  And as human persons who have bodies and souls, when a person is holy and grows close to God, not only does his soul grow in union with God, but so does his body.  Our bodies were sanctified by Christ when He took on flesh.  They are holy things.  And this is why we venerate the bodies of saints.  Their bodies are holy things.  Even after death, we still believe that they are holy and deserve to be honored because of their heroic lives.  And it is through these relics that the Lord transmits grace to the faithful.  Because when you think about it, when you are around a really holy person, you can feel it right?  There is something special about going to Mass with a holy priest, meeting awesome sisters, or seeing a devout married couple.  They radiate Christ's love in a way that is very hard to describe.  But it is through these saint relics that we can receive the grace needed to live holy lives and ask for the saints intercession in our lives.  So when we grow in holiness, both our body and our soul grows in holiness.  And it is because of this growth in holiness that we can venerate the relics of saints.  

The more theological reasoning behind relics focuses on the Resurrection of the Body.  You say that you believe in the Resurrection of the Body every Sunday during the creed, but do we actually know what that means?  When Christ comes again at the end of time, we believe that everyone will get their bodies back.  We will come into fleshly existence again.  And according to St. Thomas Aquinas, these bodies will be awesome.  We will be youthful, our bodies won't hinder our movement at all, and any physical imperfection will be gone.  And this will be the time of the final judgement, when Christ will separate the "sheep from the goats" for all of eternity.  So the sheep get to go to Heaven for all eternity, and the goats will be suffering down in Hell.  God, who is love, is also justice, so this is something that we need to keep on mind throughout our lives.  Just because we are "nice people" doesn't really mean a whole lot in the course of things.  We need to follow Christ with everything that we have.  And relics shows that the saints whom we venerate, the bodies that we see, these are the men and women who are in Heaven and will be there for all of eternity.  It is like "This guy made it.  I can do that too."  Their bodies, during the Resurrection of the Dead, will be welcomed into the gates of Paradise for all of eternity.  So we venerate their bodies becasue we know where they are going at the end of time, and that place is Heaven. 

So that is my piece on relics.  I know that it was a bit long, but hopefully you enjoyed it.  And I am sure that there are a lot more questions out there about this kind of stuff, so feel free to ask me anything.  I will definitely try my hardest to answer anything you may have.  

All you holy men and women - Pray for us!              

5000 Hits!

Well folks, today we celebrate a historic event in "From Roselle to Rome" history.  That's right, we hit 5000 page views.  And to celebrate, we have a brief press conference with the mind behind all of this, the one and only Jim Olofson.

Jim: Welcome to this press conference.  It is a great joy to celebrate this historic day with all of you.  It is hard to believe that we've made it this far, but together, we have done it.  So first off I want to thank all of you for reading the blog and sharing it with your family and friends.  It's been great hearing all of the positive feedback from everyone.  None of this would be possible without all of you.  So thanks.  Well, I think that I will open it up for some questions now.  I see we have the finest in online Catholic press here with us today.  Let's start with Rocco.  
Rocco Palmo: Jim, thank you.  Did you ever anticipate this kind of success with "From Roselle to Rome"?  Or are you as surprised as I am?
Jim: Thanks Rocco, great to see you.  Well I knew that I wouldn't ever have anything like your blog, but I do think that it helps when your parish puts the blog in the bulletin.  So am I super surprised?  A little.  But it has been a lot of fun, so I think we've just got to keep on going.  Next question, Fr. Barron.
Fr. Barron: Thanks Jim.  I look forward to having you at Mundelein in a few years.  Can you describe what it takes to keep up a blog like this?
Jim: Fr. Barron, I cannot wait to get to Mundelein either.  And it does take a bit of work, but I thoroughly enjoy it.  Trying to actually put into words what I have been experiencing, especially with the conclave and everything, it can be tough.  They also keep us rather busy over here, so that is why most things are posted during the weekends.  But I have enjoyed blogging because it makes me remember what I've done and take time to save those memories for the future.  So ya, it has been a bit time consuming, but it is all good.  Ah yes, Lino Rulli.
Lino Rulli: Thanks Jim.  I'm a big fan.  I've got to ask, what is next for you?  Where do you go from 5000 hits?
Jim: Wow Lino, thanks.  I'm looking forward to your next book, by the way.  And truthfully, I think that the answer is that I've just gotta keep doing what I do.  While the semester is winding  down, I project at least a few more blog posts, and subsequent hits, before I leave the continent and head home.  But we will have to wait and see how things go.  And as I mentioned earlier, this day of celebration isn't necessarily about me, but more about the followers.  So if they want me to get to 6000, 7000, or 1000000, it's all in their hands. ButI'm going to keep on doing what I'm good at. Ummmmm, Dad?
Carl Olofson: Shouldn't you be studying right now Jim?
Jim: This press conference is over.  Thank you to all and have a great day.


And to celebrate, I will leave you with 2 of my favorite Catholic Memes.  Enjoy and thanks for your support and prayers!  

      

Guten Tag Ryan!

Contrary to some speculation in the comments, Ryan did in fact accompany us on our trip to Austria and Germany.  But I have to admit that Ryan never made it out of Austria.  He was just having way too much fun re-enacting scenes from the Sound of Music in Salzburg that he never got on the train to Munich.  He just loved skipping through the fields singing to himself.  So hopefully, he will find his way back to Rome someday soon.  We will have to just wait and see.  Anyways, we do know what Ryan did the first half of the week, so here we go.

Ryan, just outside of Votivkirche in Vienna, was seen with an angry bear with some bedazzled armor out hunting.  We are not quite sure what the bear was doing or why Mike is seemingly risking his life to get Ryan so close to this angry bear, but we have photographic evidence that this truly happened.  I think it must stem from Ryan's general love of all things bedazzled.

In Salzburg, I was able to bring Ryan over to one of my favorite animals, the unicorn.  Why they remember this animal that was late for the departure of Noah's Ark still baffles me, but again, Ryan just wanted to be with the unicorn, so of course we had to take a picture.

And lastly, Ryan was able to meet one of the greatest musicians of all time, Mr. Mozart himself.  Here Peter, Mike, and Ryan bask in this prodigy's presence and hope to gain some of his musical skills.  Ryan wanted to play his trombone for Mozart, but alas, it just didn't fit in his bag.  Maybe next time Ryan will get to perform for him.     

We will have to wait and see where Ryan goes next!

Nuestra Señora de Guadalupe - Ruega por nosotros!