Happy Thanksgiving

Classes are in session today and Rome bustles around as normal. We priests here feel especially like the "stranieri" (literally, strangers - foreigners) that we are. So from this small island of Americans who celebrate Thanksgiving, which the Casa is today, we think of our families and friends, wishing them a Happy Thanksgiving. Today, Archbishop Raymond Burke, Prefect of the Apostolic Signatura, will preside at Mass. We will then have a very American meal - including turkey I'm told.

Father all-powerful,
your gifts of love are countless
and your goodness infinite.
On Thanksgiving Day we come before you
with gratitude for your kindness:
open our hearts to concern for our fellow men and women,
so that we may share your gifts in loving service.
- Opening Collect, Proper for Thanksgiving Day (USA)

Eternal Rest...

Today the Trappist monks of the Abbey of Gethsemani are laying to rest Fr. Chrysogonus Waddell, OCSO who died Sunday, the Feast of Christ the King. Fr. Chrysogonus was a musical scholar of the highest caliber whose research and musical compositions enriched the Church greatly.

But such outward labors were born out of a very gentle spirit, a unique kindness and generosity. As an alum of the Notre Dame Folk Choir, I am privileged to have sung his compositions, be directed by him a few times, and hear his insights of how the beauty of music is a share in the beauty of God.

http://www.monks.org/a_fr_chrysogonus.html

Let us pray for the repose of his soul and give thanks to God for the gift of his life.
Thanks to M. Novak for the photo.

Weekend Visitor...

After a horrific experience at the Italian Questura, I was glad to see my friend Geno Fernandez for dinner on Friday night. Geno and I were both in the undergraduate seminary at Notre Dame, Old College, together. I was honored to preach at his marriage to Paula two summers ago at the Chicago cathedral. They are both doing quite well after moving to sunny L.A. this past August.

Geno was in town this week on business for financial and managerial consultation. We had a great dinner Friday night and then Geno joined the Casa community for Mass and pronzo today, Sunday. His Eminence Cardinal Martino, head of the Pontifical Council for Peace and Justice, presided at Mass for the Feast of Christ the King. Seeing the faces of good friends does me good and stirs me on to good studies and work.

Questura = Purgatorio

In the movie The Princess Bride the protagonist has his life literally sucked from him, so that he is left "only mostly dead". That is how I feel after spending the majority of the day at the Italian Questura. Questura means Police Station, but I think it actually is a synonym with Purgatorio.
My student visa is only good for three months, therefore in order to stay in Italy longer one is required to apply for a soggiorno, which literally means "stay". It is good for two years at a time. But, in fact, the first year is spent actually getting one!

This is Italian mediocrity, buracracy, and inefficiency at its worst. After applying for a soggiorno, paying 75 Euro, we are given an appointment two months later! So today I and four other priests arrived at the police station just before 9AM and were able to leave at 1PM! We stood there and waited and waited as our six documents (with 2 photocopies of each) were stamped and signed and stapled. We were then, eventually, ushered to a back room where our fingerprints were taken digitally and then sent back to wait. After another two hours we were escorted to the back room again for more fingerprints, handprints, signatures, etc. Oh, and at 11AM the staff promptly took a coffee break as we all sat around and waited.

Unbelievable.

The good news is that the paperwork went through and we can return in FOUR MONTHS to pick up our soggiorno document. I also received faculties today from the Vicariatus Urbis, the Diocese of Rome, to preside at Mass, hear confessions, preach etc.

Tuesday night was quite fun. I took the bus to St. Peter's to meet with Jane Murphy, her daughter Caroline, and her mother Lorraine. Jane and her family are parishioners at my first priestly assingment and witnessed for me at my priestly ordination. She and her mother were in town for the week to visit Caroline. We enjoyed dinner at one of my favorite restaurants. Needless to say, it was great to see familiar faces and get the latest news from back home. While the owner is quite nice and serves great food, he is an awful photographer.

A Mid-Week Update

It's been a busy week with homework from three courses ratcheting up quite a bit. Fortunately, I had the closest thing to a "free weekend" in quite awhile. Free should be qualified, however, as I am aware of many close friends and brother priests who labor diligently each weekend. By "free" I mean large blocks of time to sit down and actually study without interruption or other demands causing me to lose focus. So Friday afternoon was such a moment as was Saturday. Good studies, reading, prayer.

I joined Fr. Russ McDougall, CSC Friday night at the Piazza of Santa Maria in Trastevere. Mom and Dad will remember this as the place with the cafe where they waited for me to return from touring Sant'Anselmo a few years ago. Fr. Russ showed me a favorite pizzeria of his - and it was quite good. I actually ordered a calzone and thought of poor ole Polito's. Afterward, we walked a bit past John Cabot University where ND students attend, to a Scottish Pub. All old wood, quaint, with a back room for Scotch sipping. The 7 page list was impressive. Fr. Russ and I celebrated his recent passage into the official dissertation stage at the Biblicum here in Rome.

After a productive Saturday I arose at 4AM to catch 5AM buses to pray the 6AM Sunday Mass for the Missionaries of Charity. Like my first time there, I was inspired by the sisters, all of whom are in some level of formation, aside from their superiors. 13 of them will make Solemn Vows on December 6th. As of Sunday they did not know to which missions they would be sent. While I am not sure if they were inspired by my presence or homily, I do know with certainty that I am in awe of their simplicity, their joy, as well as the beauty of their singing. A photo of some sisters and their chapel can be found at Fr. Tim's blog. Fr. Tim is a fellow priest here at the Casa and a Domer.

It is "winter" here in Rome with temperatures dipping into the 50s. After several years of enduring Lake Effect snow and wind I am quite happy. But the cold here seems different - it is ever-present. Buildings don't have much insulation so my classmates and I keep our coats on for the most part during class. This may be one reason why I've had a bad chest cold for the past week. So, "thanks" to my favorite doctor back in the states who gave me a Z-pack antibiotic for such occasions. :-)

Happy Birthdays

Two wonderful women in my life are celebrating birthdays. My sister Kerri celebrated her [censored] birthday this past Sunday. She is a loving wife, mother of three, and, she assures me, a gentle dental hygienist.

As a priest and a dental hygienist we both share in the capacity to create tremendous guilt trips (Do you floss daily? Uh, do you???) She is such a great mother and her husband and three kids are blessed.

And today, my grandmother celebrates her 86th birthday. Her health has deteriorated to the point that she's unable to recognize her visitors, but I believe she knows of our deep love for her. I celebrated Mass this afternoon for her health and spiritual life and my grandfather assured me he would give her a kiss for me. My grandfather visits twice daily and is himself a daily reminder to us of Christian love and the depth to which marriage calls so many.

CSC Visitors...

This past week the Congregation of Holy Cross held its annual Council of the Congregation meetings here in Rome. Living and studying in Rome, while a blessed time, is also quite isolating and so, seeing some of my brothers gave me a good shot in the arm. Last Sunday I met up with Fr. Peter Rocca, CSC who is the liturgist for my province. We met up at the Piazza Barberini metro and enjoyed dinner at Abruzzi, near my residence.

Just this past Saturday I was invited to join the Council for Mass and a closing banquet. It was my first time to meet many of the provincials and vice-provincials, vicars, and district superiors of the Congregation including those from India, Bangledesh, France, and Africa. Afterwards I was able to meet privately with my provincial, Fr. Tyson, to discuss my Roman life thus far and plans for the coming Summer.

The next day, Sunday, Fr. Ed Obermiller, vocation director for the province, joined me at my residence for social and pronzo. I was glad to show-off a fellow CSC to the other residents and for Fr. Ed to get a sense of things here.

My mac hard-drive has been failing so thankfully Fr. Ed delivered a new internal drive along with a book I had wanted, recently published by Ave Maria Press. I've read the first chapter of The Seven Sorrows of Mary and again recommend the book for your own reflection and devotion of Our Lady.

The Cause for Fr. Dujariè

Good news regarding the cause of Fr. Dujariè, CSC.

Dear religious of Holy Cross and friends, On October 13, 2008, having obtained the joint approval of the superiors general of the Congregation of Holy Cross and of the Sisters of the Providence of Ruillé-sur-Loir, and that of their general councils, a mandate was given to Dr. Andrea Ambrosi, to act as postulator in the cause of beatification and canonization of Fr. Jacques Dujariè, priest of the Diocese of Le Mans, France, and Founder of the Sisters of providence of Ruillé and of the Association of the Brothers of Saint-Joseph of Ruillé integrated later into the Congregation of Holy Cross. In consequence, Dr. Ambrosi is to make all the necessary and proper arrangements for the opening of this cause starting with the diocesan inquiry whtich will study the heroic life and virtues of Fr. Dujarié. Fr. Mario Lachapelle has been appointed by Dr. Ambrosi vice-postulator of this cause for the Congregation of Holy Cross.

Mario Lachapelle, CSC
Vice Postulator
Congregation of Holy Cross

Storm Clouds

From November 9th Washington Post:

Obama himself has signaled, for example, that he intends to reverse Bush's controversial limit on federal funding of embryonic stem cell research, a decision that scientists say has restrained research into some of the most promising avenues for defeating a wide array of diseases, such as Parkinson's.

Bush's August 2001 decision pleased religious conservatives who have moral objections to the use of cells from days-old human embryos, which are destroyed in the process.

But Rep. Diana DeGette (D-Colo.) said that during Obama's final swing through her state in October, she reminded him that because the restrictions were never included in legislation, Obama "can simply reverse them by executive order." Obama, she said, "was very receptive to that." Opponents of the restrictions have already drafted an executive order he could sign.

The new president is also expected to lift a so-called global gag rule barring international family planning groups that receive U.S. aid from counseling women about the availability of abortion, even in countries where the procedure is legal, said Cecile Richards, the president of Planned Parenthood Federation of America. When Bill Clinton took office in 1993, he rescinded the Reagan-era regulation, known as the Mexico City policy, but Bush reimposed it.

"We have been communicating with his transition staff" almost daily, Richards said. "We expect to see a real change."

Post-Election...

Some priests of the house stayed up all night to watch the election coverage. I chose to wake up early and see the results. As I watched video scenes of cheering and adoring crowds I thought of John's Gospel, at the end of Chapter 2. "While he was in Jerusalem for the feast of Passover, many began to believe in his name when they saw the signs he was doing. But Jesus would not trust himself to them because he knew them all, and did not need anyone to testify about human nature. He himself understood it well."

The days of 30-second or even 30-minute t.v. spots
Saturday Night Live appearances
Slick stadium backdrops
Arriving on the deck of an Aircraft Carrier to make announcements
MTV "underwear" questions

Human nature, so fickle.

It wasn't me, I promise!

Priest 'smashes chair' over Italian restaurant owner's head as nuns kick him in the stomach

An Italian restaurant owner was allegedly attacked by a priest and two nuns in what witnesses described as a Wild West-style "saloon bar brawl".

All Saints...

Happy Solemnity of All Saints!

Fr. Stephen Koeth, CSC has posted thoughtful homilies for the Solemnities of All Saints and All Souls on his blog. I was especially impressed by Flannery O'Connor's line, “this action by which charity grows invisibly among us, entwining the lives of the living and the dead, this is called by the Church, the Communion of Saints."

Mass was celebrated this morning by Cardinal James Francis Stafford, Major Penitentiary of the Apostolic Penitentiary. I was reminded this afternoon that it was he as archbishop of Denver who was instrumental in the success of the '94 World Youth Day, an event that was certainly formative in my and other's vocation to religious life and priesthood.

Afterwards, the house enjoyed a midday social followed by a festive lunch. I am grateful for the good conversations on politics, theology, liturgy, ecclesial life, etc (and fraternal banter) that goes on here at the house during and after meals. It is a blessed time.

Lenten Reflections...

Fr. Drew Gawvrych, CSC has edited a series of Lenten reflections written by various Holy Cross religious to be published by Ave Maria Press. More information and sample pages can be found here. Buying this book would definitely support my retirement and would probably enrich your Lenten prayer.