Holy Thursday

In the Diocese of Rome the Chrism Mass is celebrated on the morning of Holy Thursday at St. Peter's Basilica. When we arrived to vest, I was amazed by the number of priests present to concelebrate with the Pope. (By the way, this is the only Mass in which priests present get to concelebrate with His Holiness.). Over 1600 priests were present. It was amazing. Many were greeting other priests that they knew. I wasn't expecting to find anyone I knew, but that wasn't the case. I ran into a Vincentian I know, Fr. John Maher who works in Rome.

The liturgy was beautiful and Pope Francis' homily was excellent. http://www.news.va/en/news/pope-homily-for-chrism-mass-full-text

For the Mass of the Lord's Supper we went to St. Patrick Church across from the American Embassy in Rome. It was a very quiet liturgy which allowed for private reflection.

Tomorrow I will attend the Good Friday service in St. Peter's Basilica.

Holy Week has begun!

As you may know, I celebrated Palm Sunday in St. Peter's Square with the Holy Father. I had the honor of being a Eucharistic Minister for the liturgy. It was a spectacular day...sunshine, pageantry, and great words from Pope Francis. All these elements have helped my Holy Week to have a great start. The remainder of the week I will be heading back to St. Peter's Basilica for the Triduum liturgies. I will also be attending the Chrism Mass in St. Peter's. The only liturgy I will be heading somewhere else to attend will be Holy Thursday since the Pope will only celebrate Mass at a prison facility. By the way, all the liturgies I attend I will be a Eucharistic Minister.

Yesterday we went to St. Mary Major Basilica in Rome for Mass and a visit. That is the first place both Pope Benedict XVI and Pope Francis visited after being elected. It is the site of an ancient icon of Mary which is revered by the people of Rome.

I hope everyone has a blessed Holy Week.

The Quiet Before...

It is very hard to believe that it will be Palm Sunday in only a few days. . .let Holy Week begin! Although it is quieter here in Rome, it is just the calm before a busy week, although it is going to be a very different "busy" for me. I won't have the joy and privilege of presiding at the Holy Week liturgies at Holy Redeemer Parish (Jenison) as I have done for almost a decade. Yes, I am going to miss presiding at what are my favorite liturgies, but I am going to have the opportunity to celebrate all but Holy Thursday at St. Peter's Basilica. And I am slated to distribute the Eucharist at all of the liturgies I will be attending. What a privilege!

I will be praying for all of you this week, please pray for me!

Here is the official portrait of Pope Francis, with Swiss Guard pictures on either side (just because).

Completing the Circle...

Yesterday I had the privilege of attending and distributing Eucharist at the Inauguration Mass for Pope Francis in St. Peter's Square. It was a beautiful day and the sun was shining brightly. That was such a change from the stormy day in Rome the previous day.

It was a spectacular experience! Not because it was elaborate, but rather because of the elegance gained from simplicity. Pope Francis' homily calling us to be protectors of creation, the truth, and the Church was inspiring. I am not good at estimating crowd sizes, but I would say that the crowd was very large. It really seems that Pope Francis has captured the hearts and minds of so many people, including myself.

And now the Church is once again being led by a shepherd who is calling us to be a better version of ourselves and it is good!

The Weekend is for...

It seems so quiet today...no Sede Vacante, no Conclave, no waiting for smoke (by the way, what religion could get thousands to stand in the rain and wait for smoke signals?), no Habemus Papam. It is time for a relaxing weekend of walking in Rome, and enjoying Roman food and wine. By the way, I am going to be a communion distributor at Pope Francis' Installation Mass....so excited! Until then...

Oh, What a Night!

What can I say but WOW! I didn't believe when I was standing in the pouring rain at 5:45PM that only an hour or so later I would know that we had a new Holy Father. It was a thrill to be part of that massive crowd in St. Peter's Square which couldn't wait to greet Pope Francis I for the first time. And then to be asked by the Pope to pray for him before he gave us his first blessing...that massive crowd got perfectly silent and we all prayed for him....it still gives me chills. His words to us expressed that he was a man of great faith and that he has a deep devotion to Our Lady. I count myself so blessed to have been a witness to this great moment in our Church's history. And to top it off I got to share the moment with Justin Wiltse and Michael Steffes....they are two of our dioceses college seminarians studying abroad here in Rome this semester. All I can say is Deo Gratias!

Just because...

I just thought I would share this with everyone. I came by it on Facebook.