Saint Mary of the Immaculate Conception Roman Catholic Church

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

Greetings from Rome! It had been my plan to send you greetings aer I had the opportunity to aend Pope Francis’ audience on Wednesday morning but just realized it has to be done and submitted earlier this week. So I just walked up to St. Peter’s Piazza and took this picture. It is the best I’ve got at the moment.

It is Monday night as I write this and I wish I had more to tell you about right now. You know, you land a little tired to start with… and then you just walk. First, to St. Peter’s Piazza. Then today we went across the city through Piazza Navona, the Pantheon, a dozen churches, the Campdoglio, a dozen other churches, a tour of the Colloseum, a half dozen churches. We just ran into our seminarian, Joe Farrell, walking home from classes in one of the streets. Then a big plate of carbonara and tiramisu. Traveling is so difficult!

Tomorrow we hope to have Mass at a chapel in St. Peter’s Basilica. Then, guess what? Probably a dozen more churches tomorrow. It has been quite a long time since I had a vacation, and I’m grateful that you let me get away for a few days.

But I was reading an account about how our Holy Father seems to have reached out again, literally, to someone disfigured by sickness and has spoken Christ to the world. The account that I read asked the question whether or not this could possibly just be a publicity stunt? Such things are so common today, nobody would be surprised. They said immediately – no – it was simply too real: “Charity and humility and love really are Christian ideals, and for someone in the pope’s position of power to so graphically express them is full of concrete meaning. Be like Christ: identify with the outcast. This pope’s idealism is so clearly readable in his actions that it is missing the point to call him a clever communicator. He knows that he is a living symbol and that by identifying with this man he is making the church itself grow more human.”

For some, this kind of outreach threatens what they perceive as the noble dignity of the Church. It seems that some may think that the Church needs to stay more aloof, dress up and preserve the dignity of the greatness of the Church. As if such things were actually communicated in life by things.

But it occurs to me—and this is why I’m so anxious to see him—that this Pope has begun to do and say things that haven’t been said so eloquently (simply) or profoundly (humbly) for about 2,000 years. And the One Who said them first is so evident in the one who speaks now. I pray this is true, and that we can all see a new way of life here. As one bishop told me shortly aer Francis’ election as Pope, the bishops of the Church – all of them – are challenged to reconsider many things, and to return to the roots of what all of this is about: a leadership that is Christ, nothing more, nothing less. It isn’t in the externals, or even the choice of words: it is in the action of love and the heart that lies at the root of this new evangelization.

Constantly we speak with leaders of other Christian churches – even leaders of non- Christian religions – in Virginia. Isn’t it interesting that they so commonly refer to Francis as “our Pope.”

If I get a chance, I will certainly tell him you all said hello, and that we would love for him to come and visit us in Fredericksburg.

God bless you.

Dear Good People of Saint Mary,

It’s always the same when I’m trying to get ready for a trip, to be away for even a few days. I worry about all the stuff that still needs to get done, it is hard to sleep and even to see beyond the moment of departure. Once I’m on the plane usually I’m fine, and I have the sense that I did what I could in order to be on my way. But up until that point I find it hard to go.

I imagine getting to heaven to be most like that moment when you lift off from the runway and there is a kind of peace that settles in. We did all we could, let the anticipation of what is about to happen open up before us. Still, departures are just so hard.

You will see in the church our version of scrolls which include the names of all those deceased loved ones for whom we provided services since last November 2, All Souls’ Day. We include their names so that we will remember to pray for them. I’ve heard it said that we most hold on to our grief at the loss of someone we love because we are afraid that we will forget them. It is in the offering of the Mass, though, that we gather together all those who have lived before us, all present, and all those yet to come into one eternal self-emptying act of love to God the Father, in remembrance. His body is made up of all: Jesus Christ is mercy, because his Communion isn’t just the glorious assembly of the saints in heaven, but also us sinners here on earth, and the sinners who have already died and await that glory. As Christ we offer that body of faith, hope and love every time we gather for liturgy. Our perfection on this earth is in our hoping.

We celebrate during the month of November all those who have gone before us, , but we also reflect this month on how we are preparing ourselves for the journey – how are we making arrangements, what are we packing, how are we saying goodbye? Are we leaving a culture of reconciliation and love behind, in the expectation of discovering the perfection of life to come? Have we lived so as to fulfill God’s plan and our potential in a way that is truly full, active and conscious? On a most basic level, I think that involves a goal being able to see what is true, beautiful and good in ourselves, but even more importantly finding it in others. Looking not in a mirror, but to the horizon.

This week I’m headed to Italy. The ultimate reason for this trip is a wedding this coming weekend in Florence, for the daughter of some good friends. While there, it makes sense to look around a little before and after, right? So, I’ll be in Rome for a couple of days, hopefully aending Pope Francis’ audience on Wednesday. Then a couple of days in Florence and Tuscany. I’ve never been to Lucca and the coast of the Cinque Terre, so I thought maybe I’d check that out. After the wedding, a few days with the bride’s family in Siena. By the time you get the next bulletin I’ll be back already, so I’ll say goodbye and hello right here since deadlines are early. But I want you to know that you are remembered in prayers and Masses throughout the trip, especially Masses at St. Peter in Rome, early in the mornings on Monday and Tuesday when I am there. I will offer Mass for all of you near the tomb of Peter. Because we always have to remember to pray for the living, too.

It so happens that while I’m gone this weekend we welcome Cross Catholic Outreach for their presentation on the missions and how we can be involved in their work. Please respond generously as you are able for all the good work they do and the missionaries they represent. Then we come to the Solemnity of Christ the King, and the end of our church year of 2013 and the annual unfolding of the Mysteries of Christ begins all over again with the Year of Grace 2014 with the First Sunday of Advent, Dec. 1.

I guess that, too, is a moment of “lifting off” to a new year, filled with anticipation and joy.

God bless you.