We arrived back in Rome on Wednesday. The other eight guys who didn't come over for early orientation arrived on Thursday. So Thursday the Pontifical North American College Class of 2013 walked into the Immaculate Conception Chapel to the ringing of bells and the welcome of the staff to start our time off with prayer and a message from our rector. The bells will ring again for us personally as each man departs once and for all from the college.
Yesterday was the feast of St. Monica, So the majority of us went to St. Augustine's here in Rome where St. Monica is buried. We prayed for our mothers there individually because, as you may know, St. Augustine's conversion is largely attributed to the prayers of his mother St. Monica.
This morning we went to St. Peter's early when it is much more quiet and celebrated mass in the Crypt in front of the remains of St. Peter. John Paul II and Pope Paul VI are also buried down there. I have much admiration for both those men but especially for Pope Paul VI because of his encyclical Humanae Vitae. If you don't know the story behind that encyclical then its worth understanding. Pope John XXIII commissioned a group of six people to explore the Church's position on contraception. When Pope John the XXIII died, Pope Paul VI expanded the commission to seventy-two, including bishops, theologians, cardinals, women, and experts from medicine.
The commission came to the majority opinion that contraception is not intrinsically evil. Pope Paul VI prayed and by the guidance of the Holy Spirit decided not to change the Churches teaching on contraception. And how prophetic that document has become. Speaking of contraception Pope Paul VI says:
How easily this course of action could open wide the way for marital infidelity and a general lowering of moral standards...and that a man who grows accustomed to the use of contraceptive methods may forget the reverence due to a woman, and, disregarding her physical and emotional equilibrium, reduce her to being a mere instrument for the satisfaction of his own desires, no longer considering her as his partner whom he should surround with care and affection (Humanae Vitae).
Isn't this what has happen since contraception has become so prevalent in our culture?
Many point to this document as a prime example that the Church is guided by God himself in the person of the Holy Spirit. Man's wisdom was in favor of contraception, but we can see that man's wisdom is not on par with the wisdom of the Holy Spirit which guides the Church.
Here are some pics...
I do not have one of Julia Roberts, although I did see here Wednesday evening. She is in town shooting a movie.
The Cardinal Angelo Comastri, Archpriest of St. Peter's, welcoming us.
Spencer's birthday a few weeks ago.
Chiesa Nuova, the church I went to while in assisi. Its built on the site of St. Francis' child hood home.
The Cell that St. Francis's parents locked him up in.
The top of the Panteon in Rome.
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