praylium: Going Retro Part II

praylium: Going Retro Part II: Well, my quest for getting rid of the 'noise' has been ongoing. Since the loss of the iPAD (see previous entry)--I've taken it ...

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Canonizations, Crowds, and Angst.

As I ready myself for a jaunt to Rome and Vatican City I find myself experiencing more of a desire to stay home. Don't get me wrong, I am very appreciative of my family making the sacrifices for my trip. And I look forward to seeing a part of the world that has, in many ways been on the geographic periphery of my life (for obvious reasons). But it wasn't supposed to be this way.  I wasn't supposed to be heading there without my son and my lovely wife. While the friendship I share with my old classmate is what provided this opportunity--I am just a little out of place. Allow me to explain... The purpose of the trek is to go and participate as part of the cloud of witnesses to the canonizations of Popes John 23 and John Paul 2. My friend and old seminary classmate proposed this adventure a few months back. He had reserved space at a religious house in Rome and asked if I wanted to accompany him.  The plan is to be at the Vatican for a few days then on to visit his c...
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Repent and Reboot and Do it FAST

I came across this latest little snippet... A bishop askes the people of God to consider how they use social media and calls for people to resist the temptation to enter into the 'grave matter' of sin: ...Using social media for abuse or to attack the reputations of other people was a direct sin against the Eighth Commandment, forbidding people from “bearing false witness” against their neighbours, he said in a pastoral letter released March 19. “We must exercise discretion, respect others and their privacy and not engage in slander, gossip and rash judgment,” the bishop wrote in the document that was to be distributed in parishes the weekend of March 22-23. I admit that I have, at times, used my other blog--Praylium--in ways that challenged the status quo of the church--both the clergy and laity. Problem was--it did nothing.   The same stuff still happens. Poor liturgies, disgruntled gossipy judgemental laity, premadonna clergy, and perhaps my greatest bug--clericali...
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It's Obvious

We left Rome immediately following the canonizations of ss John Paul II and John XXIII.   It was not an easy achievement.   Millions of people were cramming onto buses, subways, and trains...and I was one of them. In the end we arrived at Tiburtina station, boarded another bus and journeyed to Sulmona (home of my friends family and also Ovid). While there his gracious cousins drove us to the Santuario del Volto Santo...where the shroud relic is the image of the face of Christ...God is always painting pictures for us.  I arrived in time for Mass. Later in the day we trekked to a Greek church of Our Lady, again high atop a mountain and remote.  There were over 75 icons.  It was a day spent in the midst of images. After a quick visit to Rocco Pia and a coffee it was back to Sulmona where it seemed we were eating all the time! The next day I happened upon Eucharistic Adoration across the narrow street and then onto Prescara...but first a very important stop. S...
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