The Joy of the Gospel is the Encounter with Christ

Monday January 26, 2015

by Deacon Gabriel Walz

Greetings and Happy Monday from Rome!  

We have experienced yet another day filled with adventures.

This morning we had a later start than usual.  We were free, as any other morning, to go to breakfast anytime between 7:15am and 9am.  At about 10:00am we walked over to visit Msgr. Commentz at the Apostolic Penitentiary.  This is the oldest congregation of the Roman Curia, dating back at least to the 12th century.  They are few in number—one cardinal, six priests, and several members of the lay-faithful—yet they receive inquiries from around the world on a regular basis and seek to respond to each one within either 24 or 48 hours (unless some circumstance prevents this from happening).  

Our meeting with Msgr. Commentz went a bit longer than we’d anticipated.  This meant a slight change in our schedule.  We journeyed back to our lodging—the Domus Romana Sacerdotalis (just down the road a few blocks from Saint Peter’s Basilica)—and ate lunch together at 1pm.  Then, at 3pm we attended our final classroom session of our time in Rome.  

During our final class session, we discussed sections of Pope Francis’ document The Joy of the Gospel.  In this document, Pope Francis cites Pope Benedict XVI’s encyclical letter God is Love, where he says that: “Being a Christian is not the result of an ethical choice or a lofty idea, but the encounter with an event, a person, which gives life a new horizon and a decisive direction”.  Pope Francis adds that: “Thanks solely to this encounter – or renewed encounter – with God’s love, which blossoms into an enriching friendship, we are liberated from our narrowness and self-absorption… how can we fail to share that love with others?” It seems that the role of evangelization, then, is to mediate the encounter with Jesus Christ.

After our class, we set out again to the cobblestone streets of Rome; this time we journeyed to visit the Jesuit Church called the Gesu (Jesus).  The Gesu is a beautiful Church where (among others) saints Ignatius of Loyola and Francis Xavier are buried.  We arrived in time to see their “light show”—the church was dark except for the spotlights that drew our attention only to specific pieces of art while across the speakers a narrative (in Italian) wove together the story of what we beheld (all the while the narrative was intermingled with beautiful chant in the background); it was quite beautiful.

Finally, Fr. Joseph Carola, S.J. gave us a brief overview of the life of Saint Ignatius and we were privileged to visit the rooms he stayed in during his time in Rome.  Fr. Carola celebrated Mass for us in the room where Saint Ignatius died and Deacon Alvaro preached.  In his homily, Dcn. Alvaro reminded us of the role that St. Ignatius has played—even when we didn’t notice—in helping to form us for mission during our pilgrimage in Rome.  Like Ignatius, we are to make our lives into pilgrimages toward God.  The zeal of Ignatius and his order for God reminds us that we too are called to be missionaries: to 'move' out of ourselves – when we are able to constantly challenge ourselves to another quest – when we understand that we are not there yet. 

Afterwards, we went out for pizza; it was a great day!

Please keep us in prayer and be assured of our prayers as well.  

God bless!