Denver Catholic

4 I OPINION NOVEMBER 6, 2013 I DENVER CATHOLIC REGISTER forgiven in baptism C. the need to do penance for those sins forgiven in baptism GEORGE WEIGEL Doing Rome at home In the middle centuries of the first millennium, the bishop of Rome celebrated the Eucharist with his people during Lent in a striking way. Each day, the pope would lead a procession of Roman clergy and laity from one church (the collecta, or gathering point) to another, the statio or "station" of that day. There, over the relics of one of the Roman Church's martyrs, Mass was celebrated and a communal meal that broke the daylong Lenten fast followed. Over time, this annual tradition was formalized into the Roman station church pilgrimage, and as the tradition evolved, the pilgrimage sites shaped the Lenten liturgical texts. The pilgrimage was also universalized in a very concrete way: every Missal in the world once carried a stational indicator during Lent, such as "Ash Wednesday: Station at St. Sabina." In one of the most intriguing developments in post-conciliar Catholicism, the ancient Roman station church pilgrimage has been revived in our time by Americans, and specifically by the North American College in Rome. Beginning in the mid-1970s, American seminarians, NAC faculty, and student-priests began to walk Rome's stational pilgrimage trail again: informally at first; later, as a College-organized activity that began to attract fellow-pilgrims from Rome's English-speaking communities. Today, the daily Lenten stational Mass draws hundreds of pilgrims at 7 a.m. to one of the city's most venerable (and often unknown) churches, as NAC faculty and seminarians are joined by undergraduates from American universities with Rome campuses, diplomats, graduate students from all over the world, religious sisters, and officials of the Roman Curia. The Vicariate (or Diocese) of Rome also sponsors a daily station-church Mass in the early evening, but attendance is generally poor. When I once asked my friend Hannah Suchocka, then Poland's ambassador to the Vatican, why she attended the crack-of-dawn English-language stational Mass rather than the more convenient evening stational Mass, she gave me a short and pointed answer: "I found a living Church here (i.e., at the English-language Mass)." So an ancient Roman tradition has been resurrected, in Rome, by American Catholics who bring the vitality of the Church in the New World to the banks of the Tiber. I first experienced the station church pilgrimage during the 1990s, when I was in Rome working on the biography of John Paul II and living at NAC. Three years ago, I decided that this remarkable experience should be made available to a much wider audience: to those who might not be able to "do the station churches" in Rome, but could do so at home. So I enlisted as partners in this effort to "bring Rome to home" a good friend, Elizabeth Lev, the best engaging and thoughtful Anglophone art-and-architecture guide in Rome, and my son Stephen, a professional photographer. Liz, Stephen and I made the entire station church pilgrimage during Lent 2011, and after two years of editing and polishing both text and pictures, "Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches" has just been published by Basic Books. "Roman Pilgrimage" is meant to be absorbed in small doses, as the book includes, for each day of Lent and the entire Octave of Easter, my commentary on the daily liturgical texts (from both holy Mass and the Liturgy of the Hours), Liz's insightful descriptions of the history, architecture, and art of the station church of the day, and Stephen's exquisite pictures (even more compelling in the eBook edition of "Roman Pilgrimage," in which all the photos are in color and can be "zoomed" to larger sizes that display a remarkable fineness of detail). The book also includes two introductory essays: in the first, I reflect on the human habit of pilgrimage and the specific history and spiritual texture of the Roman station church pilgrimage; in the second, I explore Lent as a baptismal season in which all Christians are invited into a kind of "annual catechumenate," re-experiencing the central mysteries of the faith. Thus "Roman Pilgrimage: The Station Churches" is an invitation to take from "Rome at home" renewed spiritual energy for the evangelical task that is every Christian's vocation. George Weigel is Distinguished Senior Fellow of the Ethics and Public Policy Center in Washington, D.C. Weigel's column is distributed by the Denver Catholic Register, the official newspaper of the Denver Archdiocese. Phone: 303-715-3215. BY PETER WESTHOFF The forgiveness of sins and the resurrection of the body A quiz on Catholic things under the patronage of the "Doctor of Prayer," St. Teresa of Avila. For each question there is one right answer, but the answer for one question is "None of the Above." The following quiz covers Catechism of the Catholic Church Nos. 976-1005. 1. Baptism completely cleanses one of original sin and of any actual sins. What can it not deliver us from? A. the weakness of our nature that inclines us toward sin B. the penalties we should incur after death for those sins 2. The sacrament of penance is necessary for the forgiveness of sins committed after one's baptism. Which of these phrases was used by Fathers of the Church to refer to penance? A. a baptism of shame B. a laborious kind of 6. Who in the GosYEAR baptism pels denied the OF FAITH C. the unceleresurrection of SCRIPTURE brated, private the body? "Is anyone among you sick? He baptism A. the pharishould summon the presbyters of sees the church, and they should pray B. the saddu3. What did over him and anoint him with oil in cees the Church the name of the Lord, and the prayer C. the people symbolically of the faith will save the sick perof Nineveh receive from son, and the Lord will raise him Our Lord that, up. If he has committed any in part, shows 7. After death, sins, he will be forgiven." her power to the separation — James 5:14-15 forgive sins? of the soul and the A. the breath of the body, the human body Holy Spirit corrupts. Whose bodies will B. the keys to the kingdom rise on the last day to be reunitC. holy chrism ed with their souls? A. all people, except the Blessed 4. St. John Chrysostom wrote of Mother whose body has already been assumed into heaven the greatness of the gift of the B. only the just sacrament of penance. He said that if there were no forgiveness C. only those who have been baptized of sins there would be no hope of life to come and that the gift of this sacrament given to priests was not even given to: A. the Blessed Mother B. patriarchs and prophets C. angels and archangels 1. A, 2. B, 3. B, 4. C, 5. None of the above: Our mortal bodies will come to life again. 6. B, 7. A THE CATHOLIC DIFFERENCE formulation of the Apostles' Creed) tell us will happen? A. The soul will live forever. B. The body of each person will rise and live independently from the soul, which cannot die. C. Our resurrection is strictly spiritual since there is no mention of bones or other body parts rising. 5. What does "the resurrection of the flesh" (the literal Next week's quiz covers catechism Nos. 1006-1019. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Hearts on fire for Christ The story "Biblical, Catechetical schools' record growth a fruit of Year of Faith" (Oct. 16 Denver Catholic Register) quotes Archbishop Aquila saying, "This means that more Catholics are coming to know Jesus Christ in the Scriptures, that more and more people are entering into dialogue with the Holy Spirit— who breathes life into the word of God—and more of the faithful are learning how to impart that relationship to others." Indeed, and how beautiful. Nowadays, I wake up in Stefanick From Page 3 departure from Church teaching, or a 180-degree shift from the pastoral approach of his predecessors, his message is nothing new. But then again, John Paul II and Benedict XVI weren't making up something new either. They were reiterating the Gospel. Of course, the message of the Gospel isn't that moral guidelines, truths of the faith, conversation with the Holy Spirit. All day long it continues and at bedtime, I look for him in the dark, behind my closed eyes, to fall asleep in him. Going to the Catholic Biblical School and Catechetical School has been the best move of my life for my eternity—and, hopefully, for the eternity of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Thanks to all of you in the schools—the staff and the teachers, my "rabbis"—for starting a conflagration of hearts for God's glory. Carmelito "Lito" Santos Centennial and the Church's sacraments and rituals are irrelevant. They're as important with faith as they are with marriage! No one would get married and say to his bride, "In my heart of hearts I really love you, and you really love me, so can I cheat on you?" The idea is absurd. Inherent in the question "Will you marry me?" is the question "Will you renounce all others?" That's why when Jesus announced the kingdom he said "repent" and "believe in the Gospel" with the same sacred breath. LETTERS TO THE EDITOR Letters should be no more than 250 words and should include the writer's name, address and telephone number. We rely on our readers to recognize that the opinions expressed in letters to the editor are those of the author and are not necessarily those of the Archdiocese of Denver. Letters containing plainly misstated facts, misinformation or libelous statements will not be printed. Unsigned letters will not be printed. Letters may be edited. Send letters to: Editor, Denver Catholic Register, 1300 S. Steele St., Denver, CO 80210 or fax to 303-7152045. E-mail us at: editor@archden. org. It's not because he is a rule-giving ogre whose mission was to ruin your life and take away your fun. It's because he is love offering you his life, and asking for your hand. That's the context of the Gospel message that frames our Catholic faith. And it's a beautiful thing. Visit speaker and author Christopher Stefanick at www. RealLifeCatholic.com. Stefanick's column is distributed by the Denver Catholic Register, the official newspaper of the Denver Archdiocese. ARCHBISHOP AQUILA'S SCHEDULE Nov. 8–14: U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops General Meeting, Baltimore

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