Holy Saturday

Let's face it: Catholics have been calling on society to a higher moral norm: calling people on to dress in a way that represents the true dignity of the human person; calling people on to see that sex is not mere recreation, but is a true self-giving that involves not only the body, but the soul; calling people on to worship the objective Truth (that is, God) and not the porcelain throne after a night of excessive drinking. Catholics (should) call people on to find true joy and happiness-- AND Catholics should be finding it themselves as well.

In calling others on and in taking an objective view of society, Catholics can-- instead of being joyful and loving-- be condemning or despairing. This is not their calling. They are called to find and know hope; and to bring it to everyone. ("Always and everywhere be prepared to give reason for the hope which lives within you" 1 Peter 3:15). Catholics are to stop and smell the roses-- and then let everyone know how wonderful the roses smell. AND they are to lead others to those roses.

Those roses can come from receiving the Eucharist, from going to confession, from praying, from service, from actually stopping and smelling the roses and enjoying God's creation (like a good sunset).

And sometimes it is society itself that can provide hope as well. I say this because on Holy Thursday, I took this picture:

Notice the flag is half-mast. I asked the guard why this was. "Pasquale" he said: "The Passion and Death of Christ."

Hope indeed.

Good Friday

This is God desperately wanting us back....

The dripping blood our only drink,
The bloody flesh our only food:
In spite of which we like to think
That we are sound, substantial flesh and blood—
Again, in spite of that, we call this Friday good.
~TS Eliot, East Coker

This is Austria

Ah, after a week of absence, I return with much to tell and more pictures to show! It was this past week that I-- on what seemed to be a whim-- ventured outside of Italy and into Gaming, Austria, a town nestled among the foothils of the Alps. This is the place where the Franciscan University undergrads go to study abroad. And in this quiet town of no more than 3,ooo people, where everyone seems to know everyone else's business, and where-- if you sneeze as you pass by-- could miss the town, in this quiet place is where I took a retreat from Rome's fast pace.

Submerged in a few feet of snow, Gaming offered me a lot of time to enjoy peace and prayer. It was quiet warm for the season (nearly 60 degrees all week) and the birds were out among the numerous waterfalls emerging from the snow. With clear skies overhead, I decided to climb a few of the 3,000-feet-tall hills-- small compared to the Alps, but nevertheless very difficult to climb (as I did not make it to the top of any one). Admittedly, only having my sketchers and a pair of jeans put me at a slight disadvantage against the deep snow and steep climb. At the heights I did reach, however, the views were amazing!

So, basically, for four days, I walked in the quiet hills (sometimes singing a verse or eight from "The Sound of Music") and enjoyed at a local tavern the beer indigenous to the land. I hung out with the students a bit, sharing stories and an occasional movie when the nights got cold. We even got a little frisbee (and snowball) tossing in. Haha, and the greatest thing of all?-- I got to "videoconference" with Val on the school's free and fantastic video equipment! Sehr schon!!!

And so begins the litany of pictures from my most recent trip (and so begins, too, my journeys outside of Italy)....

Stereotypical Austria...

And this is the Kartause, the place where all the Franciscan students live and go to school. In the middle of the ancient monastery is the beautiful church. And yes, this is where I stayed...

Another view of the Kartause (from the other hill-- looking back at where I had hiked before).

Val had mentioned there being a lake a short walk from town and said I had to go there. If this is the lake she was talking about, I'm glad she did; because, this was so beautiful!

These are some hills on the outside of town that I encountered on one of my many walks.

On my way home on the train: a brief glimps of Salzburg, Austria, at the foot of the Alps. (This picture does not do the mountains justice-- they are huge!

On my way back home, I had an hour lay-over in Bolzano, Italy. It's a schizophrenic town in a way, since it is nearly on the Italian-Austrian border in the Alps. So, you have Italian culture (and language) mixing with German culture (and language). This doesn't mean you get some uber-cool drink like "Chianti-Weiss" or some hearty dish like "Bratwurst Speghetti"-- but, something close, I'm sure.

This is another shot from the train-- this time, on the other side of the Alps and heading from Bolzano, Italy (towards Rome). Although the window was really dirty, you can still see the fields of grape vineyards and the towering mountain the distance. Very cool.

This is the German Language at Its Best

Yes, I'm a child. But it's so funny!