A quick note about the change to our drop-in hours. We’ve added an hour to each day! So drop on in Wednesday-Friday from 2-5pm! Hope to see you soon!

Schedule: Drop-In hours: Wednesday-Friday 2-5pm
Wednesday: 7:30-9pm: T.O.B: Chapter 5: Truth & Freedom
Friday: 8-9pm: Life Teen Adoration
Sunday: No Life Teen: Happy 4th!

Theology of the Body for Teens: Chapter 5: Truth & Freedom: Wednesday 7:30-9pm
Join us as we continue our journey through Pope John Paul II’s “Theology of the Body” Presented in a way that teens understand and relate to, we take a look at the issues teens face each day, and how God has a plan for us to not only survive this life, but how to live it to the fullest!

Chapter 5: Truth & Freedom:
Often we think that freedom means “doing whatever I want, whenever I want.” But this isn’t true freedom. We’ve got to consider a couple of things.
1. The more choices we have doesn’t mean more freedom
2. Is our perception of freedom, truly free? Or are we actually slaves to certain things in our lives?
We’ll discuss these other topics in this week’s T.O.B!

Parish Mission & Retreat: July 12th-15th & 17th
“Characters of the Kingdom” Monday July 12th-Thursday July 15th: 7-8:15pm
We’re opening up our new parish hall and church in style! Join us for a parish wide mission! “Characters of the Kingdom” will introduce you to some famous, and infamous, characters from scripture and Church history.
Don’t miss a week with Brother John Ignatius from the Servants of Christ Jesus based out of Denver, CO. Many of you may remember Brother Paul from the same community. This promises to be both an entertaining and faith filled week!  Here are the topics for the week: See our bulletin for complete details:

Monday July 12th: Angels & Demons
Tuesday July 13th: Biblical Warriors: God’s Soldiers and Spies
Wednesday July 14th: Martyrs & Miracle Workers: God’s Saints
Thursday July 15th: Pope, Cardinals and Curia: God’s Shepherds & Servants

Our week of mission will be followed by a day of retreat in the parish hall: Our retreat “Pray Like A Saint” will help you dive deeper in prayer by using both scripture and our deep Catholic tradition. Don’t miss out!

The week long mission is Free, however the Saturday retreat costs $10. Please RSVP by July 8th to attend any of the great events!

Go on Mission in your hometown!
Epiphany Life Teen Service Week: July 19th-23rd
Please RSVP by July 11th in order to attend first ever service week!

We ask that you sign-up soon and block out your days for this week. While we may be staying in town and sleeping in our own beds at night, this mission is just as important as any other mission you may have gone on in the past. Our fellow parishioners and neighbors need our help!

 We’ll work as a collective group to repair homes, clean yards, and tidy houses. This week is completely free! All you have to do is provide a bagged lunch for yourself each day.

MessFest 2010: July 24th: 1-3pm
MessFest is back and better than ever! Of course our old favorite (kickball) makes its return, but join us also for a ton of new, and messy, games!

Not sure what Messfest is? Well, imagine kickball, and now imagine spaghetti, mayonnaise, beans, jello, mashed potatoes, and anything else you might imagine as the bases! That’s Messfest!

Prayer for our CORE:
This week we pray for the intentions of David!

Sun
Dec 27            56° 42°10%
Partly Cloudy

This post will just be to update things and add anything I find between here and the the trip. 

It is also believed that a part of Matthew’s arm lies in Saint Mary Major, taken there probably as a gift by Pope Paul V (1605-1621).  I am going to look into this and see where it might be.

St. Paul Outside the Walls

Hopefully we get there in the daytime in order to see its courtyard.  I believe the last couple of times we have gotten there at night.  The walls surrounding the inside have pictures of all the popes.

The bodies of those that were buried in the catacombs have been removed.  At its peak, the fifteen hectare site would have held the remains of sixteen popes and fifty martyrs.  Here is a detailed walk through of Catacomb.         

These are the largest, most famous and busiest of Rome’s catacombs. Founded at the end of the 2nd century and named after Pope Calixtus I, who was killed in Trastevere in 222, they became the official cemetery of the newly established Roman Church. In the 20km of tunnels explored to date, archaeologists have found the sepulchres of some 500,000 people and the tombs of seven popes who were martyred in the 3rd century.

The martyred patron saint of music, St Cecilia, was also buried here, although her body was later removed to the Basilica di Santa Cecilia in Trastevere.

I found this web-site which does a great job of letting you see what the Roman Forum looked like at its peak.

Click on the little camera icons and it will give you a look at what the forum looks like now and what it would look like then.  This is an example.It really gives you a good sense of what we will be walking through and what it use to look like.

Here is a panorama you can look at to get a view of what it looks like. 

Here is a 10 min audio guide.  I used this map to follow along.  I hope to find a better map. 

Better map.  May have to unlock the pop-up.

Rick Steves also has an audio guide (36 minutes) and a map to follow. 

 We will not be going inside the Collesium.  It cost a lot and there is nothing really to see.  I have to say, I didn’t get a lot out of the forum last time, but that is because I didn’t know what I was walking through.  The Basilica is neat and I hope to have a better understanding of what use to be here this time around.

And just for fun with all your free time I know you don’t have, check out this web-site.  It is a free web-site that helps you learn a new langage.  I have been playing around in it.  I can’t speak any Italian, but I thought it might help a little.  Just wanted to let you know what was out there.

The Church of the Holy Cross is one of the extra things we saw the year I went that was a great bonus.  This year we are scheduled to have mass there so we will for sure see it.  Mass will be at 9:00 AM, so depending on what time we get there with taking the bus we can either look around before or after.  Here is the official web-site with information about the church and relics.  Obviously the biggest thing to see are the relics.  They are in a chapel off to the side, a little bit hard to find and not marked the best.  Inside this chapel is a collection of relics from Christ crucifixion.  Here is a page on the relics. 

After we leave, St. Clemente is next on the list.  It is 1 mile between the churches so it may be faster to walk it rather than try to catch a bus.  Here is a link to St. Clemente web-site.  This is one church I have not been to, but I was really interested in it because of it preserved history.  Here is a video describing the church.  It is a 12th Century church built on top of a 5th Century church, built on top of ancient Roman ruins.  I think, if we are able to go all the way down, it would be a great intro, granted we have already done the Scavi tour, to the Roman forum which we will walk through later in the day. 

Another 1/2 mile and we get to the third church, San Pietro in Vincoli, St. Peter in Chains.  The two main attractions here are the chains worn by St. Peter,  Acts 12:6-7, and the famous sculpture by Michelangelo of Moses.

Since I haven’t been to St. Clemente I don’t know how long that will take.  The other two should not take long and if we walk and don’t wait on any buses I would think that these 3 could be done before lunch.

The first thing we will see coming out of the Vatican is the Via della Conciliazione.  There is a lot to the history of this street for it being fairly new.  Here is another article with a picture of what it looked like in 1900.  The good news is that we do get a shocking view similar to the older pilgrimages.  We will be approaching from the south and not walking up the Conciliazione the first time we see the Basilica, so it will be hidden until it is revealed all at once for us. 

At the end of the street is the Castle St. Angelo.  We probably won’t go inside it, which isn’t a huge loss.  The best part of being inside was the view from the top, but that is a very mediocre view compared to the top of the dome.  It is big and old, but there really isn’t anything to see inside.  I actually like the bridge in front better.  The angles on the bridge hold the instruments of the Passion.  The bridge itself in almost 1900 years old.  Just imagine the feet that have walked it and evidently it only collapsed once because to many people were on it, so we shouldn’t have to worry about that. 

Next in line is the Piazza Navona.   The piazza is one of the largest and best known.  The main fountain in the middle was designed by Bernini.  The front of the main church in the Piazza was designed by Boromini, his main rival.  If you look at the statues in the fountain, they are all facing away from the front of the church as if it is a horrible site they can’t bare to see.  There are a lot of hidden things in the art that we will see.  There were friends, rivals, and enemies in the arts during the period that a lot of the things we are going to see were made.  We will try to point out some of the things we know of as we go along, but that is why it is good to read about some of the things we will see ahead of time.  The Piazza, when we go, will be full of shopping vendors selling a large variety of different things.

The Pantheon is our next stop.   Check out Study Guide 11.

On the way, depending on the time, the Church of St. Ignatius is on the way to the Trevi Fountain.  The ceiling is painted with 2 illusions so the in one it appears the church has a dome and the other appears to open up into the sky.  I haven’t been inside, but I figured I would but it in since it is literally on the route we are taking.

  After that it is a hike to the Trevi Fountain.  There are different legends about throwing in coins.  I have always thrown 3 coins with my right hand over my left shoulder.  I thought that meant I would return to Rome.  So far, it has worked.  This is the best answer I found. 

Here is the appx. route that we would take.

ce sta na leggenda romana
legata a sta’ vecchia fontana
per cui se ce butti un soldino
costrigni ar destino
a fatte tornà

there is a roman legend
bound to this old fountain
that if you throuw a coin in
you’ll oblige the destiny
to let you be back

No two or three coins, just one to be back Rome !!

Arrive at the airport.  It is an international flight, so you have to be there pretty early.  We will probably talk about what time Msgr. wants you there at our meeting. 

Flight is from 5:25 PM to 8:35 AM local time

Dec. 27th ————————————————-

Transfer to plane to Rome.   Fly to Rome.  Arrive in Rome at 11:50AM.  We then have to take the train into Rome to get to the train to Assisi.  This is the part where there is a lot of bag carrying.  Be prepared to carry your bag up and down some stairs, there are not always escalators on train landings, and on and off of trains.  Don’t over pack or you may regret it. 

We should arrive in Assisi around 3 or 4.  We should have time to walk to Mary of the Angels and see the Porziuncola.  Hopefully we get settled with enough time to get a good nights rest because tomorrow starts the real touring.

Dec. 28th——————————————————

Msgr. has us scheduled for Mass at 8:00 AM at the tomb of St. Francis.  It is underneath the main Basilica.  From time to time other tourist may wander into our Mass and sometimes others will join us.  Just go along and really try to soak in the experience of celebrating in such a holy place.  (That can be said for several or all of the places we will be saying Mass.)

The rest of the day consist of walking around Assisi and seeing the different churches and other sites.  See the Study guide for more info on the specifics.  We will probably walk around 3 to 4 miles, not counting what walking and standing is done inside churches, and remember that Assisi in built into the side of a mountain, so there are a lot of hills. 

Dec. 29th ——————————————————————————

We are scheduled to have Mass at the Porziuncola at 8:30.  After this, if we didn’t do it the first night, we will be given time to walk around the 7th largest church in the world.  After we leave, we take the bus to the starting point of the Hermitage hike.  It is 2.3 miles uphill to the hermitage.  Then back down.  Remember it is about the journey, enjoy it.  The views of the valley below are amazing if it is a clear day.  There are some Matthew Hoelscher shortcuts if you are daring enough to perhaps get lost in the woods.  Then we walk back down.  You should get some nice shots of the Castle and Assisi as we head back down. 

After a quick lunch, we will catch the next train to Rome.  Once we arrive, we will take a quick walk to get our first look at the Vatican and St. Peter’s.  How far we walk will depend on what time we arrive. 

Dec. 30th ————————————————————————-

Bright and early 7:00 Mass at St. Peter’s.  It will not be the main church, but more than likely more private Mass said in one of the smaller chapels below the main church.  It will give you a sense of how big it really is.

After Mass we will get in line to see the Vatican Museum.  This may be a long line andwill determine how long we can spend.  Check out the study guide on the Vatican Museum for more info.  After teh Vatican Museum there is nother scheduled until 3:00.   That allows you to shop or relax.  I am probably going to see some other things that we may not have time for later, but we can all talk about what we want to do closer to that time.

3:00 we meet at the oblisk in St. Peter’s Square and go to the Scavi Tour.  I highly recomend you take the time to do the virtual tour.  It will answer a lot of your questions and give you a real sense of what you are seeing.  The tour is pretty quick and might seem boring if you don’t know what you are looking at. 

After the Scavi Tour Msgr. will take us on a tour of some of the sites of Rome.  This little hike will take us by the Castle Angelo, the Pantheon, Trevi Fountain, and Piazza Navona.  It will be dusk or dark for most of the hike, but the places we are going will be well lit and very popular.  Really, the only time we go down dark alleys is to go to a resturant Msgr. knows about off the beaten path.  This day’s walking could be between 4-7 miles, not counting the Museum (which is huge) and not knowing when we may take a bus or not and not knowing where we will eat or what you will do for free time.     

Dec. 31 ————————————————————-

This day will be one of the days where things are planned, but what we actually get to is going to depend on travel times and how much time a certain item will take.  That is why this is a rough schedule and even a firm schedule will be left up to Msgr. to follow or not. 

We are scheduled to have Mass at 9:00 at the Church of the Holy Cross.  It is not in the study guide yet but I will post about it soon.  After Mass we will go to St. Clemente, also not in the guide yet.  Then St. Pietro Vincoli, not in guide, and eventually make it to the Roman Forum.  Msgr. will guide us through the forum and then we hop on the Metra to get in line for Vespers.  Depending on time we will stop at the Cemetery for the Capuchin Monks, it is right off a Metra stop.

Vespers starts at 6:00 and after that we may be able to get into the Square to see the Pope visit the Creche in the square.  Then we will have our traditional Chinese food supper, nothing else in open on New Year’s Eve, and either celebrate New Year’s or go to bed. 

Jan. 1st ———————————————–

  Mass with the Pope is at 9:30, but we will be in line well before then.  Usually we head to St. Peter’s around 6:00.  Remember that we do this so that we can get aisle seats for the Mass and get within feet of the Pope.  Mass will go until around 11:30 or 12:00 or at least it will take us that long to get out.  It is then the plan to go up into the dome. 

After the Dome, Msgr. wanted to take us on a walking tour to the southern regions of Rome, where the first Christians set up shop.  There is St. Maria in Trastevere, one of the oldest churches in Rome, and Santa Cecilia, neither in the guide yet.  The rest of the day, there isn’t too much more to it, is open. 

Jan. 2nd ——–Last Day Already——————————–

This day we are planning on seeing the other 3 major Basilicas and havind Mass inside the Catacombs.  The schedule is still up in the air because we do not know when our Mass is.  The three major Basilicas are St. Mary Major, St. John Lateran, and St. Paul Outside the Walls.  St. Paul’s is not in the Study Guide yet, the other two are. 

Jan. 3rd ———————————————————-

Our flight leaves at 7:20 so this is going to be a very early morning and I imagine we won’t have much wiggle room in catching connecting trains to get there on time.  So, be prepared to do some hustling.  Then we can relax and reminisce on the long flight home. 

57 Days and Counting

Plane from Chicago to France.

Here are several links to give you information on flying and our flights.  Also, a couple of google map links to get you to O’Hare. (one with tolls one without.)  It is a very good idea to work out some type of car pooling to get there and back.  Michelle and I are probably going to be in the Chicago suburbs for Christmas, so we will be up there already.  Map of Terminal 5 where we will be flying out of and landing into.  Map of O’Hare over-all.  Parking at O’Hare.  Travel Tips.  Route with Toll Way.  Route without Toll Way.  Air Frances onboard entertainment.  Seating charts for the 2 planes we will be on.  We only have seat #’s for the flights between Chicago and France.  Going we are in seats D-G (middle section) from rows 24-27.  Coming back only one group seems to have seats reserved, the others say check-in required.  The seats that are reserved are the middle section rows 36-37, the tail end of the plane.  I don’t think I have ever sat that far back before.  Seating chart for plane Chicago to Paris/Paris to Chicago.  Seating chart for plane Paris to Rome/Rome to Paris.  Flight times and information from the e-mail Msgr sent out are in two seperate groups.  Group 1. Group 2.  A guide to transferring when we reach Paris and getting to our plane for Rome.   

Mostly all this is for fun.  Getting to the airport is your responsibility, but once you are there, Msgr. pretty much takes charge and is good about knowing where to go.  I like to have an idea of where things are and what general direction to head, so since I am looking things up, I figured I would give you guys the oppurtunity to look at some of the information as well.  The route I may be taking by Metra Train.

There was an impressive turn out and we lined college avenue from beyond the lights at Grandview up to the rectory drive way. It was a peaceful protest. We weren’t out there yelling in people’s faces, or holding up derogatory signs. Instead we stood silently, holding signs that said “Jesus forgives and heals” or “Abortion hurts women” and “Abortion kills children”. If someone drove by and approved with a honk, we just smiled and nodded our head toward them.

The majority of cars that came by approved of what we were doing. I noticed a lot of smiles, and thumbs up from drivers. But of course, there were a number of people who didn’t approve. Driving by quickly, honking horns annoyingly, and even a few people cursing at us and flipping us off.

There was one man that particularly stuck out to me. He passed by twice, each time getting stopped at the light, providing him time to shout out obscenities to us. At one point the light turned green but he didn’t move, he kept spitting out venom towards the people near him.

He kept yelling, “Get a life!” Get a life!”, as if what we were doing made us losers, or that we had nothing better to do. But, it got me thinking, “get a life?” Isn’t that what we were doing? Weren’t we trying to save lives? Our whole purpose was to “Get a life!”

I had to smile to myself as he yelled at us, but at the same time I was prompted to say a prayer for him. He was so angry, and I can’t help but believe there was a reason for that anger. Whether he was once a father himself, or if he had some type of close connection to someone who had an abortion, there was a source to this anger. I ask you to pray for this unknown man as well. That God might heal his wounds and reveal His love to him.

It was an interesting hour. I encourage you to come out for it next year, and keep an eye open for other opportunities to support life in our area in the future.

God bless,

Jim