Skip to main content

 

Beautiful Women & Men – What a Gift!

In the beginning, God created Eve from the side of Adam’s rib. I talk about this in marriage prep – that couples are meant to walk side by side in equal partnership with each other.  As we were about to end our second week here in Rome, July 6 made history for me. Not only we got to meet Bishop Farrell and Monsignor Indunil from the Dicastery of Ecumenism & Interreligious Dialogue (see Christine’s post), I also started to really feel comfortable roaming around the streets of Rome with new friends! (Side note: my grandmother also turned 95 on this day)!

As we headed out to eat at Borgo Pio which was a few blocks away from the Dicastery, the 8 of us sat outdoors to enjoy a nice lunch. Next thing I know, my purse, along with my hat attached to my purse, was gone! I’ve been robbed! My phone was also in my purse! After a few minutes of processing my lost and feeling violated, all 7 friends comforted, consoled, shared stories of their own stolen wallets/money/purses, Rosemary & Odell went with me to the police station to file a report. Sister Carla gave me a bus ticket. Melinda lent me her spare iPhone. The next day, Shawn & Paul went with me to track my phone. Shawn & I got 7 Roman police officers involved; 2 of them with us to search where my phone could be. Odell & Kim gave me (a lot) of money to get through the next week in Rome. Christine lent me her credit card. Talk about walking together in fraternity and solidarity! I am overwhelmed with God’s magnificent gifts because in sorrow/trials, is where we will find His Mighty Hand at work.

In class today, Dr. Rossi talked about “receptivity.” How receptive are you to God’s gifts?  

By Corina


                                Beautiful Women & Men I'm journeying with in Rome!


                                    One of Dr. Rossi's passionate lectures on Ecumenism


                        At Palium mass receptive to the free pass presided by Pope Francis


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Catacombs of Domitilla

The story of Christianity is awe-inspiring.  This is true whether you are a believer or not.  Within 50 years of the physical death of Christ, 12 believers had directly and indirectly converted thousands to the new faith.  Within 300 years, they had converted an empire. This tour begins at the walls of Rome within sight of St. John Lateran where we get our ride to the countryside of Rome.  Making our way outside the walls, the city changes to country quickly.  The Roman countryside is quite beautiful.  The hills begin to roll and the gated villas extend to farms of vegetables, rose hips, or barley.  The air cleaner and the sound clearer. Flavia Domitilla was the granddaughter of the emperor Vespasian.  As daughter of Domitilla "the Younger", Flavia was also the niece of the emperors Titus and Domitian.  These catacombs were founded on her property in about the year 120 A.D.  Flavia and her husband, Flavius Clemens, were likely ...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Villa Borghese: Tainted Beauty

In the 17 th  century it was common for the pope to place a nephew in a key administrative role, for self-preservation.  Thus in 1605, at the age of 28, Scipione Borghese was made cardinal and papal secretary, head of the Roman Curia, by his uncle Pope Paul V, making Scipione the second most powerful person in the country.  Cardinal Scipione purchased a property in the north of Rome and began acquiring ancient Roman and contemporary Italian art.  The villa and its beautiful grounds were never a residence, only ever a gallery and conservatory. Cardinal Scipione became the patron of Gian Lorenzo Bernini, providing Bernini with the opportunity to cement his legacy as perhaps the best sculptor to have ever lived.  Though several pieces of furniture and adornment were sold off by the Borghese family in the 19 th  century to address fiscal problems, those have been replaced with copies, and the most famous and significant pieces of the original collec...
Post a Comment
Read more

A Trini - Canadian walks into a Mosque, a Synagogue and Several Churches

       During my last week in Rome, I had the honour of entering both a synagogue and a mosque for the first time in my life. After visiting what seemed like a million churches in Rome and, (as a Roman Catholic), loving every one of them, it was a nice way to end off the interreligious dialogue component of our course.     The synagogue is located in the old Jewish ghetto of Rome. It is in this area that Jews were forced to live and had many restrictions put upon them in the past. Our visit included the museum under the synagogue where we saw a copy of the declaration that announced forming the State of Israel. The Great Synagogue of Rome A picture I took of the beautiful square dome inside the Synagogue Declaration of the State of Israel           Our friend and classmate Oded, who was born and grew up in Tel Aviv, Israel, drew my attention to an extraordinary black and white photo of crowds of Jews in Rome celebrating this d...
Post a Comment
Read more