Church of SS. Cosmas and Damian
From the Pastor's Desk

Greetings from above the Tiber River, ROME, Italy

   On this First Sunday of Lent, the Gospel from St. Luke is the story of the temptations of Christ. Coming out of the Jordan, Jesus was led into the desert by the Spirit. There in the desert he was tempted by the devil. Not one of us is free from temptations. At the heart of temptation is, “the act of pushing God aside because we see God as secondary to all the far more urgent matters that fill our lives,” writes Pope Benedict XVI.
     To be disciples of the 21st century means making God primary in all the matters of our lives. You, I, we need to name these “matters” and push these aside and allow God fill us completely!
     This past week we had a full complement of classes, Normative Ethics, Moral Theology and an Introduction to Bio-medical Ethics. In addition to these, we had a Morning of Reflection on Tuesday, with Msgr. John Dewane, Spiritual Director at the Casa Santa Maria and traveled to historic Santa Sabina for the First Station Mass on Ash Wednesday.
     The Station Mass is a tradition of the Church where the faithful would celebrate Mass in one of the ancient sites of Rome, a reminder that Rome is at the center of Christian worship, from which we receive our faith and liturgy. The processing from church to church demonstrates our earthly pilgrimage to our eternal home. This practice also helps us pray as one body encouraging and praying for one another, worshipping together as a universal community. Many of the station churches are only open on this one day of the year.
     The Holy Father begins the Station practice with a Papal Procession from the Lateran, prayers at San Anselmo, Mass at Santa Sabina and distributes ashes to the faithful. For the faithful gathered at Santa Sabina, a plenary indulgence is granted.
     Make it a great Lent, dear friends!
     At each altar, I remember you in prayer. Be blessed and see you in April.
Fr. Giovanni