Yesterday morning I went to San Salvatore in Lauro as a confessor for the Year of Mercy. Unlike the previous few times, this time was special, because the day before the bodies of St. Pio of Pietrelcina  (Padre Pio) and St. Leopoldo Mandić were brought to the church as two of the holiest confessors of the twentieth century. San Salvatore in Lauro is one of the churches being used in the area a St. Peter’s Basilica as a sort of antechamber for pilgrimages during the Year of Mercy: I and other priests are helping as confessors there, and, in this case, our two Saints were being kept there for a few days. Yesterday afternoon were taken in procession to St. Peter’s Basilica, where they’ll be kept at least until Ash Wednesday. I arrived around 9:30 am for a morning shift, and there was already a long line waiting to spend a moment in front of the Saints.

Most of the attention was focused on Padre Pio, since he was more well known internationally, but St. Leopoldo Mandić was another Capuchin, a Croatian who prayed for Christian Unity as a special intention and lived in Padua and was known for being as gentle and easy on his penitents as sometimes Padre Pio was severe and demanding. They both spent long hours in the confessional for the sake of the faithful and knew each other. When I signed up as a confessor for that day I’d hoped I could hear confessions in the presence of two great religious, priests, confessors, and saints, and I was not disappointed.

There were 6-8 confessors scheduled to be in the church during these days. When I arrived the usual confessionals were full (and had lines), so they put me in the back of the church near a huge statue (slightly larger than life-sized) of Our Lord bearing the Cross and Padre Pio behind him helping him carry the cross. So there I was, dispensing Our Lord’s mercy at the foot of the Cross through administering the sacrament of Reconciliation. In all I was hearing confessions for four hours, some hours non-stop, but at midday there was a pause of about 45 minutes while they did a security check before the procession. Outside of that moment the church was full, and my confessional was right by the line of people filing through to see the Saints. Lots of foot traffic and great location equals good “business” (or, in this case, lots of confessions).

Mass was celebrated every hour and a half: I was confessing during three of them and left just before the fourth one started. I went a little over shift, and as I was hearing the last confession my substitute came into view (maintaining a respectful distance) and had to confess someone standing there while I was finishing up. On the way back to the sacristy someone else asked me for confession and I pointed them toward the statue where I’d spent four hours and said the magic words: “no line.” As a last enormous grace, after I changed in the sacristy and prepared to leave, I had the opportunity to go right into the sanctuary, since Mass hadn’t started yet, and place my hands on the casket of each Saint and pray for my penitents and my priesthood. After four hours it was the best conclusion I could hope for a morning full of mercy. Pray for confessors, and pray that everyone goes to Confession who needs it.

Last Christmas, after having just submitting my doctoral dissertation to the Theology Department in preparation for a doctoral defense in February, I spent the Christmas break decompressing and, other than enjoying the normal liturgical beauty of Christmas, doing a whole lot of quiet recuperation (anyone who has the prepare a graduate-level dissertation knows why that’s needed–it’s a sprint at the end to finish writing and turn it in). This Christmas, with the S.Th.D. firmly placed behind my name in official academic stationery and a new job at my university (Publications Director, although Publications Manager might be a better translation) alongside my teaching duties, the work schedule and rhythm simply changed a little. I think students and professors look forward to a holiday break; usually the plan is to catch up on things while not neglecting the celebration at hand, even though often you celebrate more and catch up less. I’d say this year was still more celebration than catching up, but I suspect Our Lord had that in mind.

In my case, work lead to more celebration. Since I work as a professor for the Theology Department and am also Publications Director, I work in two sections of the university, with two Christmas parties (fortunately on two different dates). Sometimes you just have to take one (or two) for the team… I didn’t accept double gifts at least, but everyone was very joyful, and not just because of the wine. It’s great working at a Catholic university because people treat each other truly like human beings, and you can’t fake camaraderie for long. The non-academic section organized a raffle with the proceeds benefiting the poor in nearby Santa Marinella.

On December 23rd I went to St. Peter’s to celebrate the ordination anniversary of some of my brother Legionary priests. We were ordained the same year (2006), so they adopt me as part of their class (I was ordained a few weeks earlier, but we all studied theology together). The nice thing about December 23rd is it’s the perfect day to transition from work mode to Christmas mode. It was my first time celebrating in the Chapel of Our Lady-Queen of the Hungarians down in the crypt below the Basilica. I didn’t even know it existed, and the artwork was striking, especially the life-sized statue of St. Stephen, the first king of Hungary, on the steps that lead down into the chapel. I have to admit the statue was life-like enough that it startled me as we processed in, since it seemed like someone was asking for a handout. The image of the blessed mother behind the altar was also interestingly rendered, since the chapel was inaugurated with a Mass by St. John Paul II in 1980 and the artwork was a newer style, but tastefully done.

The morning of Christmas Eve was wonderful for various reasons. When I can (and usually I can) Christmas Eve is the day I disconnect from work and prepare to welcome the Christ Child. We awoke to the early gift of a rainbow (the picture below is from outside my window). Later in the morning members of the community who were free gathered in our lounge to decorate it.

In the evening we sang solemn Vespers in Latin, and then after a delicious dinner we gathered by community to receive our patron saints for the year (I received St. Agnes for this year) we celebrated Midnight Mass and turned in for the night (morning?). The next day my community served the brothers for lunch (an annual tradition), and I offered a Mass for family and friends.

On December 28th I helped for the Year of Mercy hearing confessions for the first time at the parish of San Salvatore in Lauro. Various parishes in the area of St. Peter’s have been designated as places for pilgrims to come for confession before going to St. Peter’s Basilica and going through the Holy Door. The Legionaries are helping at this parish, which has relics of St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio). However, in February the parish will be hosting both the body of Padre Pio and Saint Leopold Mandić, two of the greatest confessors of the last century. What an honor to confess in the presence of these two saints. Come visit the saints and stay for confession if you visit Rome this year!

On January 3rd we celebrated the 75th anniversary of the Legion’s foundation with a concelebration and inaugurated a jubilee to celebrate our 75 years of serving the Church. All branches of Regnum Christi participated, and the all the consecrated members (Legionaries, consecrated men, and consecrated women) had a celebration dinner.

Liturgically the Christmas season ends with the Baptism of the Lord (last Sunday, January 10th), but the celebrations conclude on January 6th, the Epiphany, since on that day we receive gifts from the Magi and it’s the last day of Christmas break for the university. During the Christmas break I’d been in and out of the office, but after January 6th it was back to work: the last few weeks of the first semester before exams begin.

On November 19-20 my Theology Department organized a theology congress at our university entitled “The Kingdom of Christ: History, Theology, Life.” I was involved in its organization, and that’s why I’m only writing about it now (in short, I was too busy participating in it to write about it), two liturgical seasons later (Advent and Christmas, in case you were wondering). On January 3rd the Legion of Christ celebrated the 75th year of its foundation, and so we’ve also begun a jubilee year (along with the Year of Consecrated life, which will conclude on February 2nd, and the Year of Mercy that was announced after we’d announced our jubilee year–in case you’re counting, that means as of this writing there are three “Years” underway). The congress in part was a theological preparation for our jubilee year, since our Movement, Regnum Christi (for the Latin-impaired, that means Kingdom of Christ in Latin) focuses a lot on the Kingdom of Christ as something we need to help extend: it’s a point of focus for how we understand our mission.

It wasn’t just of theological interest to us. Do you realize how often you pray “Thy Kingdom Come!” without really realizing what that Kingdom consists of or why Jesus in his earthly life said it was already here (“at hand”)? It’s not just something coming soon: it’s something that was inaugurated by Christ and still present and active. The congress considered the Kingdom of Christ from various perspectives: biblical, historical, dogmatic, spiritual, and pastoral. Almost all the presenters were from our university, and the great majority were also Legionaries and consecrated members of Regnum Christi, so it was a chance for us to reflect profoundly and theologically on a mystery of Christ so closely linked to our charism. Every ecclesial movement tries to articulate and understand the particular charism it has received from the Holy Spirit for the good of the whole Church, since understanding and living the charism is a key to its identity.

As the ecclesiology professor I presented a paper on The Church Past, Present, and Future and the Kingdom of Christ with the goal of understanding the relationship between the Church and the Kingdom of Christ. Some have thought they’re completely identical, others have thought they’re completely different, and others have even thought that they’re completely at odds with one another. What do I think? You’ll have to wait until the paper is published, hopefully in a few months (I’m working on the publication of all the proceedings, so please say a prayer for me that we manage to publish in Spanish and English), but rest assured that the Kingdom is present and active in the work of salvation and the Church is involved.

Advent in Rome is always an exciting time, and not just because we’re preparing for Christmas. On December 12th, the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe, 44 of my Legionary brothers were ordained priests at the Basilica of St. Paul’s Outside the Walls (where I was ordained a deacon in 2006). During the ordination Mass I heard confessions along with a dozen fathers or so, and we were busy dispensing mercy.

Two of the new priests were members of my community, and on Sunday the 13th I concelebrated in the first Mass of my confere Fr. Sameer Advani. I’d been one of his candidacy assistants when he entered the Legion and I am very proud of him. He gave a wonderful homily too.

Classes concluded this week before the Christmas break (something joyous for professor and student alike), and early Saturday morning (December 19th) I had an opportunity to pass through the Holy Door for the Year of Mercy and then celebrate Mass for the Brothers Lorenzo (two of them, anyway) and their family from the Philippines (twenty in all). If the pictures are a little fuzzy it’s because everything is fuzzy at 7 AM on a Saturday morning…

Have a wonderful last few days of Advent and a Blessed Christmas.

Today, nine years ago in the chapel of the Center for Higher Studies in Rome, I received the grace of the ministerial priesthood. So today I complete my ninth year of priestly ministry and begin my tenth. It’s no coincidence that my tenth year of priesthood begins with the Year of Mercy: this year I’ll be celebrating the mercy of God in a special way by helping with confessions at the parish of San Salvatore in Lauro in Rome.

The best way to show your appreciation for God’s mercy in life is to show mercy toward others as well. Let’s all pray that this be a year of mercy for all.