I was at the Coliseum in Rome with my two nephews, Cesar and Andrew. It was a rainy day. Restrooms were small, tucked within the Coliseum’s columns. They had small ramps connecting to the entrances and exits, which were easily missed. After we all used the restrooms, my nephews came out first. I was able to hear their conversation down the ramp. They were talking about the confusing way to enter and exit the restrooms. Not paying much attention I assumed that the exit was the same ramp for the entrance. I was afraid I could slip if I simply walked. So, I decided to go down the entrance ramp running full speed. My nephews could not stop laughing at me. That moment is one of the many fond memories they will keep from our four-day trip to Rome.
For me, the most memorable event was the privilege to be near the tomb of Saint Peter, below the basement of Saint Peter’s Basilica. Not open to the public and accessed only on special private tours, I received the blessing of being in that holy place this time. Another memorable event was the visit to the tomb of Saint Paul at the Basilica of Saint Paul Outside the Walls.
As you knew, Germany was the initial destination of my trip. However, Rome was the place I really wanted to visit as something special and significant in the year of the 25th anniversary of my ordination. I wanted to visit the holy city of Rome and pray at the tomb of Saint Peter and Saint Paul. The Lord granted me this favor.
Another goal was to pray at the burial places of several other saints in Rome. I visited the tombs of Saints John Paul I, John Paul II, Paul VI at the Vatican and Saints Monica, Catherine of Sienna, Ignatius of Loyola, Robert Bellarmine, among others in the city. I liked visiting Rome this time of the year. The cold weather was bearable with some pleasant hours during the day and there were no long lines to wait in. In stark contrast to my past experiences at the Sistine Chapel when I was part of a river of people moving quickly through it, I spent one hour inside of it this time. The ability to linger was a grace.
My nephew Cesar in Germany lives in the city of Aschaffenburg, not far from Frankfurt. The first five days of my visit coincided with the end of my older sister, Cecilia, and husband, Julio’s, visit. It was nice to spend time with them. It was especially good for my nephew Andrew from Savannah because he had not met them before. It was a pleasant surprise to see how well my nephew was able to communicate with them in Spanish. Andrew knows the language because my sister has always spoken to him in Spanish, but he has not practiced it; he answers her in English. In Germany we took day trips to the nearby cities of Rothenburg, Wurzburg, and Frankfurt.
In today’s gospel reading, Saint Mark tells us that the Lord is in the city of Capernaum in Galilee, at the start of his public life. On a Saturday, the Lord attends the local synagogue and starts to teach there. The most remarkable thing people noticed about the Lord’s teaching style was his unique insight: the Lord taught with an authority that they had not seen in anyone else. Of course, the Lord was not someone who simply delivered the Word of God but was that very Word himself. He himself is God made flesh.
The Church pairs today’s gospel reading with a promise from God found in the Book of Deuteronomy. Through Moses, God promises the people of Israel a future prophet like Moses. Saint Mark tells us about the arrival of this prophet today. The firsthand opportunity to ascertain the authority of the Lord’s word was not the only favor given to the people in attendance at the synagogue that day. They were also given the opportunity to ascertain the efficacy of the Lord’s words. Not by chance a person possessed by an evil spirit was in attendance. The Lord’s first miracle in the gospel of Mark is the expulsion of this evil spirit. From the very beginning of his ministry, the Lord is at war with the ancient enemy, the devil. The Lord’s word is efficacious, meaning, it produces what it says.
As the Church invites us today to reflect on the Lord’s teaching style, let us humbly ask the Lord to grant us the grace to always see him as he really is, the Word of God made flesh with the power to change us.