Are you aware?
I do realize it’s been a while since I last updated…and like
I’ve blogged before, once in the routine of classes I won’t describe my daily
activities—classes and such, rather I’ll blog about experiences/sharable
thoughts I have during the course of the year.
We’re now into the 5th week of the semester and
settled into the academic year schedule at the college. This past weekend was
travel permitted due to the All Saint’s Holiday on Friday. A few guys and I
decided to seize this opportunity to get away from Rome for a few days, and
left on Thursday afternoon for a weekend in Firenze (Florence). The city of
Firenze is BEAUTIFUL. Dare I say, in some ways I preferred it to Rome! The
streets were wider and not as hard on the feet when walking, the city seemed
cleaner, and surprisingly, I heard a lot more English than in Rome! After Mass
at the Cathedral on Friday, the girls who were sitting in front of us heard us
speaking English, and began a conversation with us. As it turns out, they’re
from the States and on a semester abroad. One of the girls actually knows a
second year guy from the NAC, and is coming to visit him next week! After a
little while talking, we exchanged email’s and decided to meet up the following
night with a few of her friends for pizza. It was pretty cool to hang out with
a group of Americans (from different parts of the country) in Florence, Italy,
brought together by our Catholic faith!
Msgr. Moroney, Rector of St. John’s Seminary in Brighton,
has been in Rome the past week and a half for Vox Clara meetings and then he’s
teaching a couple ICTE (Institute for Continuing Theological Education—the
priest sabbatical program at NAC) classes and flying back to the States
tomorrow. It has been a great blessing to see him as often as I have.
The last thing I want to blog about is this YouTube video
one of my students showed me in Natick back in 2008 (you need to watch the
video before reading the rest of the post): Awareness Test
Have you watched the video? I’m not kidding—the rest of the
post will make more sense if you watch the video…
Yes? I can proceed?
Good…
I got the # of passes correct, as I’m sure you did…BUT, like
you (probably), I also missed the moonwalking bear. Though that video was made
for drivers to be more aware of cyclists on the road, it helped me to be more
aware of my students in my classroom. It helped me to be more aware of all the teens I encountered at
Bridgewater Life Teen, and not just those I knew and was friendly with. And
now, over 5 years later, this video is now helping me in Rome!
One of the differences between studying in Rome than in
Boston is that I have to walk about 30 minutes to and from class each day,
where as in Boston my classes were on the floor below my bedroom! And because I
have to walk to class daily, I naturally pass by many people that I otherwise
wouldn’t see if I just had to go a one floor down to my classes.
During orientation at NAC, we were given a presentation on
ministering to the poor in Rome. Having traveled throughout Europe before, I
wasn’t shocked that there would be people everywhere begging for money,
(sometimes either holding their child or showing a picture of their child in
effort to arouse sympathy from you). I was somewhat excited to hear that the
NAC has something called the St. Lawrence Outreach. There is a food pantry at
the NAC, and the seminarians are encouraged to grab some in order to pass out
to the poor we encounter on our walks to the universities.
Over the past few weeks of classes walking the “Greg Route”
to school, I’ve noticed that there are some people that remain the same—that
this is also their typical route as well. There are some people I’ve smiled at
and said “buon giorno!” Then there are those who I’ve stopped and had a
conversation with. They are the ones holding a cup begging for money. Other
times I’ve brought a cornetto from our food pantry at NAC to give to one of
these people.
My time in Rome has helped make me more aware of the people
around me, especially the outcasts of our society. Whether they are really
poor, or just gypsies’ making their living is not what matters. What matters is
that although these are the people that society would rather toss to the side
and forget about, they are still beloved children of the Father. Christ is
giving me the blessing of being able to care for these people, to acknowledge
these people, to love these people as Christ would love them. He is giving me
the opportunity to live out Matthew 25: 31-46 (Judgment of Nations 31-46)
Why is this important? Well..."remember, the truth that once was spoken: To love
another person is to see the face of God.” (Les Mis)
Praised be Jesus Christ…
--kpl
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