St. John Lateran

Today is the feast of the dedication of Rome's first basilica, St. John Lateran. It is part of the Rome experience to actually be able to attend Mass there on the very feast of its dedication.

It was dedicated in the 320s (I have heard two dates), before St. Peter's or St. Paul outside the walls, with the name "Church of the Redeemer." So why is it called St. John and what does Lateran mean? Here's the deal. Some of the land there belonged to a wealthy Roman family of the time whose name was Laterano. Then, at different points in history, the church was named for St. John the Baptist and for St. John the Evangelist. Their names (as well as their statues on either side of Christ) can be seen in the facade.

The cathedral has, through history, succombed to fire, an earthquake, and invading hordes. Each time it was destroyed it was rebuilt and received new names in the process.

As you enter through the front facade you pass a Latin inscription which says "the holy Lateran church, mother and head of all churches in the city and world." Why does it say this? Two main reasons. One is that the Lateran was the Vatican until the 1300s. It was the official Papal residence until the Avignon period when, for about 70 years in the 1300s, the Popes transferred their residence to France. After that, as the Lateran structures had become inhabitable, the Popes took up residence in the Vatican, where they have remained to the present day. The second reason, very connected with the first, is that St. John Lateran is the cathedral of Rome: it is the see of the bishop of Rome (the Pope). In fact, it still houses the offices for the diocese of Rome. St. Peter's is a mamoth basilica in the Vatican city-state, but it is not the official see of the bishop of Rome. Lateran, 1 - St. Peter's, 0.

Inside is a beautiful artistic portrayal of salvation history, or of God's intervention through history aimed at man's salvation. There are three levels (see photo immediately above, right) of decoration in the main body of the Church. The top level is a series of 12 paintings of Old Testament prophets. Below these are 12 frieze sculptures depicting, on the left side, scenes from the Old Testament which prefigured some moment in the life of Christ, depicted in the corresponding place on the right side. The two following photos depict, from the Old Testament the angel staying Abraham's hand when he was about to sacrifice his son, Isaac, who carried the wood up the mountain, and from the New Testament, Christ carrying the cross.

This is a bridge from old to new. Below these are the 12 impressive sculptures of the apostles and St. Paul, each with some emblem indicative of what they are known for. They were present at the Church's foundation and were the first followers of Christ who set the Church on its course. But there is yet a fourth level. As our gaze descends from the prophets, to the friezes, to the apostles, it finally reaches the floor upon which we stand. The fourth level is us. We are the heirs of this great history, of God's presence and action in human history. The Church's continuity and the realization of her mission now depend on us.

Historically, St. John Lateran is monumental for its Christian significance. Structurally, it is a marvel. Spiritually, it is a testimony of salvation history and is a fitting symbol of the Catholic Church herself, which has survived so many upheavels and struggles through the centuries, while continuing to offer mankind the surest means by which to reach heaven.

A Particularly Large and Friendly Elephant

Series on "Wisdom and Innocence: a Life of G.K. Chesterton" by Joseph Pearce

Chapter 6 treats of another move and of the Chestertons' dealings with a family living near their new homestead. What it is really about, however, is G.K. Chesterton's dealings with children and his love for them.

A truly beautiful portrait is presented us in this chapter of profound happiness and content. It tells of a grown man who enjoyed the stories and the jokes he told as much as, if not more than, his young listeners. It tells of this man, having lost himself in the fun and games, needing to lock himself in his room at the last moment to write a column due that evening. It can sound so proud and stuck up to speak of someone else as being simple, but that is exactly the quality of Chesterton which this chapter brought me to admire. Life for him was so beautiful, and as a man he himself was so sincere with how he lived. These two qualities, which children, when they feel trusted, seem to possess and master so effortlessly, meant that he and children were made for each other.

He thrived in their company. He was truly himself with them and they loved him for it. As one author wrote, "he did not, like many grown-ups who are reputedly 'fond of children', exploit the simplicity of childhood for his own amusement. He entered, with tremendous gravity, into the tremendous gravity of the child." One of his young friends later shared this reflection: "It was not, as is sometimes cosily and fallaciously supposed, that he became like a small boy, but that he made small boys feel that they had become men."

This chapter highlights another quality. Chesterton was simple, yet brilliant, and he had an innate knack for putting into words what other people merely feel without the ability to describe. During a difficult period for his wife, and so for him, he wrote to Fr. O'Connor, their close friend. First, he shared why he wrote to him in particular, and not someone else, in this period of trial:
"I would not write this to anyone else, but you combine so unusually in your own single personality the characters of 1. priest, 2. human being, 3. man of the world, 4. man of the other world, 5. man of science, 6. old friend, 7. new friend, not to mention Irishman and picture dealer, that I don't mind suggesting the truth to you."

He then shared a reflection on his marriage:
"One of the mysteries of Marriage (which must be a Sacrament and an extraordinary one too) is that a man evidently useless like me can yet become at certain instants indispensable. And the further oddity (which I invite you to explain on mystical grounds) is that he never feels so small as when he knows that he is necessary."

This chapter is a showcase of what seem to me to be two of the qualities which make Chesterton Chesterton.

What fills your heart?

Have you ever felt like you were let down by God? I was reading Genesis recently and, you know, if anyone could have felt let down by God, Abraham certainly could have. He received all these promises of great things and for years there was nothing to show for it. The promises were seemingly unfulfilled. Yet Abraham maintained faith and did not abandon God.

A similar case that came to mind was St. Faustina Kowalska. Jesus called her to found an order and she, despite serious illnesses did everything she could to realize his desire. She died before foundation took place. It looks, again, like a let down, almost like God was messing with her. Yet she, too, stayed strong in the faith until the end. Why?

I would propose that God is greater than his promises. For Abraham and St. Faustina, it was worth much more to have God than to have anything else. They believed and hoped that his promises and desires would be fulfilled, but those things were on a totally secondary level. All those things came after knowing and loving the Lord. With God theirs hearts were content. They were utterly satisfied by their relationship with God. Everything else, had or not had, failed to influenced the happiness and peace they found in God.

Towards a Solution to the Problem of Evil

I wanted to share in the first place this number from the Catechism of the Catholic Church- please humor me by giving it a read.

309 If God the Father almighty, the Creator of the ordered and good world, cares for all his creatures, why does evil exist? To this question, as pressing as it is unavoidable and as painful as it is mysterious, no quick answer will suffice. Only Christian faith as a whole constitutes the answer to this question: the goodness of creation, the drama of sin and the patient love of God who comes to meet man by his covenants, the redemptive Incarnation of his Son, his gift of the Spirit, his gathering of the Church, the power of the sacraments and his call to a blessed life to which free creatures are invited to consent in advance, but from which, by a terrible mystery, they can also turn away in advance. There is not a single aspect of the Christian message that is not in part an answer to the question of evil.

I read this whil I was studying this morning and it really struck me. And I did not add the italics- I read it like that in the Catechism. Why did this number strike me? Maybe for this reason: my integral, deep living of my faith furthers the solution to the problem of evil in the world, indeed, to all the bad we see and experience.

What does "live the faith," in the previous paragraph mean? It means treating God like a person, getting to know him, and growing in my relationship with him. Growing in this relationship makes the world a better place.

Formation: let me introduce you to the truth!

The other day I found myself wondering, "what is formation all about, anyway?" I was reflecting on my (yikes!) 9 years in the seminary, you know, where I was before entering (not yet 20), how I have progressed or not along the way, positive and negative elements... So when it comes down to it, what is formation all about?

I believe that the answer is, simply, TRUTH. Fundamentally, I think that formation is attempting to move the will by presenting it with the truth in all its goodness and beauty. I believe that formation is absolutely not getting someone to do something or getting them to behave within certain parameters but rather helping them to desire the true, the good, and the beautiful in all of their profundity. It is an empowering. This also means not settling for passing pleasures or superficial counterfeits instead of these transcendental realities. For more on this check out #89 of Pope Francis's recent publication Evangelii Gaudium.

Formation is ongoing introduction to / discovery of the truth and then the conforming of one's life to that reality.

¿No?

Is Jesus an egomaniac?

The other day I was thinking about the martyrs. I'm not sure what it was- maybe Pope Francis talking about the persecution of Christians in the world today. Whatever it was, a thought occurred to me that I had never considered. When a martyr was dying for Christ, what was going through Christ's mind? Hmm... 

Was Christ there demanding that this person give their life for him? Was he there telling this almost-martyr, "ok, just a little more, I want you to prove to me that you love my by not giving in. Prove it to me!" Was Christ an egomaniac, going around looking for people who would give their lives for him? I certainly do not think so. On the contrary, I think that Christ would have said something more like, "I know you love me, you don't have to go through all this. I know your heart. I don't need this proof." Friends, people that love each other, do not want to see the other suffer.

So why would the martyr go through with it? I think that it has to be, quite simply, because of love. I think that the martyr loved Christ. The martyr did not want to leave any room for doubt in anyone's mind that he loved Jesus Christ. I think that the martyr tastes a freedom that few know exists. The martyr lives the zenith, the fullness, the absolute epitome of freedom! He squeezes it out to the last drop. He loves.

In the Catholic Church we celebrated last Sunday the solemnity of Christ the King. He is not an egomaniac but is entirely the opposite. He gave his life for us. He is the King who shows us how to love.

A Reflection on Purity

Classes started this week and Theology has proven to be very interesting. We hope that continues. In Pentateuch class there have been some really interesting connections. Have you ever read the book of Leviticus? FYI, it is in the Old Testament and I have not read it, either.

Interestingly enough, Leviticus is the book of liturgical norms which also dealt with the purity the Israelites were to maintain and how they were to maintain it. They were a people set apart in a land given them by the Lord and they were to maintain themselves pure to be His own. It struck me that basically this whole book was for that single, simple purpose of purity before the Lord.

Things have changed since then. The Savior came and the inheritance of God's chosen ones has been made available to all people. We become His sons and daughters in Baptism and, as sons and daughters, we, too, must defend and fight to maintain our purity.

Some things seem strange, and are, but really are not

You know, sometimes people do things that seem strange, and are, but at the same time aren't.

 

We went to visit an elderly couple for the first time last week here in Sicily. They had never received seminarians like us but when I called she was open to meeting us. So we arrived, rang, and, as the Gospel says, the door was opened to us. The house was set back behind the gate about twenty yards and as we entered we saw Mr. and Mrs. near the house approaching us. We greeted them and immediately he positioned himself between myself and the other seminarian, took us each by the arm, and walked with us to the house. It was a first-time, unexpected, and rather uncomfortable experience, given that I just met this man. How could I have known at that moment their sufferings, their difficulties, their burdens? How could I have known about their daughter who, along with her husband and their grandkids, had totally abandoned them, moving away and cutting all communication? How could I have known the joy, in the midst of this their continual ache, that our simple visit could bring? They were so happy that, 45 minutes later as we departed, they insisted and insisted we come for lunch our next visit. In addition, they insisted that we take two bags full of fruit that they had gathered from their fields. They accompanied us to the gate, gave us five euro for a cafè along the way, and saw us off until we were out of sight.

Taking us both arm-in-arm seemed strange to me, and it was, but in the end it really wasn't.

Learning from Pope Francis, Prayer for Peace

Here in Italy, everyone is talking about how "bravo" Pope Francis is. He has many human and spiritual qualities which make him very attractive. At the end of his Angelus addresses he says, "buon pranso," or, have a good lunch! He is notably extraverted. I hope, however, that these people who "love" Pope Francis also listen attentively to what he says. His words during the vigil of prayer for peace two Saturdays ago struck me as extraordinary. I share an excerpt below.

His words can be read in their entirety here.

And at this point I ask myself: Is it possible to walk the path of peace? Can we get out of this spiral of sorrow and death? Can we learn once again to walk and live in the ways of peace? Invoking the help of God, under the maternal gaze of the Salus Populi Romani, Queen of Peace, I say: Yes, it is possible for everyone! From every corner of the world tonight, I would like to hear us cry out: Yes, it is possible for everyone! Or even better, I would like for each one of us, from the least to the greatest, including those called to govern nations, to respond: Yes, we want it! My Christian faith urges me to look to the Cross. How I wish that all men and women of good will would look to the Cross if only for a moment! There, we can see God’s reply: violence is not answered with violence, death is not answered with the language of death. In the silence of the Cross, the uproar of weapons ceases and the language of reconciliation, forgiveness, dialogue, and peace is spoken. This evening, I ask the Lord that we Christians, and our brothers and sisters of other religions, and every man and woman of good will, cry out forcefully: violence and war are never the way to peace! Let everyone be moved to look into the depths of his or her conscience and listen to that word which says: Leave behind the self-interest that hardens your heart, overcome the indifference that makes your heart insensitive towards others, conquer your deadly reasoning, and open yourself to dialogue and reconciliation. Look upon your brother’s sorrow – I think of the children: look upon these… look at the sorrow of your brother, stay your hand and do not add to it, rebuild the harmony that has been shattered; and all this achieved not by conflict but by encounter! May the noise of weapons cease! War always marks the failure of peace, it is always a defeat for humanity. Let the words of Pope Paul VI resound again: “No more one against the other, no more, never! ... war never again, never again war!” (Address to the United Nations, 1965). “Peace expresses itself only in peace, a peace which is not separate from the demands of justice but which is fostered by personal sacrifice, clemency, mercy and love” (World Day of Peace Message, 1975). Brothers and Sisters, forgiveness, dialogue, reconciliation – these are the words of peace, in beloved Syria, in the Middle East, in all the world! Let us pray this evening for reconciliation and peace, let us work for reconciliation and peace, and let us all become, in every place, men and women of reconciliation and peace!

Learning to See What Matters

I met this awesome family here in Italy. One of the kids was dating a girl in high school and she had a serious stroke at the age of 15 which left her with minimal use of her left side. It was so bad that other kids at school made fun of her to an unbearable extent and she did not finish high school. There was, however, one friend who stood by her. It was her boyfriend. He stayed with her through the whole thing and, a few more years down the road, he proposed to her and they are now married. She still has merely minimal use of her left side, but they are happily married and I found their testimony to be extremely edifying.

Something I Learned from Christopher West

There are lots of opinions about Christopher West. Reading one of his latest books, "At the Heart of the Gospel," I came across something that I really liked. Mr. West, as we know, is one of the great "popularizers" of John Paul II's Theology of the Body. He has studied and read a LOT and from personal experience I can say that he is on fire to bring this message out to the world.

At the end of the first chapter of this book Mr. West reveals what he is carrying in his heart, what motivates him, and why he is going forward despite the criticisms and difficulties that he has encountered. I found it to be enlightening an exciting. Let me just share a few of his words:

"If Christ is to become present within the secular world's understanding, that will mean walking a fine line, a place of tension, between the sacred and the secular. That will mean, in some instances, using a language with which a more pious and refined audience might take issue so that much less pious and refined audience might be reached...let us try, and when we err, let us correct those errors and try again...we must stretch ourselves; we must break out of our comfort zones; we must be courageous, bold, and daring."

Reading that, I could not help but think of the calls of Pope Francis to go out and not stay closed within the Church. He wants a Church that is dynamic, apostolic, and full of love and concern for neighbor. That is what the Pope wants. That is exactly what I read in Christopher West.

Seeing God's Goodness in Fallen Angels

Have you ever thought about the fall of the angels? It really is fascinating. To think of rebellion in Heaven, a celestial battle, St. Michael the Archangel expelling Lucifer from the heavenly host. My question is, why have there not been fantastic movies made about this!

We were praying about this, the fall of the angels, in a month-long spiritual retreat I recently completed. And it was precisely in contemplating this scene that the goodness of God struck me in a particular way. God created. Maybe it is like standing in a sandbox. There is just you and the sand. But then you start making castles and roads in the sand, pools and rivers. That is like God and creation. He animates. He gives being. What He makes is good.

But then the freedom He bestowed is abused. He, the giver of every gift, finds himself rejected, spurned, unwanted. They walked. But that is precisely where God's goodness shines so brilliantly. He let them walk. He loves and respects to such a degree that whatever choice the other makes, He responds with love. If the choice of the other is to spurn, to reject, and even to hate, He respects and loves and never obliges.

We know how the story goes. Man fell, too. God respected man's choice to sin. I am fallen as well. I have rejected God so many times. And His love is so radical that He honors my freedom and refuses to impose upon, which would be to limit, my freedom.

Feeling far from God #2

Dipping back into the Discernment of Spirits...

Rule 10 of the spiritual exercises says that when experiencing spiritual consolation you should buckle up for upcoming desolation. Ok- 1st thing: what's the difference between consolation and desolation? Well, to make it really simple, consolation is like heaven on earth and desolation is, well, the opposite. Of course, this pertains not to how things are at work, at home, in the stock market, with your favorite sports team...but to your spiritual life and your relationship with God. Sometimes we can feel like St. Peter, like we are walking on water. Then, all of a sudden, it can feel like God does not even exist, like he totally fled the scene and is nowhere to be found. What often happens is that we then live accordingly, either as if God did or did not exist. Which means how we live fluctuates like crazy. Good or bad, in light or shadows, before the Almighty or as if I am the almighty.

St. Ignatius says in this rule that when I am experiencing spiritual consolation- i.e. when I believe in God and it feels good and I am happy and loving rather than sinning- I should not just sit back and enjoy. Yes, enjoy it, but without the "sitting back" part. I ought to be preparing myself mentally, aware of the fact that this spiritual high is not going to last forever. On the contrary, a spiritual low is coming. For sure. And there will be a high again after that, but in the meantime I need to get ready for the time of trial. What does that mean? It means that even when it feels like hell on earth, I will live as though God exists and I will strive to love him. 

Will we know each other in Heaven?

"The Fulfillment of All Desire" is the title of a great book on the spiritual life authored by Ralph Martin. Have you ever wondered about heaven and, particularly, about whether or not we will know each other there? For example, your spouse, your best friend, your parents or siblings, your mother-in-law...St. Catherine of Siena was a mystic in the 1300's and is a doctor of the Church. She actually touches on this theme in her work "The Dialogue," which is a conversation between her and God the Father.

In 1 Samuel 18 the future king David has a beautiful and profound friendship with Jonathan, the son of Saul. It says that Jonathan loved David as he loved himself. This endures even when his father out of jealousy ends up seeking David's life. It is a beautiful example of friendship in the Bible. St. Catherine says in her work, and this is cited by Ralph Martin in his, that not only will we know and recognize each other in Heaven, but our friendship will be even deeper and more intimate. Those healthy friendships we have in the Lord will only reach new heights.

So look forward to heaven! And let's strive to live friendships now in anticipation of how they will be there.

There is that interesting Bible passage where Abraham asks God not to destroy the city if there are 40 righteous people in it, then 30, then 20...and he gets down to 5 righteous people. Well, needless to say the city gets destroyed, but have you thought about why God wanted that to happen?

I remember when I was a kid my mom would bring me shopping. Me? Well I was obsessed with Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles- loved the cartoon (early 90's, right?) and needed as many of the action figures as possible. There were all different kinds- the one where the shell opened for storage, the one with the automatic karate chop... Well, I knew that if the shopping was at Target, there would be a chance to get more action figures! The thing was, if I didn't bring it up on the shopping trip, it would not happen because we all know that buying ninja turtles will not be on mom's shopping list. Bottom line: I had to ask.

So I was talking to a recently ordained priest about that passage of the bible and he asked me the very question: why do you think God did that? God already knew what was about to happen. Fr. John told me that God must have wanted to let Abraham know that he needs to be proactive. It reminded  me of something I read in In the School of the Holy Spirit by Fr. Jacques Philippe. He emphasizes how we must ask God to inspire and guide us- we shouldn't just expect it to happen. Ok everybody- lesson learned! Let's start praying.

What would it be like to follow God? Well, why not start with this question: how does it look from here? I think that for many of us, follow the Lord means crawling into a tight, dark little space. The thing is, once we get in there we realize that it was merely a doorway to a much more spacious and even brighter reality than we had been in before.

It reminds me of Congo, the movie based on the book by Michael Crichton, where these people find this underwater tunnel that leads to an undiscovered part of the jungle where there are...well...man-eating gorillas. Ok, following God isn't like that, but we do find unexpected things once we finally work up the courage to get in there! It is kind of like what St. Therese of Lisieux says about when she saw the Alps. She offers a really stupendous description of what they look like and her whole experience and wonder in seeing them. But, she reflects, afterwards she did not want to see them again. Why? Because it only deepened her desire for Heaven.

Here's some food for thought. St. Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits, said that Christians should be more ready to justify than to condemn. He lets that bomb drop just like that, in about as many words. I needed about ten seconds to recover before I could read on. Hopefully I am alone in that reaction and you are wondering what I mean...

We talk about things like politics and religion, in general, with strong opinions and, many times, with little information to back ourselves up. It reminded of the movie Fair Game. Sean Penn plays a character that gets pretty hot when other people pass judgments about politics really having no idea about what is going on behind the scenes, behind the media reports. His outbursts were pretty entertaining. It was an interesting movie and based on a true story. The point is, people were pointing out "obvious" mistakes of others and basically dragging them through the mud over it. What did St. Ignatius say?

We Christians should be more ready to justify than to condemn.

Feeling far from God?

So here's a little something something from the 8th rule of St. Ignatius for the discernment of spirits...

Sometimes it feels like we are far from God, or God is far from me. I don't think that I have done anything wrong yet it feels like God has jumped ship, fled the scene, hung me out to dry. What happens? The thoughts start to come...this is going to last forever...there is no end in sight...I can't stand this- why is this happening?...I am going to watch a movie, listen to music, go...anywhere! Whatever it takes (besides prayer, of course) to feel better and get through this.

Devil alert! The enemy of my soul is present when those are the thoughts that I am thinking, repeating, believing...hook, line, and sinker. In rule 8 of his rules of discernment, St. Ignatius says that we should think positively. God does not abandon us but does allow for moments of trial. I should think that God is about to end this spell of desolation and trial. He is about to draw near once more. The previous lights and graces that I enjoyed are soon to return!

The other option is thinking negatively. Thinking that this period of spiritual darkness will last forever is what can make the time of difficulty actually unbearable. I remember a powerful seen in Lincoln when the president is speaking with his wife, Mary. She is imploring him not to let their son enter the army because she does not want to endure again that pain and suffering that she continued to carry after the loss of their first son. President Lincoln speaks strongly to her of his own suffering, of the grief that has overwhelmed him almost to the point of being unable to carry out his duties. He concludes by telling his wife that she alone will determine whether or not the agony will indeed be unendurable.

Jesus said in Matthew 6:26:
"Look at the birds of the air: they neither sow nor reap nor gather into barns, and yet your heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not of more value than they?"

What's Worth Giving it All?

I love basketball. I also love Kevin Garnett. I grew up in Minnesota and KG, to this day, was the most franchise player the Timberwolves ever had. Kevin Love is making a case, but he is not there yet. I remember in one interview Garnett said that it could even be night time but as long as you have a ball, a hoop, and a light, you can keep on playing and playing. I loved that in high school. There are people out there who find something they love and give it everything they've got.

We recently saw the movie Snitch here in the seminary. There was an undercover cop in the movie played by Barry Pepper whom you may recognize from his roles in Saving Private Ryan or the new True Grit. As an undercover cop he has crazy hours- actually, he doesn't really have hours. He is another example of someone totally dedicated, like 100%, to what he is doing, so much so that he does not have a family and does not even consider the possibility since it would not mesh with his lifestyle.

This also reminded me of Russell Crowe's character in American Gangster. He tried to live the life and have the family but, sadly, it did not work out. It got me thinking...

There are some vocations/lifestyles, like being a spouse and parent or like the examples above, which are so consuming, demanding, and fulfilling that they require giving everything. You know, I think that the priesthood fits into that category. A great example of that is Fr. Walter Ciszek, SJ (click for wikipedia). Check out his book He Leadeth Me if you want to be blown away.

Are you a beast of the field? No!

I am reading Bleak House by Charles Dickens. The book is worth reading for the literature itself apart from the story: "The clear cold sunshine glances into the brittle woods, and approvingly beholds the sharp wind scattering the leaves and drying the moss. It glides over the park after the moving shadows of the clouds, and chases them, and never catches them, all day. It looks in at the windows, and touches the ancestral portraits with bars and patches of brightness, never contemplated by the painters. Athwart the picture of my Lady, over the great chimney-piece, it throws a broad bend-sinister of light that strikes down crookedly into the hearth, and seems to rend it."

I am enjoying it at least. A little ways into the book a character is introduced by the last name of Chadband. He is quite entertaining. As a preacher, Chadband has a singular way of speaking replete with rhetorical questions. I will put as example a "conversation" (monologue) he has with a young man. "My young friend," says Chadband, "it is because you know nothing that you are to us a gem and a jewel. For what are you, my young friend? Are you a beast of the field? No. A bird of the air? No. A fish of the sea or river? No. You are a human boy, my young friend. A human boy. O glorious to be a human boy! And why glorious, my young friend? Because you are capable of receiving the lessons of wisdom, because you are capable of profiting by this discourse which I now deliver  for your good, because you are not a stick, or a staff, or a stock, or a stone, or a post, or a pillar..." On and on he goes...

His marveling at what it is to be human made me reflect on what it is to be a child of God by baptism. In St. Peter's basilica in Rome there is a big red circle of porphyry in the floor just inside the main door on which Charlemagne was crowned emperor of the Holy Roman Empire. It used to be more towards center of the basilica but is now in the back parallel to the baptismal font. Is there a message here? Maybe that it is of greater value to be a child of God than to have whatever earthly power.