First or second Sunday in Lent

Today on my way to Mass at Santa Maria Sopra Minerva, I passed by a church I've seen frequently, though never seen open.  S. Maria in Campo Marzio seems always to be closed, but since the door was open, I stepped inside.  Shortly thereafter, Mass began, chanted in Aramaic--in the Syrian-Antiochan rite.  At first, I was thinking I should hurry out in order to catch Mass, but then I paused, thinking I might not get in there again, and, this is Mass, so no need to hurry to another church for Mass, so I stayed.  There weren't many people there, and a priest to apologized for his bad Italian (which was perfectly good) spoke in the homily of serving his "little, but faithful flock."  He reminded us it is the Second Sunday of Lent and feast of St. Ephrem the Syrian in their calendar, a big feast!  After Mass, the doors were very quickly locked while all were still inside, and we were urged upstairs for coffee.  There the new priest introduced himself, and shared his gift of chocolate-covered cherries while listening to our introductions.  Then I continued to S. Maria Sopra Minerva to visit St. Catherine on my way home.

This evening, I've been invited to join the CRICs (Canons Regular of the Immaculate Conception) and some American students for homemade pizza.


Today's passage comes from the second chapter of Gerald Vann's The Suffering of Christ, on His betrayal:

It was, you remember, after He had announced the betrayal at the Supper and Judas had gone out, that He gave them the new commandment: that you love one another as I have loved you.  If we have betrayed Him—as indeed we all have—then we can find no better way to tell Him of our sorrow and to repair as far as possible the damage done, than by fulfilling that commandment.  For so we share, not with the betrayers but with the betrayed; not with what they did, but with what He came on earth to do: we share in His healing of the world.

Today's station: St. John Lateran