Today was the first full day of our pilgrimage. Our day started by waking up around 8 am. After eating a quick breakfast, we walked for about 40 minutes to the house where some of the other members of the group are staying. At first, the walk seemed long, but the sites we encountered on the way, made the walk worth it. While walking down the first street after leaving the apartment, you can see the Colosseum at the end of the street. After that, the Altare della Patria came into sight, a breathtaking monument of Vittorio Emanuele II. Then we came across some Roman ruins that were once a Roman temple. And before reaching the house of the other group, we saw the Pontifical Gregorian University which was founded by St. Ignatius of Loyola. If I could, I would take this 40-minute walk every day.
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| St. Peter's Square |
Our next destination was St. Peter’s Square, which was just a few blocks from where we met with the other two groups. We walked around the square for about an hour and bought some souvenirs before getting ready to receive the Papal Blessing. As I looked around, I saw how thousands of people from all different cultures, ages, and countries converged in one place, making me experience the Body of Christ like I had never experienced before. When Pope Francis came out to give the blessing, I realized how blessed and fortunate I am of having this opportunity and receiving this grace. We then headed out for lunch before visiting the Church of the Gesu, the mother Church of the Society of Jesus.
The facade of the Church of the Gesu is incredible, and it’s much bigger than it appears to be in pictures I have seen on Google. We were given an hour and a half to explore the Church and reflect on our own. I decided to first walk around the Church to see all the altars, paintings, and sculptures. After that, I sat down in one of the pews in the middle of the Church to reflect. At first, my mind was blank, and all I did for a while was to stare and contemplate all the beautiful art and decorations that surrounded me. I realized that the purpose of all these opulent decorations was to praise and give glory to God. All of these things are what humans consider to be the most precious, and yet they offered them to God. This made me ask myself the following question: What have I done in my life to give praise and thanks to God? These actions can be little things like praying at night to give thanks for the day or being kind to others. While still thinking about the architecture and decorations of the Churches I walked through during the day, I noticed that they stood out from the other buildings, and you immediately knew you were in front of a Church. When you see a Church in Rome, you are immediately in awe and stare at the facade for several minutes. Just as these Churches stand out from their surroundings, we must stand out from others by being a witness of our faith and not being afraid of sharing it. We must not be afraid of being Catholics just as the many followers of Christ who were martyred in the early years of the Church and continue to lay down their life for God were not afraid to share theirs.
As I continued to reflect, I started thinking about the sins that I keep falling into. For some reason, this reminded me of the Egyptian obelisk that is in the middle of St. Peter’s Square that was brought by the Romans to symbolize the power of their empire over Egypt. But on the top of the obelisk, there is now a cross that symbolizes the triumph of the Church over the Romans. Not even the Romans were able to defeat God. Part of what we learned in the class before the trip was to surrender our will to God and pray so that we may overcome the difficulties and challenges that we face, because, without God’s help, we will never defeat Satan’s temptations. We can resist them for a short period of time, but we will eventually fall.
Asking myself what do I do to praise God and thinking about how can I overcome sin were the two things I focused the most during my reflection. It was a great time to stop for a moment, examine my life, and recognize the aspects of my life that need to change. I invite you all to do the same and reflect for a moment on what are the sins you keep falling into and what is preventing you from surrendering your will to God to overcome the challenges present in your life.
We ended the day by attending mass and then having dinner at a pizzeria. The day was full of new experiences and blessing, and I can’t wait to see what God has prepared for us this week.
Thank you for your time.
Diego Blancq-Cazaux
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