AN EVER DEEPENING ENCOUNTER (First Days in Rome)

"May it be the space and the time for a wonderful human and spiritual adventure and a deep encounter with the One who called you there. And enjoy the ice creams!" 

This is the wish sent to me by a friend to mark my arrival in Rome. It is already a human adventure that comes upon me like an avalanche, after months of relative inaction and tranquility at home. Now it is somewhat frenetic, as you might expect in this particular vibrant city. And the beautiful weather is hot at 25 degrees compared to home. Draining when havent been used to it. 

Early Sunday morning I climbed the 120 or so steps to the main kitchen and sat quietly a while with my coffee in the lovely salone (sitting room), relishing the silence of a city not yet in gear. More silent this day because all the roads are closed for the marathon. 

The 120 steps of the stairs to the kitchen show how vast the house is and there is a shorter route but I didn't have the required keys. I have them now!

I joined Rory for the 10am English Mass with a nice congregation of mostly visitors. Concelebratimg also was Father Simon from Singapore who is studying liturgy.

For the after-Mass cup of tea we were a mixture of Irish, Romanian and South Korean.

The day is dedicated to celebrating the 50th anniversary of the Link Community which was set up during the time of the late Seamus Freeman. A group of mainly Philippino migrant workers had no place to gather and they were welcomed here.

I remember during my first time here in 1980-81 how large that group was, how young, how vibrant and how fabulous the singing at Mass.  Like myself now they've grown older, many have moved on and other similar communities have since been set up throughout Rome. So, the community is now quite small but many came back for the occasion and the courtyard heaved for the day with happy conversations, abundant food and thumping music throughout the day. 

By the end of lunch I was spun out and overwhelmed, so I escaped to my room for a couple of hours and there was a period then when I wondered how I will survive this kind of life. 

By the time of the 5.30 Mass I was fully restored, thank God. We were joined at the altar by Derry, Monsignor Paul and a few other priests from the Philippines, Father Chris from Leeds, Andrew from Singapore and Eliton a young Brazilian Pallottine who will be my companion here in the house.

Before Mass, a woman approached me and when I said hello said, "oh, thank God someone I can talk to" and went on to tell me that she and her late husband were married here by Denis O'Brien 50 years ago. She wanted to show the place to her daughter and two teenage grandsons who were with her. I suggested they stay for Mass and told Rory about her, so he mentioned them by name, congratulated her and prayed for her a number of times during the Mass. Afterwards she was so, so grateful and filled with delight, as was herel daughter. Even the two teenage boys, who seemed I'll at ease initially, looked pleased. It is the kind of moment worth living for.

After a lovely evening chatting with the lads in the salone, I walked Derry back to the Generalate and got to bed sometime after midnight. 

Today - Monday - I repeated the morning coffee experience after a short walk to the shop for bread.

And because Rory had a meeting and Eliton was at class, I was on duty in the office for a couple of hours before the midday English Mass.

I managed quite well with the Italian and most of the visitors were homeless men and women who come regularly for some change for coffee. Apparently they do the rounds of all the churches, getting a little everywhere. These were gracious encounters, even if very brief. 

A nice little congregation turned up for Mass and it was gratifying to hear they respond so enthusiastically. In January when. I celebrated the midday Mass there were two other people present, neither of whom understood English!

After this Mass today  I went down to greet them. A group from Donegal, a group from Birmingham, a group from the Czek Republic, a group from Dublin who had run the marathon. This is the kind of engagement I really enjoy.  Humanity at its best.

The golden thread going through all of this is the search for an ever deepening encounter with the One who called me here. 

Let it be done! And let there be ice cream!!!

Tonight we will have dinner with twelve of the Irish Clergy in Rome and tomorrow night there's a function at the Irish Embassy to the Holy See.